Welcome to 2021, when most every business in the service industry finds themselves understaffed. As a result, poor reviews are ravaging business reputations across the country. As recruitment and hiring continues, every company needs a review management plan.
Why reviews matter now, more than ever
- Your staffing crisis doesn’t end with new hires.
While many restaurants, hotels, and other places of business are understaffed post-pandemic—some are gaining traction in securing new employees.
Becoming fully staffed once again is an accomplishment in itself in today’s market—but your work isn’t done. New staff are just that: new to their positions. While their performance will improve over time, employees in training can often negatively affect online feedback.
Once that happens, you have no time to waste in managing and responding to negative reviews. - Unanswered reviews tell customers to stay away.
Let’s take a look at this real Wendy’s review on Yelp, which has gone completely unanswered at the time this post went live—10 months after the review was posted.
Now, when users look for a nearby meal, Kyle R.’s glaring review points them away from this Wendy’s location. And potentially, the franchise in general. - Answered reviews engage the reviewer, and new customers.
Once found, the comment should be responded to as soon as possible. For example:
We don’t expect you to eat a Frosty without straws or a spoon, and no meal should go without ketchup. That’s not the kind of razzle dazzle we strive to bring our diners. We will alert the manager immediately. We hope you will get the 5-star experience you deserve on your next visit.
After this kind of thoughtful engagement, when people see Kyle R.’s comments, they will also see a solution underway—and a reason to trust this location. In the meantime, Kyle R. may even come back for his condiments.
Since we have established that review management is crucial, it’s clear that every business will need a plan to respond.
Counter staffing issues with Let Us Respond
Review management is entirely necessary to stay ahead of the competition, retain customers, and improve local SEO. But your company will be hard pressed to find the bandwidth to manage reviews on your own.
Remember, when you answer a concern in the public sphere through a review, you have exponentially more impact than you would through a call center or email line that addresses a problem one-on-one. So it’s worth dividing your customer service dollars between personal conversations and public responses.
Plus, your customers are going public anyway—more so every day. You might as well take the next step to meet them there.
Get free insights into how Let Us Respond can manage your reviews, across all your locations. Request your free demo today.