How Do You Respond to a Yelp Review
12 Examples of Bully Responses to Negative Yelp Reviews
Negative reviews can experience like a slap in the confront, which is completely understandable — you're passionate about what y'all do, and it hurts when someone says something negative about your business organisation.
The fact is, you can't make everyone happy, and it's inevitable that at some signal one of your customers will mail a review that doesn't paint your company in the greatest light…in a public forum… for all your current and potential customers to see. (Yikes!)
What should you do when a client writes a negative review about you on Yelp?
Nosotros're going to show you lot twelve great examples of how business owners have handled this sticky situation and show you how you tin can learn from them.
Responding to negative Yelp reviews is a must
Equally a modest business concern owner, it'southward your responsibility to manage your reputation, and online reviews are critical to referrals. According to BrightLocal'south Almanac Local Consumer Report Survey 2018, 89% of consumers read business' responses to reviews.
That means consumers are watching you on Yelp. Your prospects want to see how y'all handle positive and negative feedback. Information technology's an important buying indicator for them.
If you think that your prospects aren't really searching for client reviews of your business online, think again. Brightlocal found that 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and the numbers increase within younger demographics.
Consumers end upwardly reading an average of ten reviews online before they begin trusting a local business. And then if your Yelp review game isn't stiff, then y'all should consider working on it!
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Taking the time to resolve issues online shows your community that you value every customer, no affair what they have to say.
The good news is that you lot tin can often reduce or even opposite the effects of a negative review by crafting a clear, professional response as quickly as possible.
According to Yelp, responding to a review within a 24-hour time flow makes the reviewer 33% more probable to upgrade their review.
If you're non sure how to approach a negative review, or aren't sure nigh how to turn the situation around, take a look at some strategies beneath.
READ MORE: Forbid negative reviews in the start place past sending customer feedback surveys
1. Forgetting to follow-up
Permit's be real: it'due south not easy to go along runway of every client interaction. You either have to exist on the ball, or have a fantastic field service CRM to remind you to follow-up after a client interaction or site visit. On top of that, following upwards later a quote can be tricky to navigate too.
If yous observe yourself in this situation, take inspiration from Justin, Owner of A & J Fencing. He has done a swell chore of sincerely taking buying of the situation.
He has besides personalized the message past addressing the reviewer by name. He acknowledged that he may have lost the reviewer as a customer; however, he has asked for some other chance to "earn" their business.
Justin's response shows the audience that he is actively trying to learn from his mistakes and is making changes in his business to address them.
It's one thing to apologize, but it's another thing to say that yous're acknowledging the issue and doing something nigh it. Showing the audience that you're making improvements is crucial considering it displays how much yous intendance most customer service.
If there is any mode to earn your business in the time to come please let me know.
Justin Lena, A & J Fencing
2. Failing to answer telephone phone call complaints
John from Response Pest Command does a swell job at keeping a level-caput in this interaction. Instead of calling the writer out, he tries his best to explicate where he went wrong and why information technology happened.
Although some folks might view this as John just making excuses, bear in mind that he owns his mistakes, and still takes full responsibility for the lack of communication. He is as well trying his best to instill some empathy in this author by explaining what it'south like to own a small business, and then the audition tin can set some off-white expectations when they try to contact him.
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3. Engagement no-shows
This review is a classic example of a small fault that snowballed into a big deal for the business possessor. It'south very challenging to proceed your book of business organization in line if you're relying on spreadsheets or pen and paper. Mistakes can be made when y'all don't take trackable client history and notes attached to every account, similar y'all would in a CRM.
However, Trimaine took a lot of time to write the reviewer back and apologize for the mistake, and he did an excellent chore.
Although his response is a flake long, he fabricated sure to respond with empathy, of import details, an explanation, and a solution to offer the customer.
We love this review response because Trimaine is very professional person with his word selection. He'due south transparent about what happened because he wants to explain how the mistake happened (by the fault of his squad). He wants to make sure that all the readers know the state of affairs, and what his squad did to rectify it so it won't happen once again. He also shows the audience that he'll go above and beyond to become back in touch with the reviewer.
Finally, he publicly acknowledges how frustrating this fault was, and offers bounty out of pocket–something that's usually done in individual with the customer. He shows everyone that he's non agape to pay for mistakes if information technology means that his customers are happy.
This response was so professional and sincere that it led to the reviewer posting a five-star follow-up review!
4. Owning up to pricing issues or misunderstandings one-on-one
Sometimes a situation might be too challenging to explain or solve over a Yelp review. In these cases, the best course of action is to have things out of the public eye. Although we aren't sure what came of this situation, we tin be sure that the business possessor cares nigh customer service enough to offering a solution in private. They gave the reviewer a few dissimilar ways to get in impact offline.
This is important because information technology shows the audience that the business owner is willing to work with the client in the event of a dispute, instead of ignoring them or getting defensive in public.
Nosotros are committed to providing the highest level of service and would like to hear more nigh your personal situation. Please email our Customer Relation Specialist at...
Alberto, HVAC Service Heating & Air Conditioning
5. Re-negotiating with facts
We all know the infamous platitude…but the customer isn't ever correct— and when they are wrong, it tin seize with teeth you. For case, they might over exaggerate their claim, forget crucial details, or try and make a case against you if they're not happy. The best thing that you can do is be transparent with them and the audition.
In this example, Austin politely called out the customer on some basic facts that don't align with their claims. It doesn't injure to exercise this if you lot can exist fair about it. It can reposition the negative review to expect a fleck unreasonable given what'southward in plain sight (similar vehicle branding and website information.) This business owner does a great task of explaining their side of the conversation without seeming accusatory or rude.
6. Answer positive reviews, as well
Even if the review is peachy, information technology's notwithstanding adept to follow-up. This helps you ensure that your customer knows you've heard their concerns and value their business. It also shows all the other readers that y'all personally care about the concern and your customer satisfaction. That in and of itself can make someone decide to rent you over your competitors.
When your clients write you a solid review make sure to ship them a follow-up email, or mark it down in your CRM customer notes and then you lot can offer them a minor thank-you lot when you see them side by side.
Thank you so much for taking the time to give us this feedback...Thank you so much for the business organisation and nosotros await forward to exist of service to you in the hereafter!
Tami, Acclaimed! Heating, Cooling, & Furnace Cleaning
7. A client's misunderstanding turns into a negative Yelp review
This client might have needed a refresher before they went to review Yarrow Landscaping. This is a very common mistake–especially when clients are a scrap disgruntled. They might forget what they asked you to do, and information technology adds to their existing frustration (which might not have been your error to begin with). Even so, Staci did a fantastic chore responding to the customer in this circumstance.
Her approach was to give the reviewer a gentle reminder about the context of the project. She likewise made it a point to reconnect with the client and make sure she did everything possible to ensure they were satisfied. The results paid off as the client updated their review.
Some of y'all might recall that giving context to a negative review is the same equally giving excuses— merely it's not. Sometimes it'southward the only way to explain where the feedback is coming from.
This business owner did a great job of explaining the state of affairs in a positive mode that makes information technology seem like all decisions were fabricated to "support" the customer however possible. This interaction resulted in an updated positive review later some offline interaction.
In the futurity, the best style to avoid this situation is to make certain that the client signs off on project changes during the quote approval process. Having written proof to dorsum you upwardly ensures everyone is on the same folio.
8. Poor customer service that doesn't reflect your business organization
If you lot haven't had this experience yet, you know someone who has. A client complains about customer service that is well below the bar you hold your employees at.
In this circumstance, Chelsea apologizes for this reviewer'southward bad experience and also reinforces that this is non what her business organization considers to be good service. She does a great task of empathizing with the disappointment.
The important matter about Chelsea's response is that she does not attempt and justify or explain why the customer received unsatisfactory service. Instead she apologizes, and offers to take the conversation offline in order to do what she can to plow this unhappy customer into a happy one.
We are very disappointed to larn that our support team did not handle your example with the care and efficiency our customers deserve...
Chelsea, TruGreen Backyard Care
nine. Dissatisfied customers can write lengthy, detailed bad reviews you demand to clean up after
Once again, this business organization owner experiences a complaint that does non reflect their company values or service standards.
However, the difference between this response and the one above is brevity.
If y'all retrieve that responding to a negative Yelp review needs to take a few hours to get things sorted, don't be and so sure. While a lengthy response is nice, sometimes a brusque, polite, and professional message is all you need to address a negative review.
The business possessor wrote a short response dorsum and did a prissy job of explaining that they were not happy with the customer'south experience. They "sincerely apologized for anything less than an excellent feel," and explained that the dissatisfied customer's feel "is not the norm."
The business possessor was willing to practice what information technology takes to become the customer happy offline. They explained that they emailed the client and wished to go far touch with them, and promised that they would "curve over backwards to make certain" the client was satisfied.
The customer ended upward re-writing their review and rounded upwardly to 3.5 stars after one employee reached out to them. Friendly Maid Firm offered the customer a full refund, which was plenty to convince the unhappy customer that this company has "impressive" customer service. They even admitted on Yelp that they would try this cleaning concern again in the futurity!
10. Employee mistakes that tarnish your reputation
Ryan, the business owner, did a great chore addressing an awful situation. While this has nothing to exercise with the business' service, it has everything to practice with its reputation. Ryan'southward reaction was empathetic, respectful, and off-white. He took responsibility for his squad, even though their deportment practise not represent him or his visitor'south values.
This is very important to note. Your employees are the face of your visitor and everything that they do reflects back on y'all. To rectify this situation, Ryan publicly outlines the company values, what actions he is going to accept with his squad, and how he is willing to help the bystanders.
Readers intendance a lot near how a business owner reacts to employee behaviour. The fact that Ryan cares so much nigh the trouble that he is going to take visitor-wide action speaks volumes.
As the business owner, I am embarrassed and horrified to hear this...Nosotros will attempt to determine which employee this was and take corrective action.
Ryan, Excel Home Painting
11. Questionable negative Yelp reviews
This reviewer posted with a random screen name, no photo, and didn't give any insight into the type of work that was done. This situation happens occasionally when an aggravated customer doesn't want to show their face online. However, sometimes information technology happens when a competitor is trying to get an unfair advantage over you.
Information technology'south very mutual for business owners to respond with sly or rude remarks to the author. Eric, nonetheless, did a not bad job responding to this comment.
He enforced his company values by letting the reviewer know that they desire to resolve the situation. He also gently asked if they have the right business organization without brushing them off or beingness condescending. This was a adept move on his part considering it allows the audience to think critically about who the writer is on their ain terms without Eric suggesting that they are in the wrong.
This could help the reader realize that the negative Yelp review was posted unfairly and disregard it.
I'm deplorable nosotros let you downwards by not responding promptly when you lot chosen. Please have my sincerest apologies.
John P., 1st Response Pest Control
12. Negative reviews… that aren't for your business?
With the sheer number of businesses out there, it is inevitable that you'll receive a review that isn't meant for you lot. That'due south what happened above.
Denise did a swell task of responding to this review. She reinforced her company's customer service process and explained why it didn't line up with the experience that the reviewer was describing. Instead of expressing her frustration with the mix-up, or correcting the author, she was extremely professional and polite. Denise'south response was fantabulous because it communicated her company's protocol and quoting process to the audition, which makes Height Roofing Contractors look great online.
How NOT to answer negative Yelp reviews
The worst thing you can do when responding to a review is appear confrontational, accusatory, angry, or emotional — even if that is exactly how yous feel.
You don't want to start a fight with a customer in a public forum that could potentially tank your business organization, nor practise you want to seem footling or unprofessional.
Here'due south what Not to do when crafting your response:
- Be defensive, sly, or backhanded
- Try to "testify a point"
- Try and make the writer look bad
- Invite a rebuttal
- Write a long response
- Signal fingers
- Swear or apply offensive linguistic communication
Turn unhappy customers into your biggest fans on review websites
When writing your response to a negative Yelp review, be brief, apologize, and become to the point. Steer the customer towards having a conversation offline. You tin can then return to the original online conversation once the effect has been resolved, and give thanks them for their business organisation and the chance to ready the problem.
Hither are some central points to keep in heed:
- Respond quickly (within 24-hours)
- Personalize the message
- Be sincere in your apology
- Resolve the issue and offer a solution
- Thank the client for their feedback
- Highlight company values
- Keep information technology as brief as possible while acknowledging the issue
- Sign off with your name
No i is looking for a perfect response or solution, they just want their concerns to exist heard, understood, and addressed.
If y'all can do that on a public forum similar Yelp, and then you'll make your negative reviewer happy, and you'll evidence potential customers that you're an honest and trustworthy business. Sometimes that'southward enough to convince them to hire you when all is said and done.
Run into our mail How to Answer to Negative Reviews (with Adept Examples) for more tips on responding to negative reviews.
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