How to Answer your Online Reviews

Nowadays, online reviews are very critical to the success of your business. with nearly 90% of consumers online will only considering purchasing from a business if they have a star rating of 3 or more, and most of the time, they won’t even check or go to page if it’s lower than 3 stars.  Giving answers to online reviews such as on social media, Yelp or Google is a critical piece that not only building a positive online presence but also encouraging other consumers to leave their feedback and invite potential customers to engage with your business.

Why is it important? 

1. Around 94%  of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business.
2. More than 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.
3. There are around 63% say that a business has never responded to customers reviews at all
4. 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to negative reviews and take responsibility for the negative experience.

There are 7 steps to give respond on Negative Reviews online: 

1. Address the reviewer. A simple “Good morning or Hi (first name)” is good enough because your customer wants to be heard individually, not just a generic “Dear sir/madam”. Calling them with the first name will make the respond personal and authentic. 
2. Say Thank You. This is a respond to show the customer that you really appreciate and value their feedback. It means you listen and take their review seriously. 
3. Sympathize and Apologize. By saying this, it shows that you care about the customers and you are not too proud to own your own mistakes, even though the other employees did that or the products are broken. Customers don’t appreciate businesses that too proud or too big to apologize to the people
4. Take Responsibility. After saying sorry, the business owner must take responsibility and don’t make any excuses. Nobody cares or listens to your generic excuses. It also shows that you hold your business to the highest standard. 
5. Make things right. Not just addressing the problem, but you also need to fix it right away, to show professionalism to your customers. If there is nothing you can do to fix it, communicate any changes or improvements that you will do to make the things right.  
6. Take the issues offline. There is nothing wrong with contacting the customer directly by sending a private message. It’s better than taking the issues online, this will show the customer that you do care about their problem and they might change their negative opinion about your business or company. 
7. Ask for a second chance. Don’t just say sorry or ignore them. You can always invite them back and show them how great your business truly is. This is also a good opportunity to create a connection between the customer and you. It will establish confidence among your employees and customers that you are a great business that cares about people. 

Even though positive reviews won’t drive away customers, it’s a good opportunity for business owners to build relationship and gain new long-term loyal customers for their business. Giving respond to a Postive Review is way easier. 

There are 5 easy steps to follow:

1. Say Thank You. It sounds generic, but it has a big impact because you show appreciation for the customer who took their time to share their great experience with your business. Besides, positive reviews and high rating will be a powerful tool to attract new potential customers and in fact, it will also influence their decision-making process. 
2. Reinforce the positive review. Customers usually will mention what they liked best about their experience. You need to identify it and mention that, it will be a good subtle marketing technique and it will add great value to your business for others to see. 
3. Pass along the compliment. If the customers mentioned name of some employee, you need to address that and mentioned that you really appreciate that, and their hard work to ensure the customers have the best experience. It will show the people that you do value your employees and appreciate their hard work.
4. Let customers know you would love to see them come back. Make the customers feel happy and welcome by telling them that you are looking forward for them to come again, they will appreciate it and might bring their family, friends or even coworkers to come and visit your business again. 
5. Mention other products or services. When inviting people back, be careful not to sound too needy or try to sell them something more. Mentioned it short but clear. 

PS. You can also mentioned that you have a social media or a website for them to follow up with new products or services or just wanted to keep in touch. 

Remember to always give respond back to any reviews, it can help you to build your business’ online presence and create positive reinforcement for your brand.