The good news is that getting positive online reviews can help you build your business and pull in customers you would not have otherwise gotten.
You should make every effort to make your restaurant accessible for reviews and encourage people to leave positive reviews if they had a good experience.
If they seem like they aren’t having a good experience, use it as an opportunity to engage them and find out what went wrong and how you can fix it for them so they leave happy. This is just goof management philosophy anyway but it has become even more critical as literally anyone can now go online and in a matter of minutes have a real economic impact on your business.
But what happens if you get a negative review? How should you respond? The first thing is not to do what comes naturally- go online and blast the customer as a complaining, whiny jerk who isn’t welcome back. Doing that will just backfire and get you in more trouble than having a negative review will.
The first thing is to realize that people who go online aren’t going to be turned off by a few low reviews- no one expects everyone to love everything. It would look a little strange if every single review was five stars- it would even be kind of suspicious.
When you do respond, don’t make it a personal attack, offer an explanation if one is required and encourage the person to come back and give you another try. Be professional and take the high road.
It’s human nature to want to defend yourself when online reviews take swipes at the restaurant you’ve spent years of time, toil and cash to build, but it’s almost always better to set your emotions aside and let the practical side of your mind take over before putting fingers to keyboard.
Reviews, back in the day: A decade or so ago, the old system of restaurant reviews written by professional critics and published in mainstream and alternative press allowed eateries to frame and post the positive stories on their walls, and perhaps find some constructive tips in negative press while waiting a few weeks for the story to become a distant memory. Not so today, when every one of your guests has an online voice and the ability to write critiques that may conceivably show up every time another consumer searches the Web to find someplace to eat.
The plus side of online reviews: Good reviews on Yelp can boost business for independent eateries. A Harvard study released last fall found that the emergence of online review sites such as Yelp have leveled the playing field for independent restaurants that compete with bigger chains, and a one-star increase in Yelp ratings can boost sales as much as 9%. The findings give mom-and-pop restaurants that earn online praise a reason to cheer, while the right response for eateries whose customers report on less-than-stellar experiences may not be as clear.
How to respond: Yelp offers restaurant owners tips on responding to both negative and positive reviews, advising proprietors first and foremost to remember that their reviewers also are their paying customers. When it comes to bad reviews, Yelp cautions owners about the very type of venting Capron engaged in, urging restaurateurs to “just keep your message simple: thank you for the business and the feedback. If you can be specific about the customer’s experience and any changes you may have made as a result, this could go very far in earning trust.”
Quoted Article Source Link: Smartblog Restaurants
