Many social media platforms allow customers or interested people to provide a review or comment about their experience. Like in all parts of life, people tend to take the time to review something because they had an extreme experience -either very good or really terrible. It is very important that you respond publicly to each review. Thank people for their kind comments right away and respond to the people who criticized you in a direct but not confrontational way on the public forum.
Respond to your reviews
You can start by saying something like, “Thank you for taking the time to review our business. We work hard to make the best experience we can for each customer. Your concerns are noted and will be taken into account as we strive to improve our service. I hope that you will try us again.”
Don’t be defensive
The point is not to be defensive. To acknowledge that they were not entirely delighted. Assume that something went wrong or they would be happier about what happened with their experience and answer positively. Look for real and constructive criticism in the review that will actually help you to improve and grow.
Watch for messages
Most sites offer a way to private message your reviewer. Sometimes in your public comment it is also helpful to invite them to contact you directly so that you have an opportunity to make things better. You can also consider providing them a way to contact you directly at their convenience to discuss the situation and find a good solution. The invitation to reach you directly communicates to people who browse the site that you are customer service oriented and anxious to provide a good product or service to your customers.
There are Times to Contact the Review Platform
Google and Yelp offer ways for businesses to contact them to remove reviews that are clearly out of bounds. These would include times when the reviewer is responding on your review to something outside your business. It is also a good idea to contact them if the review is personal or vulgar. These reviews can be petitioned to be removed and, in some cases, where appropriate, to block the reviewer from cyber attacking you again.
Redress a Bad Review with Good Ones
Another strategy for dealing with a poor review is to bury it with happier customers. While you should always address your unhappy customer with an open, honest and non-confrontational response, it is often important to invite customers who had better experiences to review you as well. Most happy customers are happy to take a minute to let people know about the good experience they had working with your business. Send your customers a direct link to your review site and ask them for an honest review.
The effect of growing your positive reviews will help illustrate the isolated poor review and to move it further down your landing page for the review site.