Why, thank you for your positive review!

When we own a business, we are constantly monitoring our online presence. Receiving online reviews have become one of the most popular (and important) ways to market your business to customers. Positive reviews are always so uplifting, but it can seem like we only focus on the negative ones. We understand the need for damage control as we can see in the past, how a bad review, depending how it was handled, can spread like wildfire. There can also be a missed opportunity on not replying to a positive review. A customer might leave a positive review for your business with only the intention of recommending it to other customers – but this is an amazing opportunity for you to start building a relationship with the customer. You can even make a happy customer a promoter and even a repeat customer for your business if you respond back to them correctly. And this is exactly why you should respond to positive reviews that you receive. Here are some tips that will help you respond back to your customers and earn a forever fan:

Thank them and be personal.

Someone just said something nice to you about your business. It would be common courtesy to thank them for doing so. Always start off with a “Thank you” because they went out of their way to write a positive review about you when they didn’t even need to. Make it personal and mention specific things that they wrote about, so they know it wasn’t an automated response and that you took the time out to read what they had to say. Try not to use the same response in other people’s reviews because people will take notice and it will no longer seem authentic. Respond to them using their name if they provided it. If they mentioned an employee by name, recognize that and give that employee praise. Expressing gratitude is a great and positive way to start a conversation and establish a rapport with your customer. Go about thanking them any way you feel like, but make sure you do it. End it by saying that you look forward to seeing them back at your establishment again. Be honest and unique.

Respond Quickly.

Generally, reviews are left immediately following a purchase, visit or a specific event. Show them that you care by responding to their review right away. If you let a positive review sit for months or even weeks, this gives the customer the feeling that you didn’t care enough to read their review and what they had to say didn’t matter, even though it obviously mattered to them.  It is such a simple action by acknowledging that you have read their review that will keep them as a long-time customer. If you don’t respond, too much time will have passed, and the customer will have moved on as well. So, let them know you are aware they are out there, acknowledge them and they will remember you.

Keep it short.

Nobody likes to read a lengthy response, so try to keep it short and to the point. If you write too much, this may decrease your value of your words and even seem too clingy. We will end this short tip here. 

Take Action.

If you want to maximize the positive review, you can always invite your customer to take action in an indiscrete, non-intrusive way. Be natural about it. Ask them to share their experience with their friends or find you on social media. Whatever it is that you would like them to do in order to help spread the word, ask them to do it! It’s always best to grab them by the horns when they are happy and request a “favor” from them.

Share the Love.

Once your response is complete, why not brag a little and share the positive review to your social media? Others who follow you but may not have a business relationship with you (yet) may be prompted to reach out to you to find out why your customers love you so much. If you have a website, having customer testimonials is another great way to let visitors know what to expect. We hope you find these tips useful in helping you engage your customers and know the importance of responding to the positive reviews. You can reap big rewards and gain plenty of internet fans just by letting them know you care. Always start off by thanking them, respond quickly, keep it short and to the point, ask them to spread the word and lastly, share your reviews so everyone can see how great your business is! Until next time, happy responding!