This isn’t the obvious “do a better job” article. This is about the mindset of someone who would post a bad review…and what we do to make them think twice before ever posting it.
People who post bad reviews want the world to know about their experience for one of three reasons.
- To try to hurt the restaurant–revenge.
- To look smart–like they know something the cook, staff or management does not.
- To get sympathy because they like to be the victim.
Having a history of well-thought out responses stops a writer with any of those reasons before he or she might write a bad review.
- If you have a history of responding to revenge-based posts in a way that shows you are happy to learn from and correct a mistake if you made one, as well as politely inviting the offended back in, the person getting ready to write a revenge-focused review will realize your response will make him feel guilty, not satisfied. Often they just don’t write it at all.
- So often customers like to showcase their knowledge is greater than yours: “doesn’t your cook know pasta should be al dente?” But if your responses to similar posts always politely show you have expertise the reviewer can’t match, he will think twice about posting an “I know best” review.
- Victims love sympathy, both from you and (they assume, the readers). By always apologizing in a way that quickly accepts responsibility but creates doubt sympathy was deserved, readers don’t feel sympathetic toward the review. Rather, they view him as a complainer. When someone thinks that might happen to them, they just don’t write the review at all. “We’re sorry you felt your steak was overcooked, John. If it were, we wish you would have notified your server so we could have quickly prepared you another one exactly to your liking. We’re certain next time we see you we’ll be able to cook your steak precisely the way you love it.”
By always having public review responses that stop a prospective negative reviewer in his tracks, your star rating will naturally go up and business will boom!