Let’s not beat around the bush, responding to Google Reviews is beneficial for your restaurant. You build a relationship with your guests and you increase your visibility. No time to respond? With our tips and templates you can respond in no time.
Why is responding beneficial?
Build a relationship with your guests
Guests want to be heard. That’s the reason they write a review in the first place, so let them be heard. By responding to reviews you show that you care about your guests. This can turn positive guests into regulars and guests who gave you feedback are more likely to give you a second chance.
Tip: Don’t wait too long to reply. Try to respond within 2 or 3 days, so guests will still have you in mind.
Improved visibility
Responding to reviews gets highly valued by Google. If you respond, Google helps your search visibility. The greater your visibility, the higher the chances are guests will swing by your restaurant. This is what Google has to say about responding to reviews:
“Interact with customers by responding to reviews that they leave about your business. Responding to reviews shows that you value your customers and the feedback that they leave about your business. High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit your location.”
Source: Google
How to respond?
Responding to reviews is beneficial for your business, but it can take quite some time and usually is not on top of your priority list. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be as time consuming as you would think. With our tips you quickly get the hang of it. Still no spare time to do it? Have a look at our templates, these save you a lot of time.
Positive reviews
You receive a lot of positive reviews, kudos to you! Here comes the next step, responding. Check our tips for writing a effective response:
- Be grateful: Thank the guest for writing a review. Address guests by their name, this makes every response personal.
- Repeat the positive points: Name the positive points that the guest mentions. It makes every response unique and it will make the guest feel heard.
- Name your restaurant’s name: Repeat the name of your restaurant. If guests google the name of your restaurant, there is a possibility the positive reviews appear in the search results.
- Add a call to action: Invite guests to come back. This will turn positive guests into regulars.
OTEMBA (Amsterdam) always responds in a nice and personal way to their Google reviews:
Templates: responding to positive reviews
- Hi [name], thanks for the lovely review! Glad you liked the [name dish]. We would love to see you back soon, cheers team [restaurant].
- Hi [name], amazing to hear you enjoyed your visit! It’s our goal to make our guests happy so we’re always glad if we were able to deliver! Regards team [restaurant]
- Hi [name], thank you for the kind words. We always aim to deliver the best service at [restaurant]. Hope to see you soon! Cheers, team [restaurant]
- Hi [name], thanks for the great review! We’re also a big fan of the [name dish]. An absolute classic! Looking forward to seeing you again soon! Regards team [restaurant]
- Hi [name], great to hear you enjoyed the atmosphere! At [restaurant] we try to make every experience a special one. Till next time! Cheers team [restaurant]
Negative reviews
Negative reviews, unfortunately they’re inevitable. You can’t satisfy everyone, but with a kind response you probably won’t end up on someone’s blacklist.
- Be grateful: Thank guests for their feedback. Use this feedback to improve where needed.
- Say sorry: Don’t get too emotional if you’re responding to negative reviews. Apologize kindly.
- Make the conversation private: Don’t discuss with a guest on Google. Ask guests to send a personal e-mail and continue the conversation over email.
- Don’t mention your restaurant’s name: Your restaurant name will get linked to negative reviews in the search results.
OTEMBA (Amsterdam) also knows how to deal with negative reviews in a positive way:
Templates: responding to negative reviews
- Hi [name], thank you for the review. Normally we are known for our kind service. We would love to see you back. Cheers
- Hi [name], thanks for the feedback. You can send us an email on [email address] and we will personally contact you. Cheers
- Hi [name], thanks for the review. Sad to hear it wasn’t what you expected. We will take your feedback into account. Cheers!
- Hi [name], thanks for the feedback. It’s not right to wait 1.5 hours for your main dish. Generally we are known for our great timing. We would love to see you back. Regards
- Hi [name], thanks for your feedback. Sorry the dish was not to your liking. We would love to compensate for this on your next visit. Cheers and we hope to see you soon!
Let’s start responding. The only thing you need to have is a registered Google My Business account. Don’t have this yet? Read here how to do that.