How To: Respond to a Bad Review

how-to-respond-to-a-bad-review

In September Marisol Simeoes owner of Mambo Restaurant created a fake profile for one of her customers that wrote a bad review. After reading the story I knew I wanted to write about this.

From time to time everyone is going to get the dreaded bad review. I have had a few of them during my time as a Restaurateur. I also have to admit I have been guilty of being unable to keep my cool when confronted by an irate customer. For the most part I have been professional though. Sometimes people just push your buttons and a lot of the times they know what buttons to push.

I know it is hard to keep your cool, especially when the criticism is unwarranted, but the best thing to do is to respond in a professional manner. No matter how unprofessional or personal the other party gets. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s what you do after the mistakes that will help you keep that customer.

So how do you respond to a Bad Review or Negative Criticism?

Admit the mistake if you made one.

If you truly did make the mistake you have to own up to it. Not only will it help calm the customer down but it will show that you’re an honest company. You should never make excuses or lie, just apologize for the mistake and let them know how you are going to make up for it. It would be way worse if you got caught in your lie, especially if it were online for everyone to see. Be sincere and ask if there is anything you can do to help solve the issue.

Respond to the Review!

I cringe when I see that there is a review on a company’s business page and it is left responded. Even if you have already resolved the issue, it shows that you care about your customers. Check

Most review sites allow you to respond or edit reviews. Here is a list of the top ones and whether you can respond or not.

NEVER Attack a Customers Review

By attacking a customer’s character or the review itself shows you have no character. By acting like the Soup Nazi you will not only scare potential clients away, but also you might also lose some current clients too.

Just remember with the Growth of Social Media these days, Reviews Good and Bad are the new reality. If you take the High Road when faced with one, you should come out on top more often than not. In time all the Good Reviews will bury the one bad one.

Getting a Bad Review is not all bad, treat is as an opportunity to improve your service and product.

What other advice do you have on Responding to Reviews? Have you ever had one, what did you do? Please respond below or on Facebook and Twitter.