Reviews are a part and parcel of running a business that can really affect your bottom line. The more reviews you have on local directories and other platforms such as Facebook, Google+ and Foursquare, the more likely you are to get more customers walking into your establishment.
The downside of allowing just about anyone to review businesses online is the increased chances of getting bad reviews from a disgruntled customer, or worse, slander from John Doe. These can negate all the good reviews you’ve been getting from your satisfied customers.
Reviews are a way for customers to communicate their experiences to their peers, not to target a business or slander them. If you are monitoring your reviews on a regular basis, and you come across a review that is obviously an attack on your business, there are a couple of things you can do about it.
1. Flag It!
Most directories allow users to flag any reviews that are abusive or hateful. When you flag a review as inappropriate, you also have to submit a report explaining why you are flagging it. In your report, you should specifically mention WHY the review is slander and not just a bad review.
Due to the automated nature of most of these reporting systems, it is always better to word your report in such a way that catches their attention. Saying that you “believe” the review violates their Terms of Service improves the chances of your report being sent directly to someone who exclusively deals with TOS violations.
Along with the mention of the word violation, you also have to highlight where and how they violated the TOS. For example, on yelp, if a review mentions an employee by their full name (especially if it’s a minor), it is a violation of their TOS. So when you write your report mention the fact that the review “mentions an employee by name, which is a violation of the TOS”
On directories such as Google+ Local pages, Yelp or YP, you can find a “flag abuse” option or flag symbol right below the review. But use this wisely because if you flag reviews too often, you will get flagged.
2. Respond With Care
If reporting doesn’t work, you can always respond to the review. This is tricky because as the business owner, you have to keep a cool head while replying and remain as friendly and helpful as possible.
- Your response must be factual, brief and above all, courteous.
- Don’t be defensive. State the facts of the situation and be the rational one.
- It helps if you have proof which discredits the review. If the reviewer mentions something completely wrong, make sure you mention it in your reply (politely!).
For example, if the person claims that you do not use fresh ingredients in your restaurant, you can provide a link to your supplier and allow them to see for themselves that you do.
- If the “person” was never a customer, you can reply and say that “This review was posted by a person who has never been a customer of our establishment.”
3. Legal Request
Google+ lets you submit reports against reviews which have any legal cause to be removed (as per the laws of your country). The request must include why you want the review removed, along with the content and URL of the review.
You also have to leave a digital signature that confirms that you are in fact, authorized to address this legal issue, and also swears that the information you have provided is true (by the penalty of perjury).
4. Pick Up The Phone
Now that you’ve tried all the online solutions, its time to to make some phone calls.
The first, is to call up the support team to check why the review hasn’t been taken down. Depending on the directory you are dealing with, they may or may not be helpful.
If that doesn’t work, you can call up a sales representative and speak to them as a potential customer. Discuss the issue, ask them questions about why it was allowed to be on your page in the first place, and ask them if it can be removed. If they sense that removing the review will increase the likelihood of a sale, they will do their best to escalate the matter.
If all of the steps above don’t get rid of the review, don’t freak out.
Though reviews do play a big role in customer’s decision making, people are smart enough to differentiate the odd slanderous review from the rest of the great ones raving about your business. Smart users will even mark it as “not helpful”, where the option is given.
It is important that you ask customers who’ve had good experiences with your business to share their feedback online This way, there is enough truth to balance the one bad review.