Even the best restaurants can't escape negative reviews... Should you respond to them on online review platforms like Tripadvisor, Google or Facebook?
The answer is a resounding YES! Answering them will help youget more Google reviews. If you don't know how to deal with negative reviews, this article offers you a real strategy to apply on a daily basis. As well as reminding you of the golden rules, we go into detail with specific cases to respond to all criticism, whether constructive... or in bad faith!
Discover our related article: How to respond to a Google review
A negative review comes from just one person. Is that a reason to ignore it? Not at all! If you respond, your exchange will potentially be read by thousands of Internet users. And it's a 2019 Tripadvisor study that says it all: for 89% of travelers, [.is--yellow-highlight]responding thoughtfully to a negative review[.is--yellow-highlight], is good for your image.
Negative reviews have a role to play: they give you the opportunity to set the record straight, to explain, but also to shatter the armor. Through your response, you can admit that not everything is under control, but that you're doing your best in the face of the ups and downs of the restaurant business.
Our examples of how to respond to negative reviews show that this is an opportunity to offer an understanding, constructive response, to provide context, to clarify your approach... Respond with empathy, understanding and humility. Customers will be sensitive to this and will know which side is up to bad faith. And by applying the tips below, you could well turn the disappointed customer's opinion around!
This is the most important piece of advice, and it determines all the others that follow! Respond to negative reviews by showing you care. A restaurant owner who gives the impression of being deaf to criticism only makes the impression given to readers worse.
On the contrary, showing that you're listening and that you understand the negative review is essential to proving that the customer experience is important to you. It's an excellent signal for readers who will read the review months from now and be able to imagine that the problem has been addressed and rectified.
This is what Umami Matcha Café does, for example, with this empathetic response:
This tip follows directly from the previous golden rule: to show that you care about negative reviews, there's nothing better than a direct response from the restaurant's most senior staff (the manager, a co-founder...). At Supernova, for example, it' s the manager who does it, and it works: the restaurant gets 78% "excellent" or "very good" reviews.
A quick response shows that you're responsive and attentive to negative reviews. And who knows, it might make the unhappy customer want to come back and change their mind.
You can save time by using an online restaurant review monitoring tool. This type of solution enables you to centralize on a single screen all the reviews you've received on the various platforms. For example, at Pongo, our loyalty tool brings together all the reviews you've recently received on Google, Facebook or Tripadvisor.
To save even more time, add a pinch of automation by creating your own templates for replying to negative reviews. They enable you to post a structured response without spending 15 minutes on it.
Above all, don't reject a negative review out of hand (well, unless it's based on bad faith). On the contrary, give the customer the right to be disappointed or frustrated. If necessary, apologize at the beginning of your reply. This attitude shows that you're not stubborn, and that you care about your customers' well-being.
Once you've identified the problem, you can rephrase it if necessary. Above all, propose an action to remedy it. If it's a problem specific to a single day (where you were under-staffed, or lacking certain dishes or products), suggest that the customer come back to get a better idea.
If this is indeed a failing on your part, assure the customer that his criticism has been taken into account, and that you're already exploring solutions to ensure it doesn't happen again. In short, if the criticism is constructive, make sure the response is too: it's a win-win situation!
The art of responding to negative reviews lies in defending your restaurant project without losing your cool. The best way to do this is to use yourexpertise as a restaurateur and/or chef to defuse any misunderstandings. Many negative reviews stem from a misunderstanding of the style of catering on offer. Others think that running a restaurant is easy... If you sense a lack of understanding, be educational and explain your dishes, cooking, spices, delivery and stock contingencies, etc... And invite customers to return to form a better opinion!
It's only human: when something so personal is attacked, you may feel like lashing out. But beware: a knee-jerk response is counter-productive, and should be avoided at all costs!
On the contrary, keeping calm - and adding a touch of humor - can help calm exchanges, as in this response from Mam Thai:
Most negative reviews are (fortunately) in good faith and are accompanied by a constructive explanation from the customer. If this is the case, it's essential to show that you've understood and taken note of the criticism. Then respond calmly (defusing the misunderstanding if you perceive one). If necessary, ask for further details.
If you feel the criticism is justified, make amends and invite the customer to return to change their mind (as in this apt response from café gourmand Culottée):
Some negative reviews are more difficult to handle: this is the case when you feel that the critic is acting in bad faith (rightly or wrongly). It's been known to happen: some reviews are exaggerated, either out of malice or because of an unfair competitor...
In this case, start by reporting the review to the platform. On Tripadvisor, for example, moderators are supposed to ban abusive reviews, whether false or unjustified.
In the absence of moderation, respond calmly, without invective. Explain why you think the review is in bad faith, if you're certain that the scene described never took place or that the customer never set foot in your premises. In all cases, avoid personal attacks, and never write a reply out of anger!
Final tip: if you have a large number of reviews to manage (on several platforms at the same time), templates will be a great help. Create different templates for each type of review: positive and negative, constructive or in bad faith.
And if you want to go further inanticipating negative reviews, you can create several templates by theme: one for reviews of the room, or another for managing reservations, the plate, the bill, etc...
Please note that templates should not pre-write the entire response. They should merely save you time by anticipating the structure of the message, the polite and customary phrases and the invitation to return. For the rest, the content of the message will have to be edited for each reply to suit the content of the review.
Negative reviews shouldn't worry you too much: these tips should enable you to limit their impact, and long-term work will help you achieve your rating objectives, if possible beyond 4.5 out of 5.
How can we achieve this? First of all, by taking constructive negative reviews into account... And above all, by improving team management! When a team is happy, it's immediately felt by customers, which immediately raises your ratings on online review platforms.
One last tip: in addition to responding to them, you can [.is--yellow-highlight]drown the negative reviews in a large number of positive reviews[.is--yellow-highlight]. For this, there's the Hey Pongo Booster! Plantes Pour Tous has tried it: its average rating went from 4.1 to 4.5 in 3 months!
ils ont testé notre roue cadeau pour booster leurs avis :
Vous voulez faire pareil ? Découvrez en démo la roue cadeau de Hey Pongo, la solution la plus efficace pour faire décoller votre nombre d’avis Google.
