You may be a bit surprised at just how important simply responding to reviews can be. Google, really likes to see reviews responded to ...
You may be a bit surprised at just how important simply responding to reviews can be.
Google, really likes to see reviews responded to quickly, as does FaceBook for that matter. Chances are you and your business aren't located in the neighborhood of Google's headquarters. So they must to some degree count on reviews to reveal which businesses are most relevant to local consumers. The habits of a business when it comes to responding to reviews is likely the best source of information they have to determine how concerned a business is with it's clients feedback.
So whether good or bad, every review your business receives should be responded to as a reply to the review.
Naturally you can't sooth every hurt feeling, every real or imagined slight. But you most certainly can respond to them. Whether you respond by asking in the reply section what you could do to satisfy them, or simply post in the reply section that you are sorry they had an experience that didn't meet their expectations and will certainly strive to do better.
The important thing here is that you reply... Quickly!
Review sites will always email you letting you know there is a new review. Consider these little flash customer service quizzes. Google, FaceBook, they want you to respond to all of them. Good or bad. So as soon as you are aware of a review, give a quick reply.
Positive reviews, give a quick thank you and express that you can't wait for the opportunity to help them again in the future.
Negative reviews simply apologize and offer a solution, or simply apologize. Never challenge a negative review in any way. Remember the review sites are somewhat open forums, in that you do not get the last word. Keep in mind that whether you are in the right or not is kind of irrelevant in this venue. Appearance is all that counts and you don't want to appear argumentative and uncaring. Challenging a client regarding their version of events will seldom end well and to potential clients could appear as though you not only don't care about your client's concerns, but are actually willing to argue them down as opposed to searching for a solution.
COMMENTS