INTRODUCTION
According to the American Express 2017 Customer Service Barometer, Americans tell an average of 15 people about a poor service experience vs. the 11 people they’ll tell about a good experience. Service issues in the restaurant industry, like a poor greeting, long waits and inattentive servers, can make their way online in a form of a negative review on social media sites.
In April, a supper club in northern Wisconsin received numerous one-star reviews on Yelp and Google from a person claiming they had bad service and was billed incorrectly. The restaurant also responded to emails from the customer and offered a future complimentary meal, but the customer wouldn’t accept any apology and declined all offers.
Here is how to handle a social media crisis and rebuild your restaurant’s reputation.
RESPOND QUICKLY TO NEGATIVE REVIEWS
If your restaurant receives a bad review online, it’s important to handle the complaint quickly and the right way. Respond within 24 hours of the review being posted, as a timely response shows the reviewer that your restaurant is genuinely concerned about your customers. When responding, avoid debating with the customer, making excuses and long-winded answers. In the aforementioned example, the supper club responded to the disgruntled customer on Google within a reasonable time period but didn’t respond on Yelp.
When formulating your response, generally include the following four components, but also tailor the message according to the review:
- Take the high road
- Express sympathy, regret
- Explain how to avoid the problem again
- Offer resolution
MAKE THINGS BETTER BY GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND
For customers that are resilient in leaving poor reviews, try to get them to communicate offline with you (e.g. email, call, private Yelp message). This not only gives you more opportunity to resolve the situation but also helps keep the conversation going.
Offer some kind of incentive for them to return (e.g. gift card, complimentary meal) and ask them to speak to you personally when they do. Essentially, roll out the red carpet for them to make sure the return visit is as close to perfect as it can be. This will hopefully turn their poor experience into a five-star one.
In our example, the owner should have offered the customer a no-questions-asked refund, not a future free meal, since the customer was stubbornly refusing the apology.
Receiving negative customer reviews about your restaurant’s service can be a learning experience for your entire team. Use the customer’s comments and feedback and turn it into a constructive criticism for your employees.