All restaurant owners know the value of customer recommendations and feedback in attracting new customers. Savvy restaurateurs ask customers to leave reviews on their websites and social media accounts to speed up business growth. However, sometimes, the reviews left are not positive, and can present the business in a bad light. What do you do that in that situation? Read on to learn how to remedy a bad restaurant review.
Don’t Ignore
The one thing you should NOT do is do nothing. Some business owners believe that bad reviews are just part of doing business, and figure out that enough good reviews will distract from the negative ones. Others believe that there is nothing to be done about bad reviews at all, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. All it can take is one negative review to prevent potential customers from giving your restaurant a chance.
Contact the Customer
The easiest and often more effective method to deal with a bad restaurant review is to contact the customer that left it. Most websites, such as Yelp and Facebook, will allow you to privately message the individual. If you can connect the name to a client database, you may be able to figure out the person’s phone number or email.
If you have a way to message the person, always take that as your first step. Always remember to be on the customer’s side, whether you find truth in their review or not.
Apologize for the fact that they had a negative experience at your restaurant, and state that your customers’ satisfaction is your number one priority.
Most people will agree to remove or upgrade their review with just a tad of personal attention from the owner. Knowing that you took the time to acknowledge their feelings will make all the difference!
Offer an Incentive
If you feel that the individual is not likely to update their review after your initial contact, consider offering them an incentive to do so. Be careful in doing this, as certain websites, like Yelp, have a policy that penalizes business owners who incentivize clients to remove reviews.
However, doing so in a way that doesn’t directly ask the customer to take this action is acceptable. State that while you cannot change the initial experience, you want to make things right. Consider offering them a refund or a gift certificate to give your business another chance.
This second step is almost always effective in changing a person’s perspective about your business.
Respond Publicly
If the individual refuses to remove the review after the first two steps, the only thing left to do is respond publicly. Although this won’t hide the initial feedback from online users, it will give them another perspective, and show them that the restaurant’s management cares about the business’ reputation.
Always remain professional, empathetic and kind. Apologize to the reviewer and state that you tried to remedy the situation to make it right. If you offered them an incentive, don’t be afraid to include that in your public comment. This will tell the readers that you care about the opinions of your customers and address problems.
You also have the option to hire a Public Relations (PR) specialist to provide you with a good direction in tackling negative reviews. If you need financial help to afford these services, or need other funds to grow your business, contact IOU Financial. We offer fast and easy small business loans up to $300,000 with an easy fast pre-approval process.
