Reviews... good or bad... do you respond?

Hi all!

I am sure that all of you have reviews somewhere (i.e YELP or Google) regarding your job or place of business. I was wondering if you all responded to them good or bad? Do you disregard all messages and just keep doing your job? Just thought I'd ask. I am debating on sending "Thank you's" to my amazing clients or defending my business to the people who were "just having a bad day... & happened to find me" (mind you it's only 2 so far... but I am sure more unhappy people may be out there) :)

Just wanted to know your thoughts. I <3 my business and put more into it everyday... I know I can't please everyone but I want to make sure I am doing the right thing by responding or NOT responding!

Thanks friends!

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Denise Ivers on June 28, 2013 at 7:40am

Hi Tiffany,

On my Yelp page I've responded to one review on-line and that's because the client said that the only negative thing she could say (she gave me 4 stars) was that my business was hard to find because I was in a salon and didn't have a sign. ( I wasn't allowed to have a sign). I just simply thanked her for her review and let her know that since I've moved my business is much easier to find and I now have a sign on the door. I did this so that others reading the reviews would not be misinformed as to my new location.

I don't disregard any reviews, gosh how can we do that? We take it so personal and bad reviews really hit hard don't they? I've had one bad one in the past, she was a very high strung, negative and just plain bad energy. She gave me a 3 star review and eventually took it down after I called her and questioned why she didn't tell me or call me directly if she was so unhappy with her service.

I would be very hesitant to respond to any negative reviews. It's just brings more attention to it. I've seen some very inappropriate and unprofessional responses from some business's that it makes me cringe. I guess if it's something very specific (like in my case) then it's good to respond otherwise don't do it. Another option is to call the client and discuss the review. I wouldn't be so quick to offer any free services or a refund. I did that with the above mentioned client and have learned not to do that. Just listen to what she has to say and get her feedback. She may just decide to change the review or delete it all together after talking to you.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on June 28, 2013 at 3:02pm

Tiffany

Yes respond. Defend yourself and if you made a mistake, explain why it was not a mistake but a choice you made or a decision you made based on the information that was given to you. Write your response in a word document, and not direct on the web, then sit on it for a day and when your happy post it. Remember in some way it is there for life so make sure what you say is really what it is. You cannot erase it...

Send the thank yous. Your clients can choose to spend THEIR money with anyone they want. They are making a choice, yes, thank them.