Responding to the good, the bad and the ugly
Today’s post comes from Derrek J. Hull, voice of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB) blog Floored!, as well as its Twitter and Facebook profiles.
Restaurants need a response plan that includes social media elements to cope with the fact that customers can leave negative comments almost instantaneously. Having a plan in place before a situation occurs lets everyone on your team know who the point person is for the response, along with the chain of command and the plan for monitoring the conversation.
Everyone gets a good or bad review at some point. Embrace it — and in the case of a bad review, don’t sweat it. Look at every comment as an opportunity to have a conversation.
“If people are taking the time to give you feedback — even if it’s negative — that’s an opportunity for you to re-frame the conversation with them and hopefully turn the situation into a positive,” said Spike Jones, of word of mouth and identity firm Brains on Fire.
Nobody is perfect. A couple of bad reviews alongside highly positive reviews actually makes potential customers more likely to take you seriously, because they realize your page isn’t full of shills posting fake positive reviews. In the case of Yelp, business owners have an option to respond privately and publicly to reviews — this free feature can be unlocked by visiting biz.yelp.com.
Assume a tone that embraces the old saying “the customer is always right,” even if you think the customer is actually in error. The best review responses typically start out with something like, “Thank you very much for your feedback. We take it very seriously and we deeply regret you didn’t have a 5-star experience at our restaurant … ”
Responding promptly and diplomatically to reviews gives you the ability to fix problems and make people happy. However, if you begin to receive multiple negative reviews with recognizable patterns — stale bread, rude server, etc. — it may be worth examining your operation and identifying ways to improve.
Likewise, if guests are taking the time to talk about your establishment in a positive way, you can listen and learn from those conversations to possibly generate ideas for new programs. Who better to tell you what they want to see in your restaurant than your passionate fans? You can learn a lot by taking the time to listen to them and implement their feedback into your operations. Make sure you’re also looking for opportunities to connect with those fans offline as well. Connecting the dots between the two amplifies and intensifies that bond.
Yelp’s Luther Lowe discourages a company from attaching tangible “rewards” in response to good reviews. For example, if someone writes an unsolicited 5-star review about your business, it can rub some people the wrong way to get a “thank you” note from a business owner saying, “Thank you for your review of our restaurant. We would like to offer you a complimentary dinner for two.”
Last but not least, take the advice of word of mouth expert, Gaspedal CEO (and SmartBrief on Social Media Editor At Large) Andy Sernovitz: “People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation.”
Image credit, GVision, via iStock
Posted by uberVU - social comments on February 15th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by sbosm: Tips for responding to social media criticism from Derrek Hull of @nrashow2010: http://ow.ly/17ueX...
Posted by Responding to the good, the bad and the ugly « Penn State | Outreach Marketing on February 15th, 2010 at 11:25 am
[...] Read on » [...]
Posted by Amanda on February 15th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
You'd think addressing negative reviews online would be common sense. Apparently not. Take Hooters for example…HUGE negative response rate on Twitter and Facebook regarding the Undercover Boss episode. All I hear is *crickets*. No response. Only a promo for $5.99 burgers from @Hooters_Rest. Really?
Posted by Curated Stories Feb. 15, 2010 on February 15th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
[...] Responding to the good, the bad and the ugly Published: February 15, 2010 Source: SmartBlog On Social Media Today’s post comes from Derrek J. Hull, voice of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine Spirits Beer Event (IWSB) blog Floored!, as well as its Twitter a… [...]
Posted by Will on February 15th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
This really is common sense and conventional customer service wisdom, and it's too bad that some restaurant owners actually need this kind of advice. And it's not necessarily the ones you would expect, either. Some small mom & pops do it right, and some large chains do it all wrong. Size doesn't make you smart.
Posted by Jeffrey Summers on February 16th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Is it any wonder then that Hooter's is for sale?
Posted by iconsulthotels on February 16th, 2010 at 6:08 am
Thanks for this article. It might sound like common sense to many, but there are still a lot of hotels & restaurants out there that seem to be unsure how to handle TripAdvisor reviews, so articles like this can only be a good thing.
Posted by Nicoola Brenner on February 16th, 2010 at 9:12 am
This article will definitely help to encourage restaurants or hotels to respond to customer's advice. But before having negative comments on the web, there must have been a lack of communication at the restautant/hotel. My advice: start conversation at your place and you will not get comment surprises on the web.
Posted by Responding to ugly comments online | It's Open - Social Media Strategy Consultancy on February 16th, 2010 at 10:34 am
[...] your products and services? It is something that restaurants are having to deal with. Interesting piece here about how restaurants can turn a negative into a positive, which is relevant to other sectors [...]
Posted by almcfarland on February 16th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Social media is changing the very nature of marketing. Contingency plans, like the one above, are now a critical part of any marketing teams' message. Skip the plan and lose the messaging high ground at your own peril.
http://pivotpointsolutions.net/
Posted by mkilens on February 17th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
You definitely need to respond to customer complaints and reviews but need to have a strategy to do so and do it on a consistent basis. I really like when you said, “You can learn a lot by taking the time to listen to them and implement their feedback into your operations.” That is the most important and best thing you can do.
Mark K.
Posted by Chris Moline, LEED AP on February 17th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
This is good stuff. Many in my business are scared to death of bad reviews and act as if they should never happen. But that's just not reality. If we have a customer who has taken the time to voice their discontent, it's a great opportunity to better ourselves.
Posted by Cooking Up a Storm | A Random Jog on February 19th, 2010 at 9:04 am
[...] was this post on the Smart Blog that really got me thinking about the importance of the process. Derrick [...]
Posted by This week’s most clicked: | SmartBlog On Social Media on February 19th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
[...] Turn negative reviews into positive buzz [...]
Posted by SmartBrief on: How to handle customer comments | SmartBlog On Social Media on March 8th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
[...] Turn negative reviews into positive buzz Social media allows diners to instantly review a meal, but it also allows restaurateurs to respond quickly and diplomatically, writes Derrek J. Hull. Experts recommend using negative comments as an opportunity to start a conversation with customers that can ultimately leave them with a positive impression. Hull also notes that businesses should use negative comments to find ways the business can improve. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (2/15) [...]
Posted by Client trends from the travel, entertainment, and finserv industries | Bazaarblog on March 9th, 2010 at 6:02 am
[...] to more critical feedback. The travel industry stands to gain from these reviews in the same way restaurants benefit from negative customer feedback, as Derrek J. Hull, voice of the National Restaurant Association, writes in his blog post. Hull [...]
Posted by Turn negative reviews into positive buzz « FCEdge Powerful Marketing Communications on March 16th, 2010 at 11:50 am
[...] Turn negative reviews into positive buzz Social media allows diners to instantly review a meal, but it also allows restaurateurs to respond quickly and diplomatically, writes Derrek J. Hull. Experts recommend using negative comments as an opportunity to start a conversation with customers that can ultimately leave them with a positive impression. Hull also notes that businesses should use negative comments to find ways the business can improve. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media [...]
Posted by The Latest on Wisconsin's Hotel & Lodging Industry · Online Reviews: To Respond or Not Respond? on April 6th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
[...] Responding to the good, the bad and the ugly (February, 2010) [...]
Posted by Is A Negative Recommendation A Disguised Compliment? « Diningverse Blog on April 10th, 2010 at 7:44 am
[...] in the best of restaurants, patrons can easily contact the owner/manager directly. They are often grateful for the feedback. It enables them to address an issue they may be unaware of; and gives them an opportunity to [...]
Posted by James on September 13th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I believe that if more restaurants got feedback they would grow faster. Today's society has made it so much easier to share your experience with others who might be interested in a particular type of food and which restaurant serves it best. I like places that offer something healthy for my kids and a filling meal. http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.childhoodo…