The Importance Of Managing Negative Online Restaurant Reviews

In the restaurant industry, online reviews are as significant as the food. If your operation receives overwhelmingly positive reviews, it means more customers and a bright future. If, on the other hand, online reviews contain criticisms of your establishment, you’re likely to have the opposite results. Online reviews are persuasive. Consumers put a great deal of weight on them. What’s more, among all organizations, reviews of restaurants are the most widely read.

With this in mind, the accompanying infographic, How to Deal with Bad Online Reviews of Your Restaurant, belongs at the top of your reading list whether you own a restaurant or are someone who handles customer service at a restaurant. The infographic underlines the influential power of reviews, how to respond to negative reviews, and a few positive aspects of having your restaurant reviewed.

Responding to negative reviews is the most vital damage control technique an eatery can employ. But although communicating the right way can turn a negative into a positive, responding the wrong way will turn that negative into a vastly bigger negative. Hence, if you’re not sure about the right way to respond, you could probably opt for one of those reputation management services that could help manage your online reviews. The infographic is tremendously insightful as a response technique guide. Keep in mind that potential customers will survey your response just as carefully as the negative review itself.

You must respond professionally – no matter how you feel about it. Remember, you are trying to gain new customers as well as fix potential issues at your establishment. This is why it’s advisable to respond quickly to negative reviews – but not too quickly. Give yourself a chance to relax. Then, reflect on the underlying problem, and respond just as diplomatically as you would to a customer experiencing a problem right at the table.

Of course, to respond properly to negative reviews, you must keep an active eye on review sites. Assigning a person to spot-check review sites, or review them even on a weekly basis usually isn’t fast enough. Savvy restaurant managers monitor major reviews sites and local ones daily.

If you examine these reviews closely enough, you can learn a lot about where and what to improve in your restaurant. Several things can be done to reduce the negative reviews that come your way, but the best thing you can do is to always improve your service. Perhaps you should hire a better chef or invest in better-quality appliances that can speed up the cooking process such as a commercial kitchen oven or a heavy-duty blender, particularly if the negative reviews are regarding the taste or waiting time of the food in your restaurant. Alternatively, if the restaurant has received complaints about cleanliness, perhaps Buy Janitorial Supplies Online and hire more janitors to keep the place clean all the time. It will be an excellent idea to retrain the staff members if the reason for negative reviews is their behaviour toward customers. You can do a lot to drive your restaurant toward success and reduce the number of negative reviews that come in.

Remember: Customer issues never get better with age. A badly delayed response is sure to make the issue worse. Further, this gives potential customers the impression you either don’t care or don’t operate efficiently when dealing with complaints. On the other hand, with a fast and professional response, you can win customers back and win over new customers who see your professional response as a business committed to excellence. For more information and insights, please continue reading the infographic.

Infographic created by TouchBistro, a restaurant inventory management company

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Kelly Tate

Kelly is a full-time supermum, caring for two kids and a hardworking husband. A cook, a cleaner, a carer and all round hard worker, striving for the perfect family life (with a few bumps along the way!) Eternally honest and sometimes brutally forward, no topics are off limits with Kelly.