updated 3/8/13… Google recently announced that Businesses with verified Google Place Pages (Google+ Local) can respond to their reviews like can be done on other review sites. This is a long-requested feature, especially by businesses that feel they were wrongly accused of something or that just want to offer a public “thank you” for a compliment. Yelp has long allowed responses in this manner, and I’ve seen many small businesses respond with jabs and poorly considered comments. With customers using online reviews as a part of the purchase decision, it’s more important than ever that you actively solicit reviews and manage them well.
Responding to reviews should be done with care, however. Here are some tips for businesses who are going to begin responding to these reviews so you can avoid embarrassment and maximize the positive effect on your 
brand.
- Never be defensive about negative reviews. Even if the reviewer was completely wrong and is acting like a jerk. You are going to be writing what amounts to public relations content in this reply and it needs to be your best work. Everyone has a bad day, and this may have been theirs, so it’s worth it to try to rise above the fight or flight response.
- Never write responses to negative reviews when you’re mad. Sleep on it. Save it in notepad on your desktop and re-read it in a few days. There’s no rush and things written in emotional moments are rarely what you want in public view.
- Remember that the response will be read by more than just the reviewer. Over the months and years, your place page may be reviewed hundreds or thousands of times by potential customers making buying decisions based on others’ reviews. It’s arguable that the content you put on this response is more important than most content you put on your website – and it deserves some thought.
- Thank reviewers for their gift. It takes time to leave comments. Doing so means they are doing you a favor and it is your chance to shine by responding with skill rather than duck and cover. Sometimes reviews are just useless rants, but most people who read them realize this and you have a chance to show your stuff in the replies.
- Short and Sweet. Don’t write an novel, just capture the sentiment, transfer the emotion and move on.
- Don’t just take the issue offline. Don’t respond telling them to call you to discuss. Give some form of response on the web in public view, even if you end up continuing the conversation later. Taking it offline has the feeling of whispering in front of dinner guests – it’s a bit rude.
- Don’t get personal, even if they did. Sometimes reviewers write when they’re ticked off, and they attack specific employees of your company. Simply mark these as inappropriate and use the established editorial process to remove them. Google doesn’t want that type of review on there either.
- Set Ground Rules with Employees. I recommend that you establish ground rules for who and how responses are created. You may want to delegate review response, but not until you have a sense that your staff understand the importance of taking some time to get it right.
- No Gifts. Don’t provide any freebies in your responses, such as gift certificates, etc. This reads like bribery. Just a public thank you is all you should do.
- Take Ownership. You are responsible for your company, and sometimes business is just not fair. You own both the issue and the response to it. Many times reviewers just want to be listened to.
- Nobody’s perfect, people know that. But most importantly, you are speaking to future customers at this moment. It’s okay to humanize the situation and admit that you just made a mistake and apologize.
- Consider Having Someone review your response. Run it by someone (neutral, preferably) before you post it. Ask them to put the reviewer’s and future customers’ shoes on and see how they feel.
- Have some supporting content ready. If you frequently refer to policies make them easy to find. An easy-to-navigate FAQ page can be a wonderful library to refer to.
- There’s not always a good response. Sometimes, there is no response that will make the customer happy. That’s life. You should still tell the customer you appreciate them and wish things had turned out differently. Remember, you’re speaking to future customers as well.
- Ask customers who feel the issue was resolved to go edit their review. You shouldn’t ask them to remove what they wrote, but perhaps append a resolution to the end and consider re-rating your company. This is a slippery slope – as you don’t want it to feel like they are in debt somehow. But if an entire review is based on a misunderstanding, or a special case that is unlikely to happen again, many customers will be willing to give you another chance.
Related articles
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Five Steps to Successfully Navigate Negative Online Reviews
How Not to respond to negative reviews online.
(Image by Art Comments on Flickr used under Creative Commons Attribution License)
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This is an interesting decision by Google and one that will no doubt open up a lot of debate. The advice given here is great, and really emphasises using common sense when replying to comments.
Regarding responding to negative comments these certainly need time to respond to, so you can think about the best way to respond that doesn’t reflect badly on you or your company. Resolving the issues and then asking the reviewer to post a follow up comment regarding this will certainly be a positive way to approach these.
I’d like to see what other advice users can give regarding this and if there are additional helpful tips out there.
@stephen – I am hopeful that small business and shops realize the public perception of responses. Many people have called me over the years asking how they can respond / remove the review from “that son of a b***” who called he/she out online for providing poor service/product/etc.. Tensions were high, they wanted a fight. I hope they take a breath before posting.
Good list of “common” sense advice. “Don’t get personal even if they did” is an excellent way to defuse a negative comment while making you look professional.
If I had written this article, I’d have point 2 at number 1, and point 12 number 2! Small business owners can be a passionate bunch as Scott points out, and I’m already in “pre-cringe” mode for some of them.
Great tips here! I wonder though how many people will use this as a way to argue with the negatives online, like the previous responder said, people should think before they react, because reacting in anger can hurt your online reputation even more. Taking ownership is huge, because it may not seem so at the time, but “the customer is always right”
Yes, I have, in my social circle a few business owners that have negative reviews on Google who are surely going to lash out when given the chance. I will advise against it, but they’ll probably make a fool out of themselves. I think I’ll keep an eye out for case studies on this and post another article showing “right” and ‘wrong” ways of dealing with it. Thank you for your feedback!!!!
Not a bad idea… You are so right about the passion, but often it’s because they’ve taken something very personally that should have been kept in a business context.
These are excellent tips to share with local business owners who get a bad review. While I understand the focus on responding to bad reviews we shouldn’t lose sight of also responding to good reviews, especially for someone who contributes a thoughtful review. This shows appreciation and that as a business you value satisfied customers. These people are much more likely to recommend a local business that recognizes a thank you rather than taking it for granted.
Great point. Thanks for the input!
“It’s not personal, it’s business” – You’ve Got Mail
This is one of the times that you need to step back and not take it
personally. I’ve said things about companies that I regretted later on.
@Cliff I was thinking the whole time while reading that it’s a good idea
to thank those that left good reviews as well.
I think it is something like only 10% or less of customers tell the
company about their experience they had. So if you have one bad review,
multiply that by at least ten. If you have one good review, multiply
that by at least ten. Think about it though. I only tell a few people
when I like a company, but I tell everyone I know and their dog about
the bad experience I had with a company. I bet you can name more than
ten companies you’ve had a bad experience with, but only a few that
treated you well. We remember the bad experiences more.
I really like this part of #14, too. “You should still tell the customer
you appreciate them and wish things had turned out differently.”
If I had written this article, I’d have point 2 at number 1, and point 12 number 2! Small business owners can be a passionate bunch as Scott points out, and I’m already in “pre-cringe” mode for some of them.
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