These days, most business reviews – whether positive or negative – are shared publicly using platforms like Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor.
When a reviewer shares a complaint about your business online, it’s crucial to respond appropriately; otherwise, you risk alienating potential customers and holding back your brand’s growth.
Another advantage of responding to customer complaints is that it makes consumers more likely to choose your business. According to data from Brightlocal, a higher percentage of consumers say they’d consider using a business that responds to both positive and negative reviews, compared to a business that only responds to one or the other.
The question is, what should you say in your reply? How do you maintain a professional tone that encourages a positive outcome? And how can you optimize the efficiency of your overall response strategy?
This guide answers all of those questions. Read on to learn how to write the perfect response to a customer complaint on Google, Yelp, or any other platform.
Each reply you write should be tailored to the customer complaint.
However, while your replies should be as unique as your reviews, there are still some basic rules of thumb you should always strive to follow.
Here are seven methods to deal successfully with online customer complaints:
Following these best practices will help your team produce more professional and effective replies to customer complaints on review sites like Yelp.
Let’s take a closer look at each one, including example screenshots and review response templates your business can use.
Why it matters: Using the customer's name (or username, where applicable) is an easy but effective way to increase the amount of personalization in each of your review replies.
Of course, you can omit the name if the reviewer is anonymous.
How to do it: “Hi [Customer Name], thanks for taking the time to share your review with our team.”
More templates:
Why it matters: Apologizing shows that you empathize with the customer’s situation and are taking ownership of their negative experience.
Offering an apology can also help de-escalate the customer’s emotions and pave the way for a smoother offline conversation.
How to do it: “We sincerely apologize for the [inconvenience, disappointment, frustration] you experienced during your recent [visit, stay, appointment, phone call].”
More templates:
Why it matters: Customers expect personalization in 2024. That means it’s essential to customize every response you write to online feedback.
Even if you’re responding to a rating with no comment, you can still personalize your reply by using the reviewer’s name and addressing the number of stars you received.
How to do it: “We’re glad to hear that [positive elements from the review], but are sorry that other aspects of your experience weren’t as satisfactory. It’s our intent to ensure that [homeowners, residents, diners, visitors] can trust the quality of our [repairs, maintenance, food, products].”
More templates:
Why it matters: Apologizing is essential – but without meaningful action to support it, even the best apology is meaningless from a customer’s point of view.
After apologizing to the reviewer, emphasize that your customer service agents want to help get their issue fully resolved.
How to do it: “We want to take every step we can to make this up to you and deliver the outstanding experience our valued customers deserve. We hope you’ll consider contacting our customer support team so that we can ensure you receive [prompt assistance, help with your issue, a discount coupon, a coupon code].”
More response templates:
Why it matters: It’s important not to downplay or argue with a customer’s feelings.
However, you can apologize for a negative experience while highlighting your brand's positives.
Incorporating positive language into your reply is a way to remind readers of your values – and encourage them to choose your brand over others.
How to do it: “We pride ourselves on delivering outstanding customer service and apologize for falling short of your expectations.”
More templates:
Why it matters: A dissatisfied or angry customer is at high risk of abandoning your brand – potentially, for one of your biggest competitors.
Your reply to their review is an opportunity to turn things around by initiating an offline conversation where you can resolve the situation without disclosing too many details publicly.
Steer the customer toward phone calls, email responses, or other methods of contacting your team for further assistance regarding their complaint.
How to do it: “Please reach out to our customer service team at your earliest convenience.”
More templates:
Why it matters: Your reply’s speed is just as important as its content. Responding promptly is especially critical when dealing with serious customer issues, which must be resolved swiftly.
Aim to respond in 24 hours or less, and urgently prioritize any review that deals with safety or discrimination.
How to do it: There are a few steps you can take to increase your average reply speed.
These steps include:
Now that we’ve broken down some of the elements that go into a reply to a negative customer review, let’s analyze a few more examples of responses from real businesses.
Type of company: Fast food restaurant
Customer rating: 3 stars
Type of complaint: Somewhat unsatisfactory customer service, room for improvement in overall customer experience
Why the owner's reply works:
Type of company: Fast food restaurant
Customer rating: 1 star
Type of complaint: Incorrect order received, dissatisfaction with customer service provided
Why the owner's reply works:
Type of company: Car dealership
Customer rating: 1 star
Type of complaint: Unsatisfactory customer service
Why the owner's reply works:
Type of company: Auto dealership
Customer rating: 1 star
Type of complaint: Slow service/long wait times, confusing and dissatisfying customer experience
Why the owner's reply works:
Type of company: Car wash service
Customer rating: 1 star
Type of complaint: Problems with company website, difficulty completing online transactions
Why the owner's reply works:
A coordinated review reply strategy can help your business earn loyal customers by:
ResponseScribe empowers you to achieve these goals and elevate your business to new heights.
Say goodbye to the hassle and inefficiency of tracking review platforms yourself. Our service handles review monitoring for you, ensuring you’ll never miss a notification or alert.
We monitor more than 50 review platforms, business directories, and social media networks for ratings, complaints, and positive reviews. Platforms we monitor include Yelp, Facebook, the Better Business Bureau, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Google, Angi, Yellowpages.com, and more.
Missing a platform you want us to monitor? Let us know and we’ll connect your account seamlessly.
ResponseScribe does more than pull your reviews into one convenient, centralized hub – we also take care of responding to your customers, freeing your team members to focus on other projects.
We provide an end-to-end review response service for small businesses, ensuring your reviewers receive personalized replies in 24 hours or less. Every reply is crafted to reflect your brand’s language and values, without the inefficiency of having to write it yourself.
Make customer satisfaction a top priority for your business in 2024. Find the plan that fits your organization’s needs and start building stronger relationships with your customers today.
Responding to bad reviews is a cost-effective way to:
ResponseScribe ensures that your reviewers on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook receive professional, personalized replies in under 24 hours, empowering your business to provide better and faster customer service – without spending any time writing.
Ready to accelerate your small business’ growth? Start your free trial of ResponseScribe today.
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