How to respond to bad reviews
Ah, the negative review; the bane of any hospitality venue’s existence. For an industry almost entirely based on its customer service, a single bad experience can resonate with the many, resulting in potentially lasting consequences for the venue in question.
In today’s digitally-led age, there is no hiding from a review – be it good or bad. Thanks to the ever-increasing influence and accessibility of social media, plus websites like TripAdvisor and Trivago, consumers now have more power – and opportunity – to have their say on where they stayed, ate or played and people are not afraid to share their opinions.
As a result, consumers no longer have to rely on a venue’s marketing tactics in choosing whether or not to pay it a visit. The website of a hotel or restaurant will show you only what it wants you to see, of course, but in today’s consumer-led society, people have come to rely more and more on real-life, word of mouth (or should that be keyboard?) recommendations to really get the feel of a place.
Far from being a daunting prospect, this can be of huge benefit to hospitality businesses if they are doing their job properly. Far from making spontaneous, on-a-whim bookings, reviews are now one of the biggest selling points of any hotel, restaurant or attraction, so it’s best to accept the fact that they are being written and embrace it.
We all like feedback. If you’re doing something for someone else, you want to know the job is one worth doing. So receiving feedback in the form of reviews can be hugely beneficial for businesses as it gives them the opportunity to hone and improve services over time in order to better attract their target audience.
And you can guarantee that audience is reading those reviews. According to a 2013 study for TripAdvisor, 83 per cent of those surveyed said that reviews helped them pick the right hotel, while over half said they would not commit to a booking until they’d read reviews about it – between six and 12, on average.
The more reviews a venue has, the higher its ratings usually become. As well as promoting the good aspects of your business, reviews can also help to set guest expectations for those planning their first visit.
But, as with anything, reviews are subjective. We’ve surely all sat there, reading through a selection thinking “oh, that wouldn’t bother me”; “well, they’re just being picky” or “well, our wait for dinner was twice that.”
For all the bad reviews, there are generally many more positive ones, but they are there nonetheless. As the saying goes, you can’t please all the people, all the time and no matter how hard you try, there will always be someone who doesn’t like what you do so it’s pointless trying to hide away from them.
So, how to respond to bad reviews?
The main thing is to respond in some way. There will always be ‘keyboard warriors’ on the hunt for anything bad to say, but genuine negative reviews are easy to spot. Some will be written politely and sincerely – almost apologetically – while others may come across a little angrier depending on the nature of the complaint.
However, no matter how a review is written, it’s important for your response to be as levelled as possible. It’s always hard when someone is being rude, especially about a member of staff, but responding in a way that essentially backs up such comments does nothing to get others on your side – you only have to think of the headline making hoteliers and restauranteurs who let their ‘passion’ for the job get the better of them…
When reacting to reviews online, good or bad, you are giving people an insight into the service they can expect in your venue. Therefore, the way to respond to such comments is exactly as you would in person.
After all, the hospitality industry is based upon customer service so while there’s no need to make a grovelling apology, recognising that someone feels the services provided were not up to scratch is the first step in building bridges.
If someone is commenting on the cleanliness or décor of a property, this can easily be dealt with. For example, if they are complaining that something is dirty, explain that facilities are regularly checked but you will look into it and apologise for the fact the customer felt they were not up to standard in this instance.
Similarly, if someone complains that the food they were served was cold, or there was a wait, offer an apology, if appropriate, and an explanation.
The majority of naysayers are not looking for something in return – they are usually disappointed and simply looking for an outlet on which to share their experience, especially if they were expecting something quite different.
In such instances, a humble response back is usually enough to reassure the guest that you have taken their comments on board, encouraging them to potentially return to the venue, thereby maintaining your reputation.
However, if someone with a genuine complaint wants to carry the conversation on after your initial response, suggest taking it offline. Offer them your phone number or email address, or if on social media, perhaps suggest that they direct message you with their concerns.
Although it can be tempting, deleting comments can backfire spectacularly, making it look as though you’re simply whitewashing the incident. As we said before, there will always be exceptions where someone is just posting something for the sake of it, but genuine reviewers who see their comment has been deleted are unlikely to ever visit your venue again – they’re also likely to share that experience too…
So, while no-one likes receiving negative feedback or criticism, in this digital world where information is free-flowing, there is no hiding from it. But companies and organisations have been receiving bad reviews for years – in the past, it’s just been in the form of a phone call, a letter or an email.
Yet while the channels may be different now, how to respond is not. Customer service is key, so approach them just as you always have and a negative review never needs to have negative consequences.
