Nothing helps your local marketing efforts as much as a listing on popular business directories such as Yelp. Nothing can boost – or hurt – your company like a few public reviews from your most vocal customers. Reviews are a prime source of information potential customers look for to judge if you are worth dong business with or otherwise; this also means that responding to reviews on Yelp and other directories are important to show that you care, you’re listening, and you want to improve the product or services you deliver.
Responding to reviews is relatively straightforward, but it can be quite challenging to distance yourself from a scathing review with some pretty harsh comments. Always remember that your reviewers are human, with human emotions that can be fickle and unpredictable, and most importantly, they’re vocal customers, which is why they posted a review in the first place. If you want every response you make to your reviews count towards helping your local marketing, remember these pointers:
- The only real response to a positive review is a polite thank you, and almost never in public. Avoid inviting people to spread word or giving them freebies and favors, as this can be misconstrued as bribes and is not a practice endorsed by Yelp. Never mind publicly thanking every positive review as this could make it seem you’re overbearing.
- Thank negative reviews for their feedback and offer to clarify issues or correct mistakes. Contrary to what most businessmen fear, it’s when people don’t like what you deliver that you have the best chance of creating a long-lasting, rewarding relationship – you just need to show you’re worth giving a second chance and of course, you need to ace that second chance. That negative review could then turn into a gushing positive review from a loyal patron.
- Mind your wording when responding to negative reviews. Being misinterpreted as condescending or patronizing will make things worse.
- Clarify concerns and offer more info or help where reviews hint at it whenever responding.
- Only publicly comment if the greater public will benefit from seeing the exchange between you and the customer, such as when you divulge information or clarifications where everyone interested should be “in the know.”
- Finally, know when not to respond to reviews – “flamebait” reviews are easily recognizable by your audience too, anyway.
Leverage reviews for local marketing and improve your bottom-line through these tips and tricks on how to respond to Yelp reviews.
