Members of the online Yellow Club can rate and review local businesses through our newly refreshed website. Your business could easily be one of them.  

Yellow Club members can also email our Yellow sales specialist on [email protected] to get connected with the manager of a business they’ve reviewed to explain their review in more detail. 

So how should your company respond to a review by a Yellow user, especially if it’s a bad one? Have a look at these 6 tips to find out!  

Respond to all reviews

It doesn’t matter if a review is positive or negative. It’s very important that you acknowledge every single one. Responding to reviews is one of the best ways to connect with your customers outside of the business sphere. 

Keep your comments short and sweet. Don’t go into too much detail, or ask a bunch of questions about what the reviewer experienced. A maximum of three sentences is a good standard to go by. 

Bonus tip: Keep calm. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you if a review has made you feel angry or annoyed. Take some time to compose yourself and write a polite well-worded reply. You might also want to ask a colleague to proof the reply, to make sure that the right message comes across. 

Accept your responsibility 

Mistakes happen to everyone. If you own up to your mistakes, most customers will be quite understanding and forgiving. Be a responsible representative of your business by always respecting your customers’ concerns, no matter how unfounded or exaggerated they are.

Your response to a Yellow review is essentially PR content. So rise above being defensive, and be ready to admit that you’re in the wrong when your business truly is to blame. Sensible sympathy can go a long way. 

Take bad situations offline

If a review is fairly negative, it’s ideal to immediately provide them with your contact information in your reply. 

Instead of arguing with the reviewer online, or trying to challenge their critique, give him or her the opportunity to directly discuss their issues with the relevant personnel in person, and in their own time. 

Thank every reviewer

Customer feedback is essential for your business to improve. So show Yellow reviewers that you appreciate their input and the time they take to write about you. Have a positive and sincere attitude towards their feedback, and don’t copy and paste a default response.

Also, be specific. Make your reviewer realise that their is an actual person behind your reply. Thank them for something in particular that they praised, or promise to resolve a specific piece of criticism that they expressed in their review. 

  

Think of who else is reading

Yellow reviews are visible to all members of the Yellow Club, so your reviewer is not the only person who can see your response. 

Respond to reviews timely and effectively, so that both current and potentially future clients can gain more confidence in your commitment to customer satisfaction. 

Offer a solution

Don’t just admit your mistakes; correct them. Respond by saying that you have a few solutions in mind to rectify the situation, and that you would gladly like to get in touch with them to discuss them further.   

This way, your reviewer knows that your business cares about his or her feedback, and is serious about compensating customers who have genuinely bad experiences. 

Bonus tip: Do some groundwork. Analyse the review to identify the deeper issue at hand, and do your best to put that issue under control. 

Ready to get reviewed and return the favour with the best responses possible? Click here to get to know more about Yellow reviews and how they can benefit your business! 

Re-discover local - visit www.yellow.com.mt!