Review marketing is a powerful tool, and all businesses need it to build trust, establish credibility, and find new customers. However, businesses don’t have any direct control over reviews. Customers leave online reviews and rate the business’ service or products. The reviews mostly revolve around the customer’s overall experience. No matter how excellent your overall customer service is, there is no guarantee that you’ll always receive positive reviews.
However, it is important that you respond to different kinds of reviews to show that you care about your customers’ experiences. If you’re unsure how to respond to online reviews in the best possible way, then this guide is for you. Keep reading below for helpful tips on how to respond to different kinds of online reviews!
Responding to Positive Reviews
Positive reviews are always a delight for businesses. However, if you’re a business that offers value to its customers, you will have a higher proportion of positive reviews online. This means that it can get challenging to respond to all the reviews, but the good news is that you don’t need to. If the number of positive reviews is beyond what you can manage, then you don’t need to stress over responding to individual reviews. It is already a great sign that your business is doing well, and you can respond to a few per month. How do you do that? Here are a few tips:
- Show gratitude: Always start your response by saying thank you to the customer. If they mention a specific product or service in their review, you can also refer to that while responding. For example, “Thank you for trying our Apple Crumble. We are delighted to know that it lived up to your expectations.”
- Ask them to visit again: After thanking the customer, make sure you ask them to visit again. You can say something like, “we can’t wait to host you again.”
- Plug a new product: While you’re thanking them or asking the customer to visit again, you can also use it as an opportunity to plug in a new product. For example, “If you loved x product, you would definitely enjoy y too.”
The key is to keep your response short and sweet, and express your gratitude to your customers for their support.
Responding to Negative Reviews
No matter how long you’ve been in business, negative reviews are always going to be something that will be uncomfortable to deal with. However, it is very important that you address them as it is an opportunity for you to retain customers by making it up to them. Here is how you can do it:
- Don’t respond immediately: When you read a negative review, refrain from responding immediately. If you write a response right away, it is likely to be reactive, and you might not be able to handle the situation well. So, take at least a few minutes before responding to any negative review.
- Apologize first: The first thing that you need to do is apologize to the negative reviewer and acknowledge the mistake. Yes, even if you think you weren’t in the wrong. That’s your opportunity to make it up to the customer in some way and encourage them to return. Make sure to capitalize on it.
- Offer compensation: If the negative review is because of a fault on your end, then make sure you offer some form of compensation to the customer. You can offer vouchers, or a 15% discount, or a complimentary product for the next time they visit. This will send out a positive message to all your existing and future customers that you care about them and will make efforts to make sure that they have a great experience.
Final Thoughts
Review marketing is essential for businesses to build credibility online. It is important that you know how to respond to different kinds of reviews in order to give your business a customer-friendly persona.
