In a world of opinionated individuals, handling negative reviews for your business is an art to master. It can be convenient, especially for restaurants actively leveraging social media for their marketing campaign.
Positive reviews act as a sign of encouragement for potential diners. Similarly, negative reviews repel these diners away, which further affects your revenue and sales.
Sadly, no restaurant may have encountered any bad reviews from unsatisfied or angry customers. This may sound like trouble for many restaurateurs. However, it is an opportunity that may potentially result in repeated sales.
This article sheds light on the best methods and strategies implemented by every restaurant marketing agency to deal with bad reviews.
Contents
- Handling Negative Reviews: Why It Is Important?
- Dealing With Negative Comments: Do’s and Don’ts
- Do’s:
- See Bad Reviews as a Learning Opportunity:
- Use Complete Sentences With Proper Grammar and Punctuation:
- Show Gratefulness to the Reviewers for Visiting Your Restaurant:
- Don’ts:
- Avoid Waiting Too Long to Revert Back to a Review:
- Refrain From Responding to Reviews When You’re Angry:
- Avoid Taking Negative Responses Personally:
Handling Negative Reviews: Why It Is Important?
77% of internet users are known to check online reviews. This figure makes it important for you to understand that anyone looking for your restaurant online will stumble upon online reviews.
Similarly, 89% of users are more likely to order from your restaurant if you reply to all the reviews left online. Replying to a bad review reflects your restaurant’s dedication to addressing the specific issues highlighted in the review.
If you don’t revert to such reviews, other online users will assume that the problem-addressing process is ongoing or that the restaurant has no regard for such comments.
Reverting to negative comments gives assurance to customers that the said problem won’t occur again.
Dealing With Negative Comments: Do’s and Don’ts
While dealing with the online negative comments directed towards your restaurant, here are some do’s and don’ts to follow:
Do’s:
See Bad Reviews as a Learning Opportunity:
It is easy to take control of your business while being stubborn. However, you need to understand that no business survives without customers. You should consider reviews as opportunities to get feedback from customers. After collecting such feedback and thoroughly reviewing it, you should implement your learnings, which will help your business grow.
Let’s say you’re reading reviews complaining about your pizza. The things showcased in the reviews will prompt you to chat with your head chef and discuss them. If customers are complaining about inconvenient service by waiters and staff, make sure you address those concerns as well.
Use Complete Sentences With Proper Grammar and Punctuation:
You should refrain from being informal while addressing and reverting back to online reviews. Reviews offer you a public relations opportunity to help you manage the reputation of your restaurant. Hence, you need to ensure that your reviews reflect the image and goals of your restaurant as well.
Things to do while responding to a negative review:
- Thank the user by name for the interaction.
- Highlight something good you find in the comment.
- Apologize for what went wrong and the inconvenience caused by it.
- Give a detailed explanation of the reasons why the inconvenience happened and the steps you’re taking to avoid its occurrence in the future.
- Move this situation offline
- Invite the user back to your restaurant.
Show Gratefulness to the Reviewers for Visiting Your Restaurant:
The diner would have chosen another restaurant to dine at. However, they ended up choosing your restaurant for their breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Showcase gratitude towards them with a simple “thank you for dining with us.” Add the name of the reviewer to add a personalized touch to your response.
Don’ts:
Avoid Waiting Too Long to Revert Back to a Review:
Check travel and review sites, your social media profiles, and Google My Business profiles regularly for reviews. Revert to reviews within two or three days, which will help you retain dissatisfied customers before they write off your restaurant.
Refrain From Responding to Reviews When You’re Angry:
Reading a negative review can be hurtful, especially when it is directed towards something you’ve worked hard to develop. Although a timely response to such comments is essential, you should wait and ask for a second opinion to ensure that your response sounds more professional than retaliatory.
Avoid Taking Negative Responses Personally:
Many people who own restaurants find it hard to read critical reviews of their businesses. If these reviews are difficult for you to respond to, delegate another responsible person in your team to manage and respond to these reviews. Also, ensure that the person replies objectively and shares it with you before posting.
To Summarize
Managing and replying to negative reviews can be stressful, especially when you’re running a restaurant business. However, these reviews allow you to address the lingering issues and improve them as soon as possible to deliver a better customer experience. That’s why you need to deal with such reviews constructively to ensure that your customers get repelled away.