Thanking your reviewers is an important part of responding to reviews, regardless of whether they're positive or negative. But while showing gratitude is crucial, it's not the only key to responding. On the contrary, there are many details to consider when creating review responses, from personalizing your replies to keeping your brand messaging consistent.
The good news is that you don't have to write every response from scratch. Instead, your business can save time, increase efficiency, and provide faster support to customers by using ready-made review response templates.
Simply by adjusting a few words, templates allow you to quickly provide every reviewer with a tailored response. Templates also reduce the risk of misspellings and other errors, since portions of the content are already written and edited for you.
This guide features 13 templates your business can use for responding to online reviews, including mixed, negative, and positive reviews.
It also covers tips for thanking customers, discusses managing online reviews more efficiently, and answers some of your most frequently asked questions about dealing with customer feedback.
When responding to customer feedback, just typing "Thank you!" isn't enough. In addition to thanking the customer, your review response must include a few other elements.
For example, it’s best practice to apologize to customers who leave negative reviews, such as 2 star or 1 star ratings. You should also invite happy customers to return for another visit, while encouraging unhappy customers to contact your team for assistance.
For easy readability, it's important to keep your review responses on-topic and concise — ideally, just a few sentences long.
Additionally, all responses should be personalized with review-specific details, like references to products, locations, or staff members.
Below are 13 review response templates your business can use to build custom responses to all types of customer feedback, including positive reviews, negative reviews, and mixed or neutral reviews.
Here are six positive review response templates your business can use to reply to 5 star or 4 star ratings from customers. Just remember to update the template with the appropriate details each time you use it.
Positive review response: "Thank you so much for your positive feedback, [ Customer Name ]! We're absolutely delighted to know that the quality of our [ type of product or service ] exceeded your [ and your family's ] expectations. We'll be sure to pass your kind words along to [ Staff Member ] and let them know how impressed you were by their high-quality service. We hope we've earned your repeat business and look forward to serving you the next time you need [ type of product or service ] in [ Location ]. Thanks again for leaving us such a great review!"
Positive review response: “Thank you, [ Customer Name ], for taking the time to leave us such a wonderful review! We're delighted to know that our team performed outstanding work on your [ type of project/request ]. From [ Staff Member's ] excellent customer service to [ Staff Member's ] fast and thorough [ repair, maintenance, installation ] work, it's always our pleasure to deliver a positive experience. Please don't hesitate to reach out or visit again if there's anything else we can help you with! On behalf of our entire team here at [ Business Name ], thanks again for your 5 star review."
Positive review response: "[ Customer Name ], thank you so much for sharing your positive review with our team! Providing total customer satisfaction is our top priority at [ Business Name ], and we're delighted to hear that you enjoyed such a positive experience [ describe the customer's experience, e.g. "purchasing a new truck from our Los Angeles dealership" ]. We're incredibly grateful for your support and look forward to serving you again on your next visit! Thanks again for your 5 star review of [ Business Name ]."
Positive review response: "Thank you for sharing your feedback with us and giving our [ type of business ] a 5 star review, [ Customer Name ]! It's absolutely wonderful to hear that you highly recommend [ Company Name ], and your kind words about our [ dedicated team members, courteous customer service, luxurious guest amenities, etc. ] are sincerely appreciated by everyone on our staff. It's always our pleasure to create [ memorable, fun, positive, etc. ] experiences for our amazing customers. If there's anything else we can help you with, [ Customer Name ], please feel free to drop by in person or give us a call at [ phone number ]. Thanks again for your positive review!"
Positive review response: “Hi [ Customer Name ], we can't thank you enough for your generous 5 star review and rating. We're so happy to hear how much you enjoyed our [ positive quality ] and [ positive quality ]. Your kind words about our high-quality [ product type ] and [ fast, courteous, friendly, etc. ] customer service truly motivate and inspire our entire team. We take pride in making our customers happy, and hope that we'll have an opportunity to provide you with another great experience in the future. Thanks again for reviewing [ Business Name ], and we look forward to your next visit!”
Positive review response: "[ Customer Name ], we sincerely appreciate your [ kind, thoughtful, flattering, generous, etc. ] review! It's fantastic to hear that you consistently enjoy our [ business feature/type of product ]. From all of us here on the [ Business Name ] team, it's always our pleasure to provide you with [ friendly, efficient, etc. ] service and [ other positive quality ]. Thanks again for your review, and we're looking forward to your next visit!"
Negative feedback requires a different strategy than responding to positive reviews: while you still need to personalize your responses and thank your customers, you also need to apologize to your reviewers and provide them with some sort of solution or path forward.
Here are four templates your business can use for responding to negative reviews.
Negative review response: "Hi [ Customer Name ], thank you for taking the time to leave us detailed feedback about your visit to our [ Town or City ] location. Please accept our sincere apologies that your [ meal, tour, visit, room, etc. ] wasn't completely satisfying. Your comments are being carefully reviewed by our leadership so that we can make future improvements. We would be grateful for an opportunity to make this right with you, and we encourage you to contact us at [ phone number or email address ] so that we can work toward a resolution together. We thank you again for your review, [ Customer Name ], and look forward to hearing from you soon."
Negative review response: "Hi [ Customer Name ], thank you so much for sharing your comments. We are truly saddened to hear that you were disappointed by our [ type of product ] and are sorry that your experience fell short of expectations. Your feedback helps us provide a better customer experience and is being carefully reviewed by our management. We hope that you'll consider returning so that we can provide you with the 5 star experience you deserve. If there's anything else we can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact us directly at [ phone number or email address ]. Thanks again for taking the time to leave us a review."
Negative review response: "Thank you for bringing your concerns to our team’s attention, [ Customer Name ]. We appreciate your valuable feedback and are truly sorry to hear about your experience [ picking up your items, rescheduling your appointment, visiting our new location, etc. ]. We strive to provide the best service possible and are here to make this right with you. Please contact us directly at [ phone number or email address ] at your earliest convenience so that we can discuss this matter further. We look forward to hearing from you soon!”
Negative review response: "Thank you, [ Customer Name ], for sharing your valuable insights with our team. We're very sorry that you haven't been completely satisfied with our [ type of product or service ]. We're committed to providing excellent customer service and are here to work with you toward getting this matter resolved. Our manager, [ Manager Name ], will be in touch with you soon to discuss potential solutions moving forward. We appreciate your feedback, [ Customer Name ], and look forward to speaking more with you."
Some online reviews contain a mixture of negative and positive feedback. For example, the reviewer might praise your company's service while complaining about its pricing, or compliment a staff member while negatively reviewing your product.
Here are three review response examples that show how to deal with mixed feedback.
Neutral or mixed review response: "Hi [ Customer Name ], thanks for taking the time to share your detailed review with us. We appreciate your kind words about the [ professionalism, courtesy, excellent service, etc. ] of our [ job title ], [ Staff Member ]. However, we're sorry to hear that other aspects of your customer experience were less positive. We always strive to [ ensure that our pricing is transparent, make our customers feel welcome, return calls and messages promptly, etc. ], and are here to help resolve any concerns you might have about [ type of issue ]. If you need assistance from our team, please don't hesitate to contact us at [ phone number or email address ]. Thanks again for reviewing [ Business Name ]!"
Neutral or mixed review response: "We’re sorry to see you frustrated, [ Customer Name ], and we’re sincerely grateful that you took the time to share this feedback with us. While we’re thrilled to know that our company’s stellar reputation inspired you to contact us, we’re saddened to learn that you did not [ receive your estimate, hear back from us promptly, etc. ]. This doesn’t reflect our high standards for customer satisfaction, and we hope you’ll consider giving us another chance to provide the exceptional service that [ Business Name ] is known for. Thank you again for leaving us a review.”
Neutral or mixed review response: "Thank you for sharing feedback about your customer experience with us, [ Customer Name ]. We’re glad that our team was [ friendly, efficient, courteous, helpful, etc. ] when [ performing task ]. We understand your [ frustration, concern, disappointment, etc. ] and truly apologize for any inconvenience resulting from this [ misunderstanding, miscommunication, delay ]. Please be assured that we’re taking measures to streamline our [ application, scheduling, set-up, etc. ] process and prevent this from happening again. We hope we’ll have the chance to serve you in the future and deliver the seamless, convenient experience our customers deserve."
Should you respond to every review?
If so, should you always thank the reviewer — even when their feedback is negative?
And what are some different ways to say “thank you” without becoming repetitive?
Let’s start with the first question.
Generally speaking, the answer is yes, you should respond to every review your business receives. However, there are a few important exceptions:
Your business should report, rather than respond to, these types of reviews. You can monitor and flag reviews manually or — the more efficient approach — use a review removal service to automate the task for you.
As for the second question, the short answer is yes. It’s best practice to always thank the customer whenever you respond to a review, even if the comment you’re responding to is negative.
Here are two reasons why:
While you need to thank every reviewer, you must also avoid repetitive phrasing. So, what are some different ways to thank customers for negative or positive reviews?
Here are 14 examples:
There’s no question that templates make it faster and easier for businesses to create high-quality review responses — but what if a better approach offered even greater efficiency?
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Your business can receive alerts when responses are ready, approve responses for publication, or request revisions via email or text, ensuring that every word meets your quality standards and aligns with your brand messaging.
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