Responding to Negative Reviews: Turning Criticism into Opportunity

Review Management Aug 2, 2024

Negative reviews. Sounds like every restaurant owner’s nightmare, right? But the truth is, they don’t need to be.

If you know how to handle them the right way, you can use negative reviews as chances to improve, boost your SEO, and keep more customers coming back.

Not sure how? We have all the details in this blog. Let’s get into it.

Understanding the Impact of Negative Reviews

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of handling negative reviews, let's understand why they matter so much. Online review statistics show that 54.7% of consumers read at least four reviews prior to purchasing.

Negative reviews can affect your reputation, lower your SEO rankings, and ultimately, deter potential customers. And how you respond makes the difference.

But they can also be a good thing, beyond making your rating more credible (nobody trusts a 5-star rating more than a 4.8, right?)

When handled well, negative reviews can showcase your commitment to excellent customer service and willingness to improve. Responding to negative reviews can even help with potential customers looking to dine with you. 45% of consumers are more likely to support businesses if they see that they’ve responded to negative reviews.

Now, let's look at the steps you can take to turn these critiques into opportunities.

Immediate Steps to Take When a Negative Review Comes In

First things first, stay calm. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but it's necessary. Responding in the heat of the moment can lead to defensive or insincere replies that could make the situation worse. Instead, take a deep breath and look into what happened.

Follow these 3 steps and responding to negative reviews will be easy.

Stay Calm and Objective: Like we said before, it’s human nature to get defensive at negative reviews but staying calm is important. Remember, your response will be public. Keeping your cool will help you craft the most thoughtful response to any issue that comes your way.
Assess the Situation: Figure out if the complaint is legit. Was it a one-off bad night, or is it an issue that’s been brewing? Understanding the context will help you address the concern appropriately.
Timely Response: Responding right away shows that you care about customer feedback. A quick response can prevent further damage and might even turn the reviewer’s opinion around. We recommend a best practice of responding in 48 hours, but within a week is a must.

Crafting an Effective Response

Now that you're calm and have assessed the review, it's time to respond. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to respond to negative restaurant reviews effectively.

Acknowledge the Feedback: Start by thanking the reviewer for their feedback. It starts things off on a positive note. Extra points if you personalize it to include their name.

Example: "Ashley, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us."

Apologize Sincerely: Offer a genuine apology for the negative experience. This can go a long way in making your customer feel heard.

Example: "We're sad to hear that your visit didn’t meet your expectations."

Address the Issue: Directly address the specific concerns raised. This shows that you have read their review carefully and are taking their feedback seriously.

Example: "We are sorry for the long wait time with your food order. We understand how frustrating that can be."

Offer a Solution: Provide a solution or compensation to correct the situation. This might include a discount, a free meal, or a personal invitation to return. This could also include an update on what you have done to fix the issue.

Example: "We’ve updated our system to provide a more accurate wait time in the future. We’d love to make it up to you on your next visit."

Take the Conversation Offline: Encourage the reviewer to contact you directly to discuss the issue further. This takes the conversation offline and allows for more personal interaction.

Example: "Please reach out to us at [contact information] so we can make things right for you."

Turning Negative Reviews into Positive Outcomes

Now that you’ve responded effectively, it’s time to turn that feedback into actionable improvements.

Identify Patterns: If multiple reviews highlight the same issue, it’s a sign that something needs to change. Look for common themes in negative feedback. Marqii offers insights like these in our dashboard by providing analytics such as word clouds, sentiment analysis reports and more.
Implement Changes: Use the feedback to make tangible improvements. Whether it’s better training for your staff, changes in menu items, or enhancements in the dining experience, take action.

Like we mentioned, this is an opportunity to provide a better experience for your customers. Especially if your reviews touch on a common issue. The more improvements you make, the better your reviews will become.

Best Practices for Ongoing Review Management

Handling negative reviews doesn’t stop with a single response. Continuous monitoring and engagement are key to maintaining a positive online presence.

Monitor Reviews Regularly: Set up notifications for new reviews across platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Regular monitoring allows you to respond promptly and keep track of customer sentiments. To make things easier, Marqii pulls reviews from all of your review channels into one place. Sounds neat? Learn more here.
Engage with All Reviews: Respond to both positive and negative reviews. Thanking customers for their positive feedback shows appreciation and encourages repeat visits. Not to mention, it helps with local SEO. Search engines prefer businesses that are actively engaging with their guest reviews.
Train Your Team: Make sure that your team knows how to handle feedback constructively. Training your staff in excellent customer service can prevent issues from arising in the first place.

Real World Examples

Real-world examples can be incredibly motivating. Let’s look at a few examples from real Marqii clients and how our Managed Reviews Team responds to negative restaurant reviews:

Food quality seemed to be an issue for this customer and he was not shy about giving his feedback. This could have been incredibly frustrating to read from the restaurant’s point of view. Luckily, they have the Managed Reviews Team in their corner. They acknowledged Chris by name, and let him know this is not the experience they aim to give. And of course, they offered to speak further so there can be a resolution to the issue.

Let’s take a look at another type of negative review. This one’s an hours of operation issue.

This situation is unique, but providing customers with context about an operational issue is a great approach. It demonstrates transparency and reminds everyone that, at the end of the day, teams are just human. To take it a step further, they offered a free pastry and drink to compensate for the Uber costs the customer incurred getting to their restaurant. Any potential visitor reading this interaction can see that this restaurant takes customer service seriously.

Let’s take a look at one more example.

We may not love detailed negative reviews, but they are helpful when figuring out how to respond. This review response checks all the boxes of what we discussed earlier. The responder stayed cool, answered politely, thanked the customer for their feedback, genuinely apologized, and assured the customer that this experience was not typical. They also offered a solution, informed the customer that the team would be made aware of the feedback, and suggested taking the conversation offline for further resolution.

Responding to negative reviews can be daunting, but having a successful formula makes it much easier.

These responses were crafted by Marqii’s Managed Review Response team. They help owners like you stay on top of their reviews by working with the brand to understand their tone of voice, escalation process and responding to reviews through the Marqii dashboard.

This takes the personal out of it and you can rest assured emotions will never be an issue when responding to a negative restaurant review. Learn more today!

Using Marqii to Respond to Negative Reviews

Responding to negative reviews might seem like a hassle, but with the right approach, it can be a powerful tool for improvement and customer retention. By staying calm, crafting thoughtful responses, and using feedback to drive positive changes, you can turn criticism into opportunity.

Remember, every review is a chance to grow rather than a setback. And if you’re looking for a helping hand in monitoring online reviews and managing your restaurant’s online presence, Marqii is here to make things easier for you.

As we mentioned before, our team can help take the load off by responding to reviews for you. But if you’re not ready to hand the baton off just yet, Marqii still has your back. Our platform pulls in reviews from all your channels into one easy-to-use dashboard. No more logging into Google, then Yelp, then OpenTable... you get the picture.

And since we are talking about using negative reviews to drive improvement, we’ve got the tools for that too. Marqii’s analytics help identify trends and sentiment scores that you can use to make meaningful changes.

Sounds pretty neat, right? Schedule a Demo today to learn more.