Nobody likes them, but we all get them: negative reviews.

Dealing with reviewers can take your restaurant to a whole new level of community interest. Believe it or not, you can deal with negative reviews in a way that brings more people into your establishment. How? There is a process to these things.

Step One: Calm down.

Don’t take the review personally. Don’t shoot off a response while you are angry or upset. Instead, sit back and check a few things out.

Step Two: Read the review.

While this may seem obvious, it really isn’t. Set aside your feelings and really read the review. Does the person name specifics? Do they set a time of service? A specific dish? Do they name or describe wait staff? Basically, is their review really about your business, or is it more about their mood.

Step Three: Know your reviewer.

Remember that reviewers are often writing just to get their own fifteen minutes of fame, even if it’s just on a review website. Someone who writes something negative about your business may just have had a really bad day, or they may be one of those people who specialize in saying negative things. Sad to say, there is a school of thought that simply criticizes everything and everyone to appear intelligent, as if no simple, plebian fare can satisfy their high standards. It’s also possible that the reviewer is a chronic liar. The fact of the matter is, Your staff probably can’t determine this from the few minutes they spend with the customer. That’s where checking out the reviewer becomes so important.

Most review websites give you a tool that lets you track other reviews by the same person. While some reviewers will delete their bad reviews and responses, other review sites keep the review so that businesses can stand up for themselves. You can also see if the reviewer is someone who chronically looks for the negative at every restaurant, or if they are generally a positive reviewer. This can tell you if you want to respond, or if it will be a fruitless task.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189954-d2194499-Reviews-Noa_Seafood_Restaurant-Akureyri_Northeast_Region.html

Step Four: Check out the Facts.

Just because someone has written a review doesn’t mean it’s true. In some cases, the customer may be mistaken. In other cases, the reviewer might be lying. Check it out to the best of your ability. For example, if a client posts a review saying that they had to wait an hour for their food, check the time stamps for service. If you can show that they arrived, ordered, ate and paid in 45 minutes, you can reply appropriately. If you find that the diner did indeed wait for an hour, you can ferret out the reasons why and fix the problem before it hampers your business any further.

Step Five: Respond with Class (and maybe a little humor)

Once you have determined all the facts of the customer’s visit, it’s time to respond. Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to respond poorly. Don’t respond in anger. Yelling at a former customer online will just make your business look bad. Always end with inviting the client to return and give you another chance.

Don’t give a pat answer to every negative review. Don’t forget, people can see all of the reviews and your replies. So constantly writing the same answer will look as though you aren’t taking the negative points seriously. Let’s be honest, do you feel heard and satisfied if the only response you get is “Thank you. We’ll look in to this issue.”

https://www.just-eat.co.uk/restaurants-thesalthouse-ballymagee/reviews

Instead, address the specific issues of the complaint. For example, if the customer complained about the need for a reservation when the restaurant appeared empty, you can check your books. You might be able to point out that, at the time in question, the tables were reserved for a large party due to arrive. If they came at a down time, you might point out that reservations are needed to ensure that the restaurant is properly staffed. Many restaurants use their slow time to prepare dishes and give their staff breaks.

Sometimes there is just a simple misunderstanding. In this negative review, the diner complained that the food wasn’t “authentic” because it didn’t taste like the food his grandmother made. He said that he was familiar with German food because his grandmother, who was born in Germany in the early 20^th century, had always cooked for the family. The manager complimented his taste, and pointed out that cuisine, like many things, change over time. The dishes that his grandmother had learned in 1919 were probably not being prepared in the same way today, even in Germany

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g55229-d12413838-Reviews-Bavarian_Bierhaus-Nashville_Davidson_County_Tennessee.html

Sometimes you do have to admit to being at fault. That is part of being human and being a business owner. When you apologize, do so with specifics. For example, pretend the review states that the customer had to wait an inordinate amount of time for someone to take their order. You look at the time stamps and realize that the party was seated at 8:00, but the order didn’t go into the kitchen until 8:45, you might have a problem. Talk to the server. Did the customer ask for more time? Was there a mistake with the seating? Did wait staff believe that someone else had already waited on the table? Find out. Then share your findings with the client in a response. You might say something like: “I’m so sorry you had such a long wait. I interviewed the staff and discovered that a waitress had taken an unscheduled break, and the other staff had not  known they needed to cover her tables. Please feel free to stop by and visit us again. I will be happy to ensure that your experience will be much better.”

This allows the customer to feel heard, shows that you have found the problem, are taking responsibility for it, and are working on a solution. You also ensure that there is no hard feelings and that you want to do better. This shows not only one specific reviewer, but everyone that reads reviews, that you take customer service seriously.

Positive Reviews

While this article is about negative reviews, it makes sense to talk for just a moment about positive reviews. Everyone wants good reviews, but how do you get more? One way is to respond to positive reviews as well as the negative ones. Just like the negative reviews, it is important to be personal and specific. Address the response to the reviewer by name. Point out that the time they arrived was a great time, hinting that their presence made it better. Thank them for their review and tell them how much you anticipate seeing them again.

Keeping up with reviews may seem to be an overwhelming task but handling them correctly can reap great rewards. Positive word of mouth is worth more than any publicity campaign you can pay for.