Replying back to Reviews Some tips and templates on how to respond to your customers. ResellerRatings Team
How To Be An Expert At Posting Public Replies
Public replies are such an important aspect of your Storefront. Buyers, reviewers, and anyone who sees your ResellerRatings’ page are looking for those Public Replies. It shows that you are engaged in what your customers have to say – good or bad.
Overall Tips:
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Canned responses come off as cold.
Edit or create each response to be unique and pertinent to the reviewer. If you have thousands of reviews, hand picking which reviews to reply to is a much better strategy than replying to all reviews with the same response. Unique responses humanize your brand, otherwise, it looks like you employed a computer to reply to your reviewers.
2. Always keep in mind that each review is important because it came from one of your customers.
Your customer took the time to take a survey. Which, let’s be honest, taking a survey is a big deal! They decided to spend their precious moments giving you some kind of feedback. They are bombarded with millions of other ads, surveys, videos, cute dogs etc and they chose you (because, let’s be honest, you’re a big deal too).
3. Remember everyone can see your public reply.
“Yo dog, I love that you love my store” might not be the best response- unless you are speaking to an actual dog. Your response is an extension of your customer service which reflects your brand as a whole. Take time to write an appropriate response.
4. Use appropriate language and avoid acronyms.
“Sry about yur xperience. My PM wil call u l8ter”. If the reviewer can’t understand your public reply or is offended by it, my bet is that they will not be back.
5. Respond in a timely manner – depending on your resources – as soon as possible is best.
Responding as soon as possible is the end goal, especially for negative reviews or reviews with a question.
6. Use positive language.
Using positive language leaves a better impression. Example: use “That product will be available next week.” Instead of “I can’t get you that product until next week.”
7. Remember, reviews are valuable feedback for your business, use them!
Replies for Negative Reviews:
1.Do not ignore negative reviews, they are happy customers in disguise.
Responding to negative reviews boosts your credibility because you are owning the issue and putting in the effort to try to make it right. Ignoring a bad review is like putting off paying your bills, if you do not pay them on time the amount will only increase.
2. Read, understand and get background information on the review before responding.
Each person will describe a certain circumstance in a different way with unique word choices. It is important to make sure you understand the problem before responding so you know you are actually helping the reviewer. You also want to provide accurate information. This builds trust between reviewer and your brand. Plus it is less work for you to provide the right information upfront than going back and forth with the reviewer.
3. If the review is inaccurate, carefully and factually respond with your side of the story.
We all make mistakes, but most of the time (ok, all the time) we don’t want our noses rubbed in it. Think how you would like to be explained the situation if you were the reviewer.
4. Replies should never blame the reviewer and should be sincere, not defensive.
If the reviewer had an honestly bad experience, own the situation and try to correct it without putting blame on them. If you have tried to help and maybe the person is having a bad day, still do not blame the reviewer for the situation.
“I am truly sorry for your bad experience. Here is the customer service number 555-5309, please call and I will be more than happy to work with you to make it right.”
is much better than,
“I’m sorry but you clicked the check out button 500 times so you were logically shipped 500 llamas! What was I supposed to think, you didn’t want 500 llamas!?”
5. Always provide a solution.
Suggest a way in which the reviewer can achieve their end goal. “We will have that gorgeous shirt in next week, I will call you and let you know exactly when it arrives!”
6. Brief replies might be best in sticky situations.
Post your customer service phone number and encourage the reviewer to call you to speak more on the topic. Make a game plan of how you will resolve the issue before the reviewer calls, and know that sometimes people have bad days and you cannot convert them all.
Replies for positive reviews:
1.The reviewer took the time to praise you, give them a thank you reply!
When a reviewer likes what you did/your brand, posting a public reply showing some appreciation back builds a great relationship and strengthens the reviewer’s brand loyalty.
2. Ask what you can do better, when appropriate.
If you strike up a dialog with a reviewer after you have thanked them for being such an awesome customer, ask if there is a feature or product they would enjoy to see from your brand. Free research!
3. Share the good reviews with your team.
Good reviews are a great morale booster for internal teams. Larry from accounting might not care, but Erin from customer service would love to hear that Mr. Bimal had a great experience when he bought his summer squash based on Erin’s vast squash knowledge. Therefore, Erin wrote a sincere public response to Mr. Bimal thanking him for the engaging squash discussion and that she looks forward to speaking with him again when he returns to purchase his winter squash.
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