Yelp reviews can be the bane of businesses of whatever size. They tend to concenter 2 types of customers -- very happy ones and very angry ones.

In my role as a digital marketing consultant for the hospitality and tourism industries, I've helped clients of all sizes -- from mom and popular restaurants to 1 of Chicago'due south most popular tourist destinations -- deal with all kinds of reviews on Yelp. In this blog mail, I'll share my best tips for turning happy customers into evangelists and winning back unhappy customers past responding to Yelp reviews.

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Who Should Respond to Yelp Reviews

First, you lot accept to determine who will be responding to customers who go out Yelp reviews. This will vary depending on the size of your concern.

All-time Practices for Startups

At a small business or a startup, the founder or possessor may the all-time person to answer to Yelp reviews. The person in charge will best know the visitor's voice and what is going on on the inside. Seeing customers' feedback will also help the founder implement changes to the production or service.

As the business grows, the founder volition likely non have enough time to personally respond to every Yelp review. In this case, have an intern or junior member of the team shadow y'all and do responding on your behalf before taking over. Have them flag and pass along whatsoever questions they can't answer.

Best Practices for Medium to Large Companies

If you are at a larger company, you may want to assign responding to Yelp reviews to 1 of three teams:

  1. Customer Success -- Your customer success team already knows how to solve problems for your customers, understands the make voice, and has a protocol for reporting client feedback to someone who tin can improve the product/service your company offers. With piddling extra training, your customer success squad can add managing your visitor's Yelp profile to their duties.
  2. Marketing or Communications: Your marketing or communications team knows how to speak on behalf of your make, and they may already exist responding to questions and reviews that come in through social media. Railroad train them on FAQs about your product to ensure that they have all of the information they need to engage with customers through their Yelp reviews.
  3. An External Bureau: Digital marketing agencies specializing in reputation direction can be a great solution for taking care of your online reviews when you need to outsource. Marketing agencies are adept at mastering their clients' voice, can handle a high volume of reviews, and can be more objective while responding to negative reviews.

Whatever the size of your company, you will want someone with proper preparation in your make vocalism, your product, and FAQs responding to Yelp reviews.

How to Establish a Yelp Review Response Protocol

Successful reputation direction for your concern requires having a organization in identify to ensure that the reviews get read and responded to, and that feedback gets to the right place. Here'due south how to set up a protocol for responding to Yelp reviews at your visitor.

  1. First, decide who will be responsible for responding to your company's Yelp reviews (see above for help).
  2. If your company doesn't already take a manner guide, create i.
  3. If the team responding to reviews does not work closely with your product, make certain they take everything they demand to answer questions almost the production past creating a noesis base or FAQs for your team to employ and add together to.
  4. Create response templates that address common issues, questions or problems. Copying and pasting canned responses will become apparent to anyone who reads more than one review on your Yelp contour. I recommend pasting response templates into your response box on Yelp and then using slightly dissimilar diction each fourth dimension.
  5. Create a system for reporting feedback from Yelp reviews to decision-makers at your company.

Afterwards you've implemented a system for responding to Yelp reviews, you're ready to start responding to those reviews.

How to Respond to Positive Yelp Reviews

Y'all may be wondering why you should bother responding to positive reviews on Yelp. Isn't your time better spent recovering angry customers? Alas, even Yelp will question your determination to respond to a review rated three stars or higher with a pop-upwards alarm. If yous are short on resources and tin can only respond to one kind of review, you lot should focus on negative reviews. However, responding to positive Yelp reviews can benefit your visitor tremendously by strengthening your relationships with customers you already accept.

Why Y'all Should Respond to Positive Yelp Reviews

Here's why you should publicly respond to reviews from happy customers on Yelp.

1. It builds brand loyalty.

Responding to glowing reviews on Yelp can assistance you foster your relationship with happy customers. By acknowledging customers who are taking time out of their busy lives to assistance boost your business, you lot are building customer loyalty. When you get out even a simple response to a positive Yelp review, you brand your customers feel heard and appreciated.

Think about the concluding time y'all left a positive comment on a make's social media post and they took the time to reply. Yous probably felt similar the brand (or the people behind the account) cared about you, which led to increased practiced feelings about the company. This same theory applies to acknowledging customers who review yous on Yelp. Happy reviewers who go a response from a business will feel delighted and volition plow into brand evangelists who will spread the word near your concern to their friends and colleagues.

2. It attracts new customers.

In addition to building customer loyalty by responding to positive reviews from customers through Yelp, you can also concenter new customers using this client care technique. Any digital interaction you have with a client is public and represents your brand'southward personality. Your brand can please customers, or it can merely feel corporate and impersonal.

If you work in the hospitality manufacture like I exercise, you know that many people cheque Yelp and other review sites before trying new restaurants, salons and other service and hospitality businesses. If you lot're looking for sushi restaurants in Boston and come beyond ii with identical ratings, similar menus, and similar caliber reviews, seeing how the business responds to other reviews may help you decide where you lot're getting dinner. A restaurant that ignores positive reviews may come off as unappreciative to have your business organisation. A restaurant that responds to positive reviews may come off every bit charming. Which eatery would you choose?

How practice I respond to a good Yelp review?

"Just I run a house cleaning service, non a restaurant."

"My company sells SaaS ... how do I respond to my customers?"

These dos and don'ts will help you write a stellar response to a stellar Yelp review no matter what kind of concern you run or work for.

1. Read the unabridged review. You may be tempted to skim over four- or v-star reviews, especially if they're long, but don't be hasty when reading Yelp reviews. Sometimes a customer will give your visitor a high rating but address a existent concern at the cease of the review. Make them feel heard by addressing valid problems.

ii. Don't re-create and paste the same response. Your customers (hopefully) aren't copying and pasting the same review they wrote for the blast salon down the street for your day spa. Using a response template your team has created is totally okay, but don't forget to customize them to make your customers experience special.

3. E'er offering to practice more than. Even though the client is clearly happy with your business organisation or your service, information technology's a nice touch to include in your respond an offering to do more for the customer. Brand it clear that you welcome their feedback anytime and take it seriously.

four. Surprise and delight. To go to a higher place and beyond, your respond could besides offer to get in touch with the customer offline to send them swag, treats, or a discount offer.

At present you should be a pro at responding to glowing Yelp reviews, which will brand your customers have warm and fuzzy feelings most your visitor. It'south time to motion on to what keeps every reputation manager up at night: negative Yelp reviews.

How to Respond to Negative Yelp Reviews

Responding to negative Yelp reviews requires tact, training, and discipline. In the best instance, your response to a negative online review could plough a ane-star rating into a five-star rating, win back a customer who's written off your business concern, and evidence potential customers how you solve problems. A defensive or poorly thought out response to a bad review could proceed away the unhappy reviewer, and scare away potential customers. These tips will equip those at your visitor responsible for reputation direction to win over initially disgruntled customers.

First, you may be wondering whether or not y'all should address negative reviews. Yelp reviewers are notorious for beingness i of two things: people who call back they're professional critics, or unreasonable customers with a bone to pick. Online critics may be tough, but they can provide your visitor with valuable feedback.

Why You Should Answer to Negative Yelp Reviews

Here are some things to retrieve nigh when because responding to negative Yelp reviews.

i. It's an opportunity for customer recovery.

Engaging with customers who had a poor experience with your business organization on Yelp is an opportunity for customer recovery. Information technology'southward your adventure to turn a negative experience into a positive 1. Sometimes customers don't speak upwardly about issues in person to give your business the risk to make it right, and they notice comfort in confronting your business about it relatively anonymously on Yelp. You can find out virtually customer complaints on Yelp and solve them by post-obit up with the unhappy client. Doing this could lead to revenue-generating benefits for your business.

An upset customer could edit their rating of your business after you follow upwardly with him or her to solve the problem. According to Harvard Business School, even a ane-star rating increase on Yelp tin generate 5-nine percent more than revenue for your business.

2. It's a chance to win over new customers.

Responding to less-than-stellar reviews on Yelp is as well an opportunity to win over new customers. If a customer reads a bad review but sees through your reply that you've gone higher up and beyond to fix the problem and show the customer you intendance, potential customers will run across how you would resolve a similar situation if it happened to them. Put yourself in the customer's shoes -- wouldn't yous rather meet a bad review on Yelp with a resolution than an unanswered complaint?

It's of import to note, nonetheless, that responding to negative reviews on Yelp could have some downstream negative effects.

3. Responding could highlight negative reviews.

Reviews on Yelp are sorted not in chronological club, but by "Yelp sort," which sorts reviews in an gild that is supposed to help users make the near informed conclusion. "The lodge is determined by recency, user voting, and other review quality factors, which is why an older review may announced earlier a newer one," co-ordinate to Yelp. Responding to a negative review might affect Yelp's sorting algorithm and could potentially show a negative review higher on the folio. Yet, responding to positive reviews should counterbalance this.

4. Responding could be a waste product of fourth dimension on unproductive or fake complaints.

Sometimes unhappy customers tin exist petty online and effort to pick a fight with you to become an undeserved refund. While most complaints by customers are legitimate, be wary of customers who will try to waste your time for a few dollars.

Overall, though, companies that respond to negative reviews on Yelp are perceived equally transparent and open up to receiving customer feedback

How exercise I reply to a bad Yelp review?

  1. Be timely.
  2. Address the reviewer by name.
  3. Mention something positive from their review (if anything).
  4. Repent for what went wrong.
  5. Don't pick a fight.
  6. Make the state of affairs right.
  7. Explain what went wrong and how it won't happen over again.
  8. Make information technology clear what you did to resolve the result.
  9. Track trends in feedback.
  10. Don't accept negative reviews personally.

In my marketing career serving the hospitality and tourism industries, I've dealt with many online reviews. These are the all-time practices for responding to negative reviews based on my personal experience and Yelp'south best practices.

1. Be timely. Follow up with the customer as presently as possible so that an unhappy customer doesn't write off your business completely and and then that potential customers don't see an unresolved issue.

2. Accost the reviewer by name. This will let your customers know that they are important to y'all.

3. Mention something positive from their review (if anything). This volition show the reviewer that you carefully read the review, and will also assistance coffin what they are complaining almost and then that it'south non the first thing potential customers notice when reading your response.

iv. Apologize for what went wrong. If necessary, explain your company'south policy regarding the issue at hand.

5. Don't pick a fight. Maintain your professionalism and don't exist argumentative with customers.

6. If appropriate, make the state of affairs correct. A warranted complaint deserves action, merely brand sure that your customer isn't trying to nickel and dime you to go an unjustified refund or concession. To address a existent concern, follow up with the customer, simply exercise and so in a private message or inquire them to electronic mail you. Make sure to mention that you lot are resolving this offline in your public comment so that potential customers don't read the review and call back y'all ignored the problem.

7. Explain what went incorrect and how it won't happen again. This shows potential customers that preventative measures are being taken to ensure this state of affairs won't happen to them.

eight. Make information technology articulate what you did to resolve the issue. If you solved this trouble in person (while the customer was at your place of business) merely the reviewer didn't mention it online, accost how yous resolved the effect in your public reply to the Yelp review so that potential customers know that you followed through.

nine. Rail trends in feedback. If you notice whatsoever patterns in the negative reviews your company is receiving, listen to the feedback and run across how you can change something in your business to create a improve experience for your customers.

ten. Don't take negative reviews personally. This is when information technology's practiced to have someone who is not the owner responding to reviews.

Now you lot're all set to tackle any concerns your customers enhance on Yelp.

Can I remove a negative Yelp review?

No. If you receive a negative Yelp review that you lot suspect could be fake or defamatory, page managers tin canwritten report the reviewto Yelp for them to consider removing. Yelp commonly falls on the side of the reviewer, nevertheless, and will usually simply arbitrate by deleting or hiding negative Yelp reviews if they don't believe they will be helpful for other Yelp users looking for information. To combat the bear on of a negative Yelp review, yous could encourage happy customers to leave youpositive reviews.

Customer Review Response Examples on Yelp

Positive Yelp Reviews

Now that we've established why y'all should exist acknowledging happy customers by addressing their reviews on Yelp, here is my formula for responding to positive reviews.

  1. Personalize your response with the customer's name. Using your customer's proper noun shows that you lot care near them.
  2. Mention something from their review so that they know y'all read it thoroughly. This as well lets them know that this isn't a canned response.
  3. Thank them for taking the fourth dimension to write a review.
  4. Give thanks them for beingness a customer and let them know you look frontward to seeing them soon.

Run across how to put this formula into activity with the following example.

Here's a made-up example of a positive review for a restaurant from Alex B. of Cambridge, MA.

Taco Fourth dimension is my go-to spot lunch in Harvard Foursquare. These are the most authentic tacos I've had since moving to the East Coast from L.A. Don't miss the carnitas and horchata!

Here's how Taco Time might respond to this Yelp review:

Hi Alex, nosotros're delighted to hear that you're a fan of our carnitas! The recipe has been in our family for generations. Thanks so much for spreading the word and for writing a review. Our concern depends on regulars like you! Nosotros promise to see you lot over again soon, Alex!

Negative Yelp Reviews

Here are some fictional examples of negative reviews your concern may encounter on Yelp, as well as examples of responses based on the above formula for responding to negative reviews on Yelp.

Brad D. of Seattle, WA left this 2-star review of a hotel in Hawaii.

My wife and I chose the Wailea Inn for our honeymoon. Every bit a special surprise for my bride, I decided to splurge on the breakfast-in-bed package, which looked like a luxury experience based on what I saw on your website. We were both extremely disappointed when the breakfast arrived at our door in a brown newspaper pocketbook and to-become containers instead of on a silver platter and mainland china, equally was shown in the pictures on your website. We tried non to let this ruin our stay, simply it was quite disappointing. Besides this, everything else was as-pictured on the website, and we loved the individual embankment.

Here's how the Wailea Inn could reply to this Yelp review:

Hello Brad, thank you and then much for choosing the Wailea Inn for your honeymoon. We are and then glad that you enjoyed access to our private beach. We are distressing to hear that you lot felt our breakfast-in-bed service was not as described on our website. We work difficult to ensure all of our guests have a fantastic experience while staying with us. We would like to make this right. We have sent you a directly message and then that we can resolve this issue.

Here'southward another fictitious example:

Allison H. of New York, NY recently visited the New York Robotics Museum. Here'due south what her 1-star review on Yelp said:

I visited the museum last Sabbatum afternoon. Afterwards arriving at the museum with three hungry kids, I had to head directly to the cafeteria to appease their hunger. I was horrified to detect a hair in my son'due south chicken nuggets. This was completely unacceptable. This was my first and last visit to this museum.

Here's an example of the Robotics Museum could respond to Allison'due south review:

Allison, cheers then much for choosing to spend your Saturday with the states. Our deli team takes hygiene very seriously, and then we were both shocked and sorry to hear about your lunchtime experience. We are reviewing our kitchen'due south protocol to make sure that this does not happen again. We as well spoke with our cafeteria manager, Rex, who informed u.s. that his team replaced your family unit'southward meals for the inconvenience. We hope that you enjoyed the rest of your visit and that you would consider visiting us again.

Yelp helps your customers feel heard and appreciated. Responding to Yelp reviews is your mode, equally a business concern, to plough happy customers into evangelists and recover unhappy customers. Think of your Yelp folio every bit an extension of your customer service squad's efforts, and your business volition reap the benefits.

To learn more than, read our guide to responding to Google reviews adjacent.

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Originally published Sep 11, 2018 8:00:00 AM, updated June fifteen 2021