Responding to Google reviews is vital for your concern's success in local search results. By responding to both negative and positive feedback, you testify customers that you're committed to listening to their concerns and exceeding their expectations.

One in five customers expect to hear back from y'all when they leave a review. You don't want customers who leave a positive review to feel unappreciated, and customers who leave a negative review experience unheard.

In this post, detect the importance of responding to Google reviews, and acquire how to respond to the ones y'all receive from customers.

Download Now: 20 Review Response Templates

Can you reply to Google reviews?

Yes. As a business owner, you have the ability to answer to Google reviews and actually engage with your customers. You tin either answer to Google reviews via your desktop or a mobile device through your Google My Business business relationship.

Responding to Google reviews is incredibly important, given that Google is the world's almost pop search engine.

When your potential customers employ this huge source of information to start researching products and services, concern listings announced — along with recent customer reviews with starred ratings and comments.

Co-ordinate to BrightLocal, 79% of consumers trust online reviews equally much as personal recommendations. The reviews on your Google My Business concern profile can have a large impact on you lot finding new customers. Google itself has disclosed that responding to reviews — expert or bad — increases your ratings.

It's important to do it quickly, too. If you expect weeks and months before responding, there'south a expert chance your client will have forgotten they left that review in the offset place.

Responding to reviews tin can be time-consuming, difficult, and flat-out bad-mannered, but luckily, you don't take to starting time from scratch. You can utilize the templates below to respond to Google reviews chop-chop and effectively.

Featured Resource: xx Free Review Response Templates

Response template for positive and negative Google Reviews

How to Reply to Google Reviews

  1. Sign in to Google My Business concern by going to business.google.com.
  2. On the left sidebar, click 'Reviews.'
  3. A listing of your recent reviews will come up. Find the review yous want to reply to.
  4. Click 'Reply.'
  5. A message box will open up for you to write your response.
  6. Click 'Post reply.'

Before starting, it would exist wise to ready up Google My Business notifications, and so anytime a new customer review is posted, y'all receive a notification. Below we'll outline the steps to responding to Google Reviews on both mobile and desktop.

How to Reply to Google Reviews from a Desktop

  1. Sign in to Google My Business organization by going to business.google.com.
  2. On the left sidebar, click "Reviews."
  3. A list of your recent reviews volition come. Discover the review you want to respond to.
  4. Click "Reply."
  5. A message box will open for y'all to write your response.
  6. Click "Post reply."

how to respond to google my business reviews: reply

How to Respond to Google Reviews From a Mobile Device:

  1. On your mobile device, open the Google My Business organisation app.
  2. On the lesser navigation bar, click "Customers."
  3. A list of your recent reviews volition come up. Tap the review you want to reply to.
  4. A bulletin box volition open for you to write your response.
  5. Click the "Send" icon on the upper right-hand corner.

Manage Google Reviews

Depending on your private business needs, the manner yous choose to manage your Google Reviews may exist unlike. For case, some businesses may brand it a priority to reply to every unmarried review they get, while others focus on reviews that contain specific elements, like a complaint or request.

Regardless of your strategy, consequent management of your Google Reviews looks as follows:

  • Creating a business-specific plan for when to answer to reviews based on your individual business needs.
  • Abiding monitoring of your Google My Business account.
  • Reading all reviews as they come up in, both positive and negative.
  • Deleting faux reviews when y'all come upon them.
  • Responding to reviews when they come in.

When y'all actually begin responding, you'll likely find that you receive both positive and negative reviews from customers. Each type of review requires a specific blazon of response in lodge to ensure customer satisfaction and to foreclose potential churn.

In the next sections we'll hash out how you lot should respond to negative and positive Google Reviews, and provide examples of responses to each blazon.

How to Answer to Bad Reviews

  1. Assess and evaluate the feedback internally first.
  2. Work off of a review response template.
  3. Publicly reply to the review.
  4. Work towards a 1:1 conversation.
  5. Be transparent about mistakes.
  6. Ask questions when details aren't articulate.
  7. Empathize and offer solutions.
  8. Provide an incentive if necessary.
  9. Sign your name at the end of your response.
  10. Request an update for review.

Many companies and business owners fearfulness responding to negative reviews considering information technology is a digital confrontation. Nevertheless, bad reviews should not cause anxiety. Instead, they should exist a moment to improve your brand and customer service. Later all, research shows that customers are 1.7x more probable to visit your business if your company responds to negative reviews.

So, how should yous reply to them?

1. Assess and evaluate the feedback internally beginning.

Yous're better off assessing the situation instead of immediately responding to a bad review. Customers have a lot of power online, and if you react to a negative review without thinking it through, you will fuel your aroused customer.

A negative response to a negative review volition cost you lot customers. As 73% of consumers only look at the reviews from the last month, it is vital to answer in a positive fashion. Exercise not become emotional when information technology's your turn to respond to a bad review — have a logical procedure in place earlier clicking "answer." Take the rest of the mean solar day to contemplate your response, simply don't take also long. BrightLocal claims that 20% of those who get out negative reviews expect an respond inside 24 hours.

2. Work off of a review response template.

It'southward piece of cake to reply to a negative review with frustration and defensiveness. This solution can easily backfire, frustrate customers, and tarnish your reputation online. It's best to work off of a negative review response template to help mellow out any animosity you might be feeling and reply kindly and appropriately.

3. Publicly answer to the review.

This means, don't hibernate and privately attain out to your customer, but respond to them on the platform that they posted the review (privately responding alongside a public response is proficient likewise). Whether they left you lot a bad review on Capterra or Google, do not avoid digital chat. Responding publicly to bad reviews shows your customers and potential customers that you intendance and are attentive.

Why should you care that you're attentive? Because it can pb to increased business organisation. A study conducted past Cornell University revealed that responding to negative hotel reviews "appears positively related to the consumer's view of the hotel, as measured by increases in the TripAdvisor score."

4. Work towards a i:1 conversation.

Your offset response to a negative review should always be fabricated on Google. Withal, Google Reviews isn't always the best place to host a customer service conversation. Information technology's not a existent-fourth dimension advice aqueduct nor is it a 1:i interaction with the customer. Other people can like their comments and write additional reviews supporting or adding context to the first customer's experience.

If you know a negative review is going to take some time to reconcile, then you lot should work towards a one:1 chat with the customer. That doesn't mean y'all're trying to hide the problem or save face online, but rather, your priority is to come across client's needs and that ways communicating with them on the best channels available. Google Reviews did its job by highlighting the poor experience for your business concern. Now it's time to rely on your trusted customer support channels like telephone, live chat, and email, to solve the problem.

5. Exist transparent almost mistakes.

No business is perfect, and every bit your customer base grows, your squad is bound to brand mistakes. After all, customers often have conflicting needs that go far impossible to satisfy everyone. It's how yous reply to these mistakes, though, that determines how customers perceive your brand.

Being transparent is the all-time course to take when responding to a negative review.In fact, research shows that over 90% of Americans say brand transparency is an important factor when making purchasing decisions.Customers know your team isn't going to exist perfect, just they look yous to take responsibleness for your mistakes when they occur. This builds customer rapport and leads to long-term, loyal advocates.

6. Ask questions when details aren't clear.

Customers don't get paid to write reviews and some volition focus more on submitting a negative score then explaining their problem with your company. You might come up across a vague review like this 1 where it's hard to make up one's mind the customer's problem.unclear google review with little information

Epitome Source

With this review of a coffee shop, nosotros don't know what about the feel was dissatisfying. It's hard to tell whether it was an result with the coffee, service, or the actual store.

If we want to effectively respond to this review, we need to ask questions and go more information from the customer. This will start a good for you dialogue that will help usa diagnose the customer's roadblock. One time nosotros know the problem, nosotros can provide a solution.

7. Empathize and offer solutions.

If yous just spend your time writing a fluffy response back to the client apologizing for their feel and yous've actually taken the time to non be impulsive, but did not provide some sort of solution or actionable items to mitigate the issue, and so you oasis't properly responded to a negative review. Make sure to offer to make it right by providing some sort of solution.

8. Provide an incentive if necessary.

Some customers only write negative reviews to blow off steam and accept no intention of returning for your response. In these cases, you can recapture their attention by offering incentives that reinforce the sincerity of your response.

While you don't desire to practice this with every bad review, you lot tin can utilise customer lifetime value to decide if someone should get an incentive or not. For example, if a client isn't spending much money with you, and is constantly writing poor reviews, then they may not be a "skilful fit" for your business organization. If you go on offer them a discount every time they complain, you'll end up losing money on this client when you could accept been using that disbelieve to acquire or retain a customer with a higher lifetime value.

9. Sign your name at the end of your response.

This is a pocket-sized detail that goes a long mode. Signing your name afterwards each response shows the customer that you're a real person. And, customers aren't only nicer when they're working with a human agent, they're also happier considering it shows your visitor is invested in their review.

ten. Request an update for the review.

It's important to recollect that customer reviews are the offset of a larger conversation. The customer's perception of your brand isn't brackish and tin change equally they go on to interact with your company.

Once yous send your initial response, exist prepared to have an in-depth conversation with the customer. Talk to them almost their experience and try to pinpoint exactly where your company fell brusque of their expectations.

If you feel similar the customer is satisfied with your team's response, enquire them if they'd be willing to update their review. Since yous've merely changed their perspective, it's the perfect fourth dimension to ask them to edit their original feedback. Remember, that review is still public and time to come leads may not read the whole thread and see the positive outcome. Updating the original review is the all-time way to prevent y'all from gaining a negative reputation online.

Whether information technology'southward providing your contact information and following upwards with the customer offline, y'all should display empathy and endeavour into solving the complaint.

Examples of Negative Review Responses

Here are ideas for responding to negative reviews as a business possessor.

i. Business/Bureau Negative Review Response Example

If your company generates revenue from recurring, subscription or contract-based relationships, it'southward imperative that you respond to negative reviews. It can help you win back unhappy customers, and it can prevent other potential customers from reading them online — and passing on you. If a current or former customer trashes you online, hither'south an case of how you could reply.

Originally published Jan x, 2022 seven:15:00 AM, updated Jan 10 2022