How to respond to negative reviews - 5 tips

Reviews help customers make decisions on where to stay, what to do or what to buy.

You work hard at providing an excellent customer experience resulting in positive reviews on sites such as Tripadvisor, Facebook, Google, Yelp etc. But every now and then, you may get a negative review. Some are fair, and these provide you with an opportunity to improve aspects of your business. And some are unfair.

No matter what they are, you need to write a response. It provides you with an opportunity to explain what happened and apologise, and it shows your professionalism and that you care.

I have talked with many operators about their occasional bad review. It’s human nature to focus on these, even if the majority of your reviews are raving! 

So, my first piece of advice is: keep the negative reviews in perspective. How many good reviews do you have compared to the bad ones? Don’t take it too personal and don’t dwell on them.

OK, now you need to respond to that negative review. Here are 5 tips to help you do it.

1. Keep it short. Potential customers that read your reviews are likely to read the good ones and the bad ones to get a balanced view of your business. So, keep the response short as no one has time to read a really long response.
2. Apologise. Whether they are right or wrong, apologising to the customer is always appreciated. 
3. Keep it professional. Respond to each of the points and explain what happened. Don’t take on an emotional, accusative or aggressive tone (believe me, these responses are out there! Not a good look!) Be authentic and highlight the positive aspects of your business. 
4. Never offer a refund or other compensation in the online response. Unfortunately, some people make it a sport to complain and get refunds. (you can click on the person who wrote the review and read their other reviews – this can give you an indication). Get the writer of the bad review to contact you directly to discuss the matter further offline or contact them yourself if you still have their contact details.
5. Personalise the reply. Recently, I saw an operator who had a standard identical reply to similar complaints. Do change the text so it’s more personalised.

Final tip: Have a complaints procedure in place so it’s easy to respond. Ensure your staff is empowered to do this too to solve issues quickly and on the spot.

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