HOW TO RESPOND TO CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Responding to customer reviews is an essential part of building a positive perception of your brand among your target audience. When customers post comments voluntarily, which serve as user-generated content, treat this as a gift, especially if they are positive.

Interacting with customers demonstrates a high level of service and the human side of the brand. It’s crucial not to ignore reviews, whether positive, neutral, or negative. Quick, personalized, and thoughtful responses contribute to increased audience loyalty and boost sales.

Article Outline

• Why are reviews and responses important?
• How to respond to a negative customer review?
• What to reply to a satisfied customer’s review?
• Examples of how to respond to customer reviews
• Helpful tips for communicating with your target audience
• Conclusions

Why Are Reviews and Responses Important?

Any reviews indicate whether the brand can be trusted. For businesses on social media, reviews also serve as an indicator of the company’s experience. The more reviews there are, the more potential buyers will trust a new store.

The type of reviews that get the most attention depends on the business field. For example, marketing agencies benefit most from case studies with informative texts and screenshots, while beauty salons or dental clinics often feature before-and-after work examples. These types of reviews are usually collaborative efforts between the company and its clients. However, when it comes to purely user-generated comments, over which you have no control regarding content and publication, the best approach is to respond promptly.

According to RetailersUA, 75% of clients pay attention to reviews before purchasing, and 91% make decisions based on positive reviews. Meanwhile, 15% of buyers don’t trust a brand without reviews at all.

Of course, reviews impact the brand’s image. Companies can influence their reputation through various means: improving product and service quality, encouraging clients to leave positive comments, offering discounts, requesting tags on social media, and creating unboxing or product review videos. However, consumers are more likely to speak about a product or service when they’re dissatisfied. So, let’s start by examining ways to handle negative feedback.

How to Respond to a Negative Customer Review?

53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week, and 63% report that their complaints went unanswered.

“Responding to a negative review is an opportunity to show your character and build positive connections with customers.” — “How to Respond to Negative Feedback from Customers”, — Mandy Bray

Interestingly, some marketplaces have specific rules for responding to customer reviews, requiring registered sellers to respond to all comments promptly and correctly.

Sometimes, negative feedback is directed at the marketplace itself, its features, or services. In such cases, customer service specialists provide a brief written response, thank the customer for their inquiry, and offer further assistance if needed. These feedback queries can escalate into a negative flow if there is a delay in response, but they are valuable to employees, helping them identify technical issues, improve service, and recognize usability challenges in the platform.

Specialized review sites, often categorized by industry, require particular attention from business owners or brand reputation specialists.

A neutral review example could be a customer’s impression of a dish at China Ma. If the customer generally enjoyed the experience but criticized one item, thank them for the feedback and take the conversation offline by offering a free dish or a discount on lunch or dinner. This way, a partially dissatisfied customer can become a brand advocate.

“It’s essential to apologize for a negative review, regardless of whether you think it’s justified. Even if you feel their anger or disappointment is misplaced, remember they likely felt frustrated or disappointed enough to share feedback.” — “How to Write a Thank You Letter for Customer Feedback”, — Swetha Amaresan

Sometimes companies face toxic customers who are rarely satisfied. They demand attention, though this may not always be justified. Company representatives should respond even to less substantiated reviews, but if substantial effort has been made and the situation repeats, it’s wise to politely explain the reasons and potential next steps.

Perhaps this customer isn’t a good fit for the company, and no amount of apologies or business gestures will change that. The best solution is to express regret and calmly opt out of future interactions.

In some cases, a series of apologies reaches a point where it’s time to end the collaboration. This is common in businesses offering informational or advertising services. Marketing agencies, development companies, and SMM specialists need to filter their target audience at the contract stage, though sometimes only analyzing a negative review clarifies that “we are not a good fit”.

Responses to reviews should be concise, with all details discussed by phone or private messages. Sometimes, however, reviews are received by intermediaries, network owners, etc.

Use general guidelines for handling negative statements about your product or service, company, or employee.

• Don’t take criticism personally. This is especially common for business owners or key specialists. However, criticism of work doesn’t mean you’re a bad entrepreneur or employee. Remember, this is only one particular situation, and the opinion expressed is subjective.
• Try to always respond, but emotionally distance yourself from the negativity. Aggressive or hurtful comments are just the consumer’s viewpoint, nothing more.
• Although delaying a response for too long is unwise, you don’t need to reply to criticism immediately. Take a pause, reflect on what was said, and calmly formulate your response.
• Avoid toxic clients. If you recognize that you’re dealing with a customer who takes pleasure in conflicts and demeaning managers or others interacting with them, don’t engage in a discussion. Try to settle all financial matters and politely end the relationship.

In both everyday life and business, it’s beneficial to practice mindfulness. This technique helps control emotional reactions. You’ve likely noticed customer service staff who remain friendly in any situation. It requires genuine positivity and kindness since insincerity is easy to spot. To relieve tension and avoid conflict in every misunderstanding, try smiling and recalling positive moments.

What to Reply to a Satisfied Customer’s Review?

Satisfied customers often place repeat orders, but without communication with the brand, cooperation may end with a single positive review.

To keep a loyal customer from turning to competitors, it’s essential to respond to positive reviews and make appealing offers. We don’t recommend applying cross-sell or up-sell in response to reviews. However, offering a discount as a thank-you is a great way to enhance the customer’s positive emotions and encourage repeat purchases or visits. Personalization is particularly relevant here (using the customer’s name, congratulating them on a special date).

Personalization is a universal part of good etiquette, but it’s especially valuable for local businesses, such as dining venues or beauty salons. This is not only about addressing the client by name but also about a personalized approach overall, including understanding specific client needs and selecting the product just for them.

Collect and store customer data, if possible, to use in future communication. Also, consider the context in which the review was posted. If a visitor tagged your establishment in a story and it’s clear they’re celebrating a birthday, feel free to congratulate them and offer a small bonus.

Positive video reviews are not always paid user-generated content. Sometimes, clients take the initiative and share information about service or products creatively. Use such reviews on your social media pages and website, but always get the author’s permission first.

Even if you arrange for positive reviews with customers, they should be genuine and written after the product has been used. Fake positive reviews are a problem even for large companies, negatively affecting brand reputation. For instance, Facebook pages have been created to encourage fake reviews on Amazon. This problem recently became substantial for Amazon: the marketplace’s average rating rose, but the average weight of each review sharply dropped.

Examples of Responding to Customer Reviews

Before demonstrating effective examples of brand responses to various customer comments, it’s important to note that there are no “useless” reviews. If all users praise a company, new customers may suspect the page’s information is unreliable. Negative and neutral reviews create a balance, making the information flow seem more realistic. After all, people have different standards for what is “quality”, “quick”, and so on, and not everyone can be fully satisfied.

Remember that platforms like Google and Facebook factor in all ratings to create a company’s score. If this score is perfect, customers may doubt the credibility of the comments. However, if the overall score is below 4 out of 5, potential clients may skip reading reviews and go to a company with a higher rating.

In a Facebook business account, the rating and review link are displayed in the profile description (in the “Intro” section). This section also includes all brand mentions with page tags.

Regardless of how important ratings are, users will always look for negative reviews to understand potential downsides. Negative past experiences with other companies can lead to this kind of scrutiny.

“Bad reviews allow buyers to envision the worst-case scenario. They want to know what could go wrong to understand how much it matters to them. Too many positive reviews might seem fake to some customers, so proceed with caution.” — “Your Business Needs More Negative Reviews. Here’s Why”, — Neil Patel

The SantaLen Diagnostic and Consultation Center responds to both negative and positive reviews. For complaints about a lack of information on prices and discounts, a company representative responded by phone and followed up in writing, showing other site visitors that the company takes all patient complaints into account.

The SantaLen administration also responds to positive feedback. In replies to thank-you notes, a representative emphasizes the professionalism of the mentioned specialist, expresses gratitude for the trust, and wishes good health, showing that the client’s review matters.

On sites like booking.com, blablacar.com, and others, ratings often determine nearly all of a company’s success, and clients leave photos and describe details.

Sports clubs, private schools, and creative spaces are often searched for on social media, where one of the key selection criteria is the quantity and quality of reviews. The dance studio “Social Dance Club” in Ternopil responds to positive reviews in a way that avoids canned responses.

An advantage of reviews on social media is that page owners are notified of each comment. The only exception might be a text in the client’s profile without mentioning the company. Thus, a review might wait for a response on a portal, but it won’t be left unanswered on an official Facebook page.

Representatives of the “Diia” portal, despite a large number of customer inquiries, strive to answer questions and feedback. Users often provide details, as seen in a Facebook comment example. Before messaging a client privately, the company notes this in its response, showing other users that they care for all clients—both satisfied and dissatisfied.

If users request an updated interface or expanded functionality, thank them for the suggestion or mention it’s in the works. “Diia” promises to notify users about new services and invites them to follow the news page for updates.

Feedback that the audience sees instantly comes from Instagram comments and posts. The NewLook School online school created a separate page for moderated reviews and videos involving company specialists. This approach brings course graduates into a community, creating space for mutual appreciation and encouraging new students to leave reviews.

On INFOBUS.eu’s official page, comments may not relate directly to the post’s topic, perhaps because clients know they’ll receive the fastest responses this way. Representatives thank the customer for commenting and request a ticket number to individually address the situation and follow up with the carrier.

Helpful Tips for Communicating with Your Target Audience

Sometimes excessive apologies can seem unprofessional, while a simple “We apologize for the inconvenience” completely smooths over the issue. To better understand when and how to respond, follow these general tips for communicating with clients.

• Define a communication strategy that matches your brand identity and tone of voice. Stick to it across all review platforms.
• Express gratitude for every review: “Thank you for letting us know. Your feedback helps us improve. We are addressing this issue and hope to resolve it quickly and effectively.”
• Never justify yourself. Even if what happened was a rare event, acknowledge that the client experienced a problem. Reassure them of your high standards and your commitment to improvement: “We’re very sorry. We’re usually known for our exceptional attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark.”
• Respond promptly. Assign responsible people for the process—either a brand management team or a customer service manager, depending on the company’s scale.
• Create a response policy. For a chain or large multi-level company, a unified policy is essential. It should cover language and tone, response timelines, and protocols for redirecting complaints or suggestions, along with other aspects impacting how the company handles reviews.
• Compile a list of relevant review sites for your business.
• To respond quickly, use reputation management platforms.

Remember that each review site has its own rules and guidelines for responses. For example, Google reviews appear in two places: Google search and Google Maps.

To reply, log into your Google Business Profile Manager account and go to the “Reviews” tab: https://business.google.com/reviews.

You can also access your business profile directly from search results, as shown in the next two images.

Customers receive an email notification 5 minutes after your Google reply, allowing you to edit your response if needed. Otherwise, try not to change your message to avoid confusion.

Google reviews are generally easier to track, as notifications go directly to GMB. However, brands with over 100 locations don’t receive Google review notifications.

Sometimes, simple apologies aren’t enough. A great example of a company’s quick and successful response to customer dissatisfaction was Delta Air Lines’ action after hundreds of flights were canceled due to storms in Atlanta. The airline delivered pizzas to travelers throughout the Southeast, even providing free pies to stranded passengers at Norfolk International Airport.

Instead of losing customers and spending years on brand reputation repair, Delta even gained popularity by demonstrating customer care. Passengers shared social media photos of crew members handing out pizzas on flights.

Occasionally, companies receive reviews from people outside their target audience or from those who haven’t tried the product or service. This unsubstantiated criticism may not concern the product itself or might conflict with the business’s core values or unique selling proposition. If possible, refer the customer to an alternative business.

FAQ

Conclusion

Online reviews impact brand reputation and are often a primary factor for potential customers. Therefore, it’s essential to respond to consumer comments, whether negative, positive, or neutral.

Determine who will handle this process. Customer communication can be managed by a single specialist or an entire department, depending on the company’s scale.

Be mindful of customer interaction rules on marketplaces and other platforms you use. To better manage communication with your target audience, create official brand pages on social media, Google Business Profile Manager, and other sites visited by your customers. This allows you to stay informed about customer issues and build audience trust.