Oh Yelp, bane of restaurant existence, the thorn in our sides, however will we combat your wicked ways? Empathy, efficiency, honesty… the only ways to stay ahead of the Yelp world. Between yourself and the rest of the leadership team, reviews on all platforms are to be responded to daily. We are blessed to have Suresites to aggregate and alert us of all reviews, let's ensure that we do not let that organization go to waste. We could debate the intricacies of the sociopath mindset that leads to some reviews until the end of time but, it will never change the necessity of keeping our online reputation tight.
“Feedback is a gift. Ideas are the currency of our next success. Let people see you value both feedback and ideas.” – Jim Trinka and Les Wallace
As a rule, we never respond to any review publicly, unless it is necessary to acknowledge or correct a core detail such as location, hours, or availability of items. Guests reading reviews can easily take an incorrect narrative of say: being closed on a certain day, because they landed at the wrong address or business entirely. Taking time to publicly correct that information in this case does prove valuable. Keep all communication polite and concise. The reason we typically veer from the public response is simply to avoid feeding the trolls. Some people will take any opportunity to start a battle, get some laughs, or just seek attention from a harsh review.
Dialing back what may seem like a little shade towards the reviewers, let's chat about best practices for creating a mutually beneficial result from a review response. We can equate our digital response directly to how we would handle a situation inside our actual walls. We would address it quickly, practicing genuine empathy, and create a resolution that does the most it can to evoke a positive outcome that ends in a repeat guest. Hell, some of our greatest guests over the years have stood center stage in the middle of an unfortunate event that was handled with enough care to form a bond that pervaded the situation working against it.
Time and time again, we’ve been able to improve our ratings via a well constructed response, simply by instilling the fact that we care, and we are listening. While we always work hard to invite them back, often offering to cover the expenses necessary, or even refunding previous visits where applicable; the favor swings back in our way most often with a simple touch of empathy. As a rule, always thank the reviewer regardless of the nature of the review as we gain value from any feedback, often the most through negative. Listen to where the guest’s experience may have gone wrong, and outline the way in which we may be able to change that for others in the future. Apologize, and be clear about our policies, or the truth in the matter of any negative feedback. There are polite ways to correct someone who may have misunderstood something, or has taken a step of our service, or food item in the wrong way. It's important to never come off with a judgmental, or condescending tone; we are not here to preach. Step down off your pulpit, apologize for that burnt grilled cheese, and invite them back into our home.
As we work to transition the power of your online reputation back into your hands, we wanted to provide you with templates proven to exude the kind of empathy and professionalism that has a track record of earning you back a diner, or at leas the ability to have there faith restored in the group, overall.
Before reaching out to the guest with a private reply on Suresites, or Yelp. Biz, please cross-reference OpenTable and attempt to gain the guest information for direct contact via phone, or email. This personal touch, and connection pays dividends.
You, and your leadership team is required to respond to all reviews, three stars in rating or below, following the response guidelines listed here, and templates below. When you are prepared to respond to a review, screenshot the review and paste it to the body of an email, along with the modified selected response template (specific to the guests experience), and send it over to CH Leadership for approval prior to submission.
Our core aim aim to encourage a return visit, in an effort to provide an improved experience.