Category: Resources

Reviews are vital to your business. When you get them – either positive or negative – your response can play an even greater role. For starters, your response to a positive review can enhance it maximizing its effects and making you irresistible for as long as it lasts. At the same time, your response to a negative review can salvage its negative effects and make you look good. These are all when you respond appropriately.

We agree that responding appropriately to reviews is not every business owner’s strong suit. For example, a negative review can leave you so angry and spiteful you don’t know when you try to let the entire world know how horrible the customer was with a lot of unprofessional words. A positive review can also either be shabby or good and you just respond with a short sentence or don’t respond at all.

Let’s dive right into how you can respond to reviews and make each one count.

• Happy/Unhappy customer

These are quite popular and contradictory. The customer seems happy enough to leave 4 or 5 stars and some shiny points but still unhappy enough to say a few statements of disappointments or unmet needs. Don’t panic or focus only on the positive statements. Your response should be something like this,

Hello (name),

Thank you for your feedback, we are glad you mostly enjoyed the service. We apologize for those areas we have fallen short and are glad you are giving us a chance to make things right.

Your feedback has been valuable in improving our services.

We look forward to having you next time.

(Manager/company name)

• Professional reviewer

They come along now and then. These customers know exactly how to leave a review, they are intentional about every word. You want to respond just as professionally.

Hello (name),

Thank you for this detailed and fair review of our service. It’s good to hear you (reiterate the positives). We certainly strive to be better each time and are happy you could feel that effort.

We also take your criticisms (if any) into great consideration to help us enhance our services.

It was a pleasure. See you again soon.

(Manager/company name)

• Difficult to please customer

These bunch are usually happy and have nothing but good things to say but yet leave 4 stars and probably some negative details that should be irrelevant but were mentioned, anyway. This is where you focus on the positives.

How you respond,

Hello (name),

Thank you so much. We are glad you had a nice time and experience. (Emphasize on the positive points they mentioned)

We do look forward to your next visit and your even greater satisfaction.

(Manager/company name)

• Those who love you

These are usually returning clients who have nothing but praises for you. And all 5 stars of course. Your response here should be in every way as warm as their review and happy.

Hello (name),

It was a pleasure having you over as always. Thank you for your feedback.

(Mention something good about them too)

We can’t wait for your next visit to do this all over again.

(Manager/business name)

The idea here is to match the customer’s approach and play on it to your advantage. Always remember your response isn’t all about that specific customer but mostly intended for new ones. Draw them in.

A good review is hard to come by. That’s why it’s so important to use every resource you can to get one.

Sure, you can ask for a review (and that often works best!) but it can be hard to remember or make your employees do it. Distraction is a huge factor — your customers can get sidetracked very easily and forget about a verbal ask. Emailing and texting customers is a great and very powerful way to gain more reviews, but you still have those people who won’t respond.

If you meet with your customers face to face, you have more options. You can even ask… without asking! Printed materials make encouraging people to leave reviews easy. Sometimes even just seeing a poster on the wall or a business card can get your customer to take the next step — sometimes even while they’re still standing next to you!

Three of the biggest review sites have options to make this process very easy. Let’s take a look!

Free Google My Business Stickers and Posters

Google is a great place to start if you’re looking for a quick way to produce materials. Go ahead and visit Marketing Kit with Google to get started.

Once you’re on their site, make sure you’re logged into your account that manages your Google listings. Then search for your business in the space provided.

Here you can find free stickers, posters, and more. You can even update your social accounts with your new reviews. Request stickers by mail or download everything and print it out yourself.

You know your customers the best so choose what you think would work the best. If you have table tents, download their table tent poster.

What are the pros of using a poster? The power of suggestion. You are reminding people that leaving a review will help your business. It’s often uncomfortable to go against the popular opinion — having positive reviews showing may influence the type of reviews that are left. Plus, if someone is only browsing your location, having positive reviews plastered around the place won’t hurt either!

Don’t go overboard here. One or two posters should do the trick but use this resource to your advantage!

Yelp Stickers

Yelp’s popularity among business owners varies. Many are not big fans and often even mentioning the name can run chills up your spine.

There are still some benefits for directing people to review platforms where they find themselves most comfortable. In the retail and restaurant realm, Yelp’s importance remains steady.

Yelp’s printed materials are uber recognizable. Even reviewers who haven’t visited their site in years can still have their memory brought back by glancing at a sign in your window.

And… window stickers are free, so why not?

In order to request your stickers from Yelp, visit this page and fill out the form. There is usually a three to four week waiting period for delivery. Feel free to display yours proudly in the front window or door or even by your checkout counter.

TripAdvisor

If you are advertising to the traveling population, TripAdvisor is the place to be. From restaurants to hotels and even shopping centers, travelers of all ages and races are checking out TripAdvisor to see where to go next.

Luckily TripAdvisor provides free stickers to display in your location. Visit this page and fill out the form. Put it right next to your Google posters and Yelp stickers!

The fun doesn’t have to stop there. If you’ve got the creativity bug, take a stab at creating your posters! Make sure to pick some good reviews to showcase and leave a way for your customers to leave a review on the spot.

Our program does just that! All of our clients are provided with a custom QR code that allows your customers to scan and be sent straight to your custom landing page making it easy to leave a review.

On a final note…

We understand how hard it may be to ask your customers for reviews. It may be tempting to just let all these posters and stickers do the asking for you.

Resist that urge. Yes, these printed materials are helpful but they should not be a substitute for asking in person or for review reminders. Get out there and use your voice — or our email and SMS features.