Source: Restaurant Hospitality
Customers love to share their dining experiences on social networks and review platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. The restaurateurs that provide outstanding service are often able to tout five-star ratings across these sites. But when you come across a reviewer who called your food plain and your customer service nonexistent, what do you do?
Don’t panic. Nearly every negative review provides an opportunity to make a positive impression on current and potential customers. When you respond to a negative review and address the upset customer on these review platforms, hundreds of other consumers can see how you conduct business. People understand that mistakes happen, so when they see a restaurant owner or manager trying to do the right thing, it builds trust in the brand.
Here are some guidelines to help make the most out of a negative review:
1. Respond immediately
When you make a point to address feedback as soon as possible, customers will see that you’re committed to improving customer experiences. When you let bad reviews sit unanswered, they can snowball over time. Recently, for example, a customer was refused service at a New York Restaurant while wearing Google Glass. She responded with a negative review, and what started as a single comment from one disgruntled customer soon snowballed into a community of people weighing in with similar experiences. The sooner you respond, the sooner you can defuse the likelihood that an isolated incident will balloon into a bigger issue.
. . .
To continue reading go to Restaurant Hospitality