How to Respond to Negative Yelp Reviews?
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It's no secret that using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Fiverr to pitch your services can be a great way to increase your business. It can also be a curse, though. The thing is, these sites are ripe with opportunities to turn your business into a failure in just a short period of time if you are not careful. The bottom line is, a website like Yelp is bitter; it can help businesses get the publicity they deserve but too often opens the door to untrustworthy negative reviews which can ruin a company reputation and at times unrightfully so.
So, how to respond to negative Yelp reviews?
The first thing to remember when working with Yelp is that you don't have to necessarily cave in to the customer's complaint in order to resolve it. Instead, what you want to do is look for common problems and try to fix them together. For example, one customer may post that their restaurant was late several times a week and the cook wasn't timely in answering calls. Instead of constantly fighting the reviews, offer to take care of the problem so that the next time someone visits the location, they will be prompt in their review. Buy Android ReviewsAnother tip on how to respond to negative Yelp reviews is to understand why the restaurant is generating the responses in the first place. By carefully analyzing the content on the site, you can see that the reviewers aren't always being mean. In fact, many people come back to the site because they've had bad experiences elsewhere and want to let others know that you are not a bad business owner by allowing happy customers to post their positive experiences as well. For example, one popular area on the site has a feature that lets unhappy customers write how satisfied they are with a specific dish. You can then sort through the responses to determine which dishes may be the best choice for your business. From there, you can determine how to best resolve the problem and whether or not you should discontinue that particular service. For most businesses, though, this isn't a good strategy on how to respond to negative Yelp reviews, since happy customers are unlikely to become disenchanted with a particular company if they haven't had great experiences elsewhere.
Instead, what you want to do as a business owner is listen to the negative reviews, consider their reasoning, and make any necessary adjustments. For instance, one reviewer claimed that the service at her favorite Asian restaurant wasn't very good, but she said she was glad she came back because she noticed a sign in the window that said "We make the best Thai Food in Los Angeles!" Clearly, the customer was happy, but the management could have said something different to draw her attention. Another customer wrote that she had the same experience at a Chinese restaurant; she said that the staff was very unfriendly and that she felt treated like a servant. In this case, the restaurant's approach to attracting customers may not have worked out.
If you have a location that receives a lot of negative reviews, such as a Mexican restaurant in the Westside, you have two main options: ignore them or make an effort to respond. Some customers simply don't care, while others want to express their displeasure in a public forum. Either way, though, you have to decide how to respond to negative yelp reviews. Ideally, your first reaction should be to acknowledge the reviewer's right to post their review, but you have to make a second effort to respond to the complaint in a way that will improve your chances of keeping the customer returning. Buy Android App Install
The best way to respond to a negative experience is to offer a restaurant that has stellar customer service a try. A restaurant with bad reviews can often point out a few problems, but they won't do much to convince anyone else that the Los Angeles dining experience will be enjoyable. That's why it's important to offer a restaurant owner a chance to prove themselves. If the business seems well run and the staff treats customers well, then it will probably survive a few bad reviews. If not, you have to do whatever you can to turn the situation around for the best. Some people think that their first instinct when faced with negative Yelp reviews should simply be to back away from the situation. That would be a bad idea, because any potential money back guarantee or warranty should allow you to at least attempt to remedy the situation. Instead, a better way to respond is to offer an olive branch that doesn't come with strings attached. If the reviewers don't leave a favorable review, then maybe the restaurant deserves a second chance.