HOW YOU CAN GET BETTER REVIEWS AND MORE REPEAT BUSINESS

it’s easy!

The secret isn’t in “reputation management.” Read below to learn why.

I can tell you from responding to thousands of online restaurant reviews that most people write good reviews. What few bad reviews you get probably aren’t going to sink you, but how you respond to the bad and good reviews can certainly float you higher.  So all those companies selling “reputation management” services that alert you when something is wrong are really just selling scare tactics. What you really need is online customer relationship management. Let me explain.

Alerting you to negative reviews is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Even if you had the time to be sitting in front of your computer responding to reviews, you shouldn’t be the one doing it. You take the reviews too personally. You get mad, defensive and probably are a hot head needing to prove you are right and the complaining customer is wrong. 

Well, that’s the wrong approach, and besides, YOU DON’T HAVE THE TIME!

You can never go wrong with being kind, respectful and timely. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve quickly responded to a POSITIVE review to have the reviewer THANK US for the comments and pledge to return soon. That’s what review management is about. Getting the vast majority of people who are happy with your product and service to feel a personal connection with your restaurant so they come back more often! Arguably even more important is the fact that the hundreds of prospective customers who read the reviews and responses will see you are a restaurant that cares and responds! 

Sure there is the occasional negative review by someone who’s usually venting anger for the moment. When you respond with kindness, more often than not, the reviewer APOLOGIZES and REVISES THE REVIEW.

Now consider this: because Yelp shows reviews in 1/2 star increments, a restaurant whose reviews average 3.74 stars is displayed as a 3.5 star rating, while one who averages ever-so-slightly more, at 3.76  is shown as a 4 star rating! Lifting your average star rating as little as 2/100ths of a point can display as much as a half-star better to the public! A study by Yelp shows that a half star increase results in 19% more reservations. So as little as .02 of a point increase in average review scores make a huge impact on your revenues! That’s why every review counts and if you can get a couple bad ratings improved or removed, that can make all the difference.