We all know that customer feedback is an essential component that can make or break any restaurant business’s reputation. Now if you’ve been receiving great feedback, your brand will automatically be held in high regard. On the other hand, even one bad review can go viral and ruin your brand’s image.
First and foremost, it’s crucial to own your feedback! A lot of times, feedback on third-party platforms are fake and unreliable. If you record feedback before the diner leaves your restaurant, you will be able to find out what your weaknesses are, track your staff’s performance and figure out what people actually think about your restaurant.
If you are reviewing feedback responses on other platforms, it’s important to identify whether the review is good, bad or fake. Once you filter them, you can develop different approaches to respond to all of them. The key is to set a few basic responses and personalise them as per every review that comes in.
Here are a few interesting tips, on how to handle customer feedback; the good, the bad and the ugly:
Make Loyalists Out of Good Reviews!
Appreciation from diners always means they’re already impressed with you. Now if you respond to these reviews with a personalized message inviting them back, they might just come back with a group of friends, helping you reach a new audience effortlessly.
Studies suggest that 78% of the time, customers prefer quick responses to good reviews about your restaurant. Engaging responses and thoughtful ones that reflect the review itself are even better.
Depending on InResto’s suite of products, such as the InResto Feedback application, positive reviews will expand your chances of building a larger forum for such reviews. It is always beneficial to encourage positive feedback from patrons and loyal customers soon after their visit.
Handle Bad Reviews Gracefully
Understand that not all negative reviews are bad.
Yes, you read that right! There’s an old saying that goes like, “Sometimes, a loss is more nourishing.” A negative review will bring to your attention the weaknesses of your restaurant.
Nothing pleases your customers more than seeing the management actively working on feedback and making their experience even better! The harder you work and listen to them, greater are the chances of customers becoming regulars.
How to deal with the negative feedback though?
- Accept your mistake.
- Create a personalized apology message.
- Invite them back to your restaurant ensuring their issue is resolved in the next visit.
- Follow up and make sure that the problem does not persist.
Ensure Prompt Responses
If a bad review on a feedback form at your restaurant isn’t taken care of in time, there could be angry rants on social media platforms the next day.
In order to avoid that, you must monitor all your reviews digitally and ensure that nobody leaves your restaurant unhappy. How can you ensure that?
InResto Feedback is the answer to the above. Not only will the application provide the customer a hassle-free feedback-platform, it’ll also instantly notify you if a review is negative.
How to Sort out the Fake Ones:
Heard about The Shed at Dulwich in London? If a fake restaurant could top the list of TripAdvisor’s restaurants, then a fake review to mar your brand’s reputation is definitely a cake-walk!
Usually, fake reviews arise from competitors, disgruntled employees or ex-employees getting back at you! Your response to these reviews can be identical to that of a bad one. You must ask diners for their contact details and invite them back, promising a great experience. Usually, the ones who don’t respond are fake reviews, which you can stop pondering over.
Although you must have a well-sought out manner for catering to feedback, your best bet would definitely be inResto Feedback. You can record all reviews digitally, and in case there’s a negative review, you get an alert immediately which leaves enough room for real-time grievance redressal. So, with inResto feedback, never let a diner walk out unhappy!
