Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Reviews are a critical part of the restaurant industry.
In 2020, online reviews impact most industries – from restaurants, to hotels, to doctor’s offices, to hospitals and hair salons. The industry where reviews matter most? The restaurant industry. 61% of consumers have read online restaurant reviews, and 34% of diners choose a restaurant based on reviews. Reviews are both free advertising and a source of truth: 68% of millennials trust restaurant reviews compared to the 34% who trust traditional advertising, and 77% of consumers pay more attention to peer reviews than reviews written by professional critics. During a pandemic where delivery and outdoor dining are more important to your business than ever, reviews can also help your restaurant rank for important keywords like “delivery” “outdoor seating” and “patio.” Restaurateurs are well aware of the impact reviews can have on business with 93% of restaurants globally monitoring their reputation online, the majority of which are monitoring their online reputation several times a week. And these days, people have tons of opportunities to review your restaurant: in addition to Yelp, Foursquare and Zomato, Google and Facebook are now the no. 1 and no. 2 platforms for online reviews.
While diners are increasingly writing positive reviews, and good reviews can benefit your business in a big way, negative reviews are bound to happen. In a society where 33% of consumers won’t eat at restaurants with an average rating of <4 out of 5 stars, knowing how to manage reviews left by less than happy customers is critical to your business.
While diners are increasingly writing positive reviews, and good reviews can benefit your business in a big way, negative reviews are bound to happen. In a society where 33% of consumers won’t eat at restaurants with an average rating of <4 out of 5 stars, knowing how to manage reviews left by less than happy customers is critical to your business.
Read on to learn 5 simple ways to respond to negative restaurant reviews.
Step 1 - Do some research.
Context is critical when responding to online reviews. Make sure to read negative reviews closely, perhaps even twice or three times over. And when you have a full grasp on what the customer thinks went wrong, cross-reference the situation with your team. What was their understanding of what happened? If this negative review was based on a late delivery, what led to that? If it was a situation that happened in your store, what was your employees understanding of what went wrong? When you understand the context of what the customer thinks went wrong and why, do some quick research on the reviewer. Do they have a habit of one starring restaurants? What’s their general tone on review sites? This will ensure you respond to this particular customer in a way that resonates with them personally.
Step 2 - Take a deep breath.
It’s in our nature as people to respond to frustration with frustration, but as hard as it may be, try to detach yourself personally.
Step 3 - Respond to every review.
Yep, even that particularly frustrating one.
Think about why people write online reviews or anything on the internet really. People share their thoughts publicly because they want to be heard. Before responding directly to their review on your restaurant’s page, reach out to them directly. Acknowledge that you hear them, and work through a solution with them individually: what can you do to reconcile their experience? Once you’ve landed on a solve, respond to their review publicly: keep it direct and polite, mentioning whatever solution the two of you landed on.
Okay okay, all sounds well and good. But what about that particularly frustrating review, do you really have to respond to that one? Unfortunately the answer is still yes. But doing so will pay off: 45% of consumers say that they’re more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews.
Step 4 - Don’t wait too long to respond.
In an “everything on-demand” world, 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to their online review within 7 days. Responding quickly and intentionally will help you stand out from the competition with 63% of consumers reporting that they never heard back from a business after writing a negative review. Setting up a Google Alert for your restaurant’s name, specialty cuisine, and a combination of your restaurant’s name and location will protect you from missing reviews that may need your attention.
Step 5 - Keep an active, positive presence online all the time.
It’s easier to respond to a compliment than a critique. Make sure you’re engaging with and responding to positive reviews. This can turn a first-time customer into a loyal eater, and an advocate for your brand. While one negative review may turn away some potential customers, most customers can be won over by seeing you solve problems, engage, empathize and show some personality online.
If you're interested in partnering with Hubster, fill out the form below and one of our experts will contact you shortly.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
Latest blog posts
Sometimes you just want a little extra. Extra support. Extra features. Extra everything.
As with any restaurant innovation, the ghost kitchen trend is evolving rapidly and growing at an accelerated rate. In this article, we’ll dig into everything you need to know about ghost kitchens.
“I've used other aggregators in the past, but Hubster was the right move for Sweetberry's long-term tech stack and growth.” – Desi Saran, Founder & CEO, Sweetberry
You have enough on your plate (literally) running a restaurant, so we hope these solutions help simplify and elevate your delivery business so you can get some of your valuable time back.
Creating virtual brands for your restaurant will help you dominate delivery without investing too much. A single restaurant can manage multiple brands from the same space.
Are you struggling with the best way to respond to your restaurant reviews? After analysing hundreds of restaurant reviews online, we’ve created 10 powerful, ready to use response templates for you.
For restaurant groups with more than 10 locations, we love getting you up and running as smoothly and quickly as possible. Let us know what you need, and we’ll custom-tailor the right solution for your business. Let’s have a conversation about it.
Reviews are a critical part of the restaurant industry.
In 2020, online reviews impact most industries – from restaurants, to hotels, to doctor’s offices, to hospitals and hair salons. The industry where reviews matter most? The restaurant industry. 61% of consumers have read online restaurant reviews, and 34% of diners choose a restaurant based on reviews. Reviews are both free advertising and a source of truth: 68% of millennials trust restaurant reviews compared to the 34% who trust traditional advertising, and 77% of consumers pay more attention to peer reviews than reviews written by professional critics. During a pandemic where delivery and outdoor dining are more important to your business than ever, reviews can also help your restaurant rank for important keywords like “delivery” “outdoor seating” and “patio.” Restaurateurs are well aware of the impact reviews can have on business with 93% of restaurants globally monitoring their reputation online, the majority of which are monitoring their online reputation several times a week. And these days, people have tons of opportunities to review your restaurant: in addition to Yelp, Foursquare and Zomato, Google and Facebook are now the no. 1 and no. 2 platforms for online reviews.
While diners are increasingly writing positive reviews, and good reviews can benefit your business in a big way, negative reviews are bound to happen. In a society where 33% of consumers won’t eat at restaurants with an average rating of <4 out of 5 stars, knowing how to manage reviews left by less than happy customers is critical to your business.
While diners are increasingly writing positive reviews, and good reviews can benefit your business in a big way, negative reviews are bound to happen. In a society where 33% of consumers won’t eat at restaurants with an average rating of <4 out of 5 stars, knowing how to manage reviews left by less than happy customers is critical to your business.
Read on to learn 5 simple ways to respond to negative restaurant reviews.
Step 1 - Do some research.
Context is critical when responding to online reviews. Make sure to read negative reviews closely, perhaps even twice or three times over. And when you have a full grasp on what the customer thinks went wrong, cross-reference the situation with your team. What was their understanding of what happened? If this negative review was based on a late delivery, what led to that? If it was a situation that happened in your store, what was your employees understanding of what went wrong? When you understand the context of what the customer thinks went wrong and why, do some quick research on the reviewer. Do they have a habit of one starring restaurants? What’s their general tone on review sites? This will ensure you respond to this particular customer in a way that resonates with them personally.
Step 2 - Take a deep breath.
It’s in our nature as people to respond to frustration with frustration, but as hard as it may be, try to detach yourself personally.
Step 3 - Respond to every review.
Yep, even that particularly frustrating one.
Think about why people write online reviews or anything on the internet really. People share their thoughts publicly because they want to be heard. Before responding directly to their review on your restaurant’s page, reach out to them directly. Acknowledge that you hear them, and work through a solution with them individually: what can you do to reconcile their experience? Once you’ve landed on a solve, respond to their review publicly: keep it direct and polite, mentioning whatever solution the two of you landed on.
Okay okay, all sounds well and good. But what about that particularly frustrating review, do you really have to respond to that one? Unfortunately the answer is still yes. But doing so will pay off: 45% of consumers say that they’re more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews.
Step 4 - Don’t wait too long to respond.
In an “everything on-demand” world, 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to their online review within 7 days. Responding quickly and intentionally will help you stand out from the competition with 63% of consumers reporting that they never heard back from a business after writing a negative review. Setting up a Google Alert for your restaurant’s name, specialty cuisine, and a combination of your restaurant’s name and location will protect you from missing reviews that may need your attention.
Step 5 - Keep an active, positive presence online all the time.
It’s easier to respond to a compliment than a critique. Make sure you’re engaging with and responding to positive reviews. This can turn a first-time customer into a loyal eater, and an advocate for your brand. While one negative review may turn away some potential customers, most customers can be won over by seeing you solve problems, engage, empathize and show some personality online.
If you're interested in partnering with Hubster, fill out the form below and one of our experts will contact you shortly.
Latest blog posts
Sometimes you just want a little extra. Extra support. Extra features. Extra everything.