A Bad Review Is Forever: How to Counter Online Complaints

From the New York Times:

For the California restaurateur Andrew Gruel, poor online reviews demand rapid responses.

One of his new Slapfish restaurants, serving sustainable seafood, was hit this year with dozens of bad reviews that complained about its prices (too high) and portions (too small).

So Mr. Gruel pulled out all the stops. He sent emails to customers begging them to come back. And he rejiggered menu prices, increased portion size and even introduced combo meal deals. Quickly, those one-star reviews shifted into five stars.

“You can get buried by bad reviews,” said Mr. Gruel, whose fast-casual restaurants serve food like fish tacos and lobster burgers. “So it’s a race to stop the bleeding.”

The payoff, he added, can be tremendous. Turning around one-star reviews creates lifetime customers — and better reviews draw more customers.

So tracking a business’s online reputation is a critical part of building a thriving company, experts said.

“Star ratings persist forever,” said Daniel Lemin, author of “ManipuRated: How Business Owners Can Fight Fraudulent Online Ratings and Reviews.”“Meanwhile, actual reviews can fall off the first pages of review sites. And consumers rarely read reviews older than three months.” After problems are addressed and solved, he added, there’s a high chance that disgruntled customers can become avid advocates.

So small businesses have nothing to lose by engaging their critics, Mr. Lemin said. The recipe is simply apologizing and asking for another chance. The criticism may hurt, he adds, but the way a business responds matters.

To read the rest, please click here.