Online reviews can make or break a business which is why knowing how to respond to them - whether positive or negative - is important.
Customer reviews on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor impact the hospitality industry more than they do any other industry. Here’s how:
Don’t let bad reviews be a living nightmare for your venue. Keep reading to learn how to turn negative restaurant reviews and negative hotel reviews into positive business opportunities.
The practice shows how your venue handles frustrating situations or mistakes. While a rude, angry response will look bad compared to no response, a well-thought-out response can recover lost customers. Respond to negative reviews to show off hallmarks of your brand (compassion, hospitality, etc.).
So how do you craft the perfect response to a negative review? Here’s our review formula to help get you started:
Here’s how to put the formula into practice.
Let’s start with a two-star review of my hometown’s Olive Garden by Erica A. on Yelp:
Here’s how to respond to Erica’s review, following the review formula:
“Hi Erica, thanks so much for choosing Olive Garden. We are so glad you enjoyed the service you received during your visit. We are, however, sorry to hear about your experience with the food. We were in the midst of a kitchen staff overhaul during the time that you visited. While this is not an excuse, we hope you’ll give us another chance soon. We have worked hard to train our new staff on Olive Garden’s recipes.”
A representative from Olive Garden responded to this review. Here is what they said:
The Olive Garden team referred to the reviewer by name and offered to take the case out of the public view by providing the reviewer an email address to follow up with. Always offer to take it offline (or off of a public forum) so they don't respond directly and continue the negativity.
Now let’s see an example of a bad hotel review.
Here’s a review of the Loews Philadelphia Hotel from Megan S. on Yelp:
“I never write reviews but after staying here I had to! I was staying at the hotel for my best friends wedding who works the hotel a ton so I was shocked to see how poor my room was when checking in! I went into the bathroom and there was just mold in some of the tiles and around the fixtures and a film it seemed around the mirror and sink. The toilet itself was also so dirty it completely grossed me out. The shower curtain also had mold on the bottom :(. I then went to get ready for bed and noticed brown stuff on my pillow! I inspected the rest of the bed and there was a towel in the bed and hair all over. This was never changed and probably just made after the last guest. How disgusting is that! As I sat and waited an HOUR for the housekeeping to switch it out I noticed a layer of dust and dust on the night stands and side tables. Not to mention the side fabric chair was covered in hair and crap and probably was never vacuumed. This is definitely NOT a luxury hotel whatsoever. I have stayed In many and have never seen something like this. I've stayed in cleaner and better kept holiday inns! I would not recommend this hotel at all. There are many better hotels for the same price and great locations in philadelphia.”
Here’s the best way to respond to this review to avoid losing the customer:
“Hi Megan, thank you for choosing the Loews Hotel for your stay in Philadelphia. Cleanliness is of the utmost importance to us and our guests, so we are sorry to hear that your room was not what you expected. Thanks to your feedback, and the feedback of our other guests, we have implemented a new communication system for our housekeeping team to assure that no room goes unturned. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience we caused and hope that we will see you again soon.”
In this case, I would send a private message to the reviewer to follow up and offer a free stay or appropriate compensation.
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Ana Cvetkovic is a freelancer and content producer for 7shifts. She is also the CEO of BLOOM Digital Marketing, a Philadelphia-based creative marketing agency that helps the hospitality and tourism industries reach new audiences online. |
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