According to Yell Business, reviews can also help improve communication and customer service. They give your business credibility and act as social proof, even for very new businesses. Online reviews also provide other customers with valuable company information, with first-hand insights that business owners may not have thought to share.

Reviews are also becoming more prominent as a content format in their own right. Star ratings are increasingly visible in search results, with review add-ons for Google Ads and ratings in local search via Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). Sometimes, snippets of actual reviews appear in results, making them a highly visible source of information and a frequent stop on the customer path to purchase.

In ranking terms, reviews are also important. The 2017 LocalSEO Guide ranking factors study pegged reviews as one of the most important local ranking factors. The number of good and bad reviews received was determined to play a part in local pack positioning, as was the speed and frequency of response.

Responding to reviews is a way of showing the world how much you care about the customer experience — as well as being a way to earn a few more local SEO brownie points. All reviews should be acknowledged promptly, but it’s particularly easy to succumb to temptation and respond to a negative review as soon as you see it. Before you give in to this impulse, it pays to be aware of the six core types of reviewer so you can formulate an appropriate, effective response to fit.

1. The First-time Reviewer

With only 63% of consumers having left a review for a local business, there are still plenty of shoppers out there who haven’t ever felt moved to review a business.

When you do encounter a first-time reviewer, keep in mind that if yours is the first review they’ve left, they clearly feel quite strongly about their experience (whether good or bad).

How to deal with the First-time Reviewer

You should take a first-time reviewer seriously and if good, appreciate that your service must have been outstanding to push them into leaving a review. Make sure to pass this feedback on to your team, and congratulate them on a job well done!

On the flip side, negative reviews must be delicately handled and considerable thought given to the response.  It’s unlikely that you will receive further interaction after the initial review, even when you do respond, but that shouldn’t impact how you proceed.

In the case of a negative review, ask yourself if there is any truth in the feedback and if changes need to be made internally to rectify the issue being flagged up. If valid, your response should outline the steps that will be taken to avoid this issue again in the future. And, if you disagree with the reviewer’s claims, politely and professionally provide your side of the story. This will help provide context to readers. 

2. The Serial Complainer

Serial complainers are the exact opposite of first-timers and will be prolific reviewers. They’ll have a long and storied history of leaving negative reviews and will likely review every business, product or service they use. They may well be incredibly picky and have unrealistically high standards or expectations of what they have actually paid for.

How to deal with the Serial Complainer

Tread carefully here, as the serial complainer has had lots of experience with other businesses just like yours. They are professionals at making you look bad. Your response will need to be very measured while also addressing the points made. Look at how other businesses have fared when dealing with them and avoid making the same mistakes.

Be aware that the serial complainer is very likely to continue the conversation and will respond back to your comments, often with additional complaints or disagreements. And if you can’t change their mind, don’t be too disheartened! 

3. The Direct Communicator

The direct communicator won’t mince words. They’ll get straight to the point and expect someone senior to take note. These are people who don’t direct their reviews to the world at large, but to you, the business owner.

If they’re negative, they’ll want to receive a very personal response and likely want to have the discussion on the public review site rather than over a private email conversation.

How to deal with the Direct Communicator

When dealing with a direct communicator, don’t be tempted to be similarly abrupt in your response.

Be clear but not overly wordy and don’t resort to a direct or confrontational style. Avoid making excuses too – the direct communicator values straight talk and expects swift action.

4. The Storyteller

The storyteller takes time to craft exceptionally detailed reviews.

They will share the smallest of details and paint a picture of their entire experience – typically including lots of information not directly related to the product or service being reviewed. You can recognize a storyteller by the length of the review. There’ll also be plenty of the reviewer’s own recommendations, suggestions, and advice.

How to deal with the Storyteller

If your storyteller is posting a negative account of their dealings with your business, take time to check and re-check your response before posting, as the storyteller will often be highly critical of replies which aren’t equally as thought out.

This doesn’t mean you should match the tone or length – don’t be tempted to add lots of background info if it doesn’t serve a purpose. Likewise, if they’re sarcastic and snide, don’t be tempted to match this tone, as it’ll likely backfire, and potentially damage onlookers’ opinions of your business.

5. The Sharpshooter

The sharpshooter pulls no punches. The review will be brief and to the point,  and perhaps poorly written or rushed. Don’t respond in kind to a sharpshooter or go too far the other way with a long-winded response.

How to deal with the Sharpshooter

When dealing with a review from a sharpshooter, be conscious that your reply should be concise but not short. Use succinct, clear sentences rather than wordy, elaborate ones to better reflect this type of reviewer’s communication style.

6. The Faker

Most businesses will have fallen victim to a fake review at least once. If you’re in that boat, you’ll agree that the faker is the worst kind of reviewer.

A faker has never used your business or purchased your product. Despite this, they have a grudge and delight in leaving one-star reviews with made-up complaints to damage your online reputation. They may be working on behalf of a competitor (or even be a competitor!) Do some research on them and see if they have links someone who would have beef with you. The review itself may also shed some light on this.

How to deal with the Faker

If you suspect a review is fake, check your customer records to determine if they have ever used your business.

Don’t be tempted to reply straight away if you think it’s fake. Instead, take a look at BrightLocal contributor Ben Fisher’s guide to getting fake reviews removed. In the meantime, focus on acquiring new positive, genuine reviews to push the fake one star down.

We’d love to hear your thoughts

What kinds of reviewers have you encountered and what tips do you have for responding? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

Not only does this mean you can identify any potential issues and respond to them quickly to limit their impact, but it also means you’ll be able to respond quickly to all reviews left for your local business. 

This is important for two reasons. First of all, businesses that respond to reviews perform better in local search. And secondly, because today’s consumers actively check for review responses from business owners.  

How do you monitor reviews?

Monitoring your online reviews simply means you’re going to keep tabs on customer feedback left for you on relevant platforms. You can do this manually by checking each review platform individually or by using a review monitoring tool.

How can I monitor online reviews?

The first step to monitoring online reviews for your business is to make a list of review sites. This should consist of both general review sites, such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook, along with industry-specific sites appropriate to your business. If you’re in the hotel or restaurant business, that could mean Tripadvisor. If you’re a tradesperson, that could be Angi. If you’re a contractor, Houzz. 

It could be that you aren’t sure which sites are most relevant to you. An easy way to overcome this hurdle is to ask your customers which review platforms they use. 

You can also add competitors into the mix here and piggyback off their activities. Find out which review platforms they’re most active on — do they have certain badges on their sites, such as a badge from Tripadvisor or Trustpilot? When you search for the company name, which review sites appear at the top of the results page?

As you build your list of sites to monitor, keep a record of any important sites that you don’t already appear on. You’ll need to start the process of review generation on these platforms.

Manual Review Monitoring

When it comes to online review monitoring, you have two options — use a review monitoring tool or do it manually. 

Manual review monitoring is more time-consuming and runs the risk of reviews being missed. To reduce that possibility, ensure that your email address is registered with the review platform. Also, make sure you’ve opted in to receive an alert each time a new review is published. 

A monitoring tool is a more efficient and effective way to keep track of your online reviews. This is because it’ll do the time-consuming task of checking for new reviews for you. This removes the risk of reviews being missed and enables you to respond promptly. This means you’ll be able to take action quickly in the event of a negative review appearing.

Whichever route you choose, be sure to keep a log of the frequency of reviews, the volume of negative versus positive reviews, and any action taken as a result of each review. If the rate at which you’re earning new reviews slows down, then further action will be needed to understand why that’s the case. 

What should you do with the reviews you’re manually monitoring to understand trends?

If you’re manually undertaking review monitoring, you’ll need to carry out an additional task to then make sense of your data. To understand the sentiment and identify common themes, you’ll first need to consolidate the text of the reviews together in one central location, such as a shared Google doc. 

Once you’ve done this, you can use a word cloud generator (Google has a free app here) to help you make sense of the data. The word cloud will show you common words and phrases that have been used. This will give you insight as to which products, services, and themes are being talked about most often.

Look out for phrases such as ‘fast delivery’, ‘helpful’, ‘good customer service’, and individual product names. This will clue you in as to what people are liking, buying, and wanting more of.

You may also notice that there’s a correlation between these attributes and the reviews in a prominent position on your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). Google takes note when people regularly mention a particular element of service, such as ‘fast delivery’, or ‘outdoor dining’, and will add this as a highlight to your GBP on mobile devices.

How do I track negative reviews?

You can perform online business review monitoring to identify negative reviews as they appear. This can be achieved by using a review monitoring tool or by manually checking the review platforms associated with your business. It’s important that negative reviews are quickly addressed to prevent damage to your reputation, so an automated tool is often the best bet. 

You can find our tips for how to handle negative reviews here.

How do I monitor Google reviews?

Review monitoring of Google reviews can be done either manually or by using a monitoring tool. Manually monitoring involves checking GBP for new review alerts. You’ll also be notified via email when a new review is shared, with this notification going to the email address used to manage the GBP account. 

To access reviews, log into GBP and select ‘Reviews’ from the left-hand navigation.

Our latest consumer review research highlights the importance of responding to Google reviews, along with reviews on other platforms. 

The Consumer Review Survey has revealed that 98% of consumers have read a local business review within the last year. Due to the design of many review platforms  — including Google Reviews — each of those consumers could also have seen the business response to each of the reviews. This is valuable digital real estate that could be used to emphasize unique selling points (USPs), engage with consumers, and build closer relationships with those potential new and recurring customers or clients.  

It’s hard to get your brand personality or the personable face of your customer service team across on a review site, so a review response provides a vehicle to do just that. You can use this space to bring your own brand voice to the site, which helps you to create a more authentic engagement with that customer.

Seeing a response from a business owner also matters to local consumers, with whether or not a business responds to a review being the third most important factor for local consumers. This is only behind the review sharing a positive experience and the business having a high star rating. 

It’s clear from this data that consumers place a great deal of importance on businesses taking time to respond. This suggests that knowing how to respond to positive reviews can influence how favorably local consumers view your review profile. 

There’s strong evidence to suggest that responding to reviews — both good and bad — can significantly increase your chances of winning new business, with 89% of consumers saying they’re either highly or fairly likely to choose a local business that responds to reviews. Not responding to reviews at all means consumers are very unlikely to use your business. 

Does responding to reviews help with SEO? 

Responding to reviews is a local search ranking factor, with timeliness of response and responding to positive and negative reviews both playing a role. Google has confirmed that managing and responding to reviews does impact local search visibility. 

Many businesses are so focused on generating reviews, they forget to reply to the reviewer. Taking the time to respond is an easy way to add an additional layer of satisfaction to your customer service. Also, doing so can make a person more likely to use your business after they find you in the search results. 

How do you thank someone for a positive review?

Responding to a positive review can be both quick and easy. Begin by thanking the reviewer for their feedback. Personalize your response by referencing something the reviewer particularly appreciated about your product or service and invite them to take an action, such as visiting you again soon. Keep your response short, be genuine, and respond in as timely a manner as possible. 

How do you respond to a five-star review?

Replying to a five-star review is no different than replying to other positive reviews or those with three or four stars. Be timely in your response, thank the reviewer for sharing their experience, and be sure to modify your response to reflect a particular detail, such as a team member or feature that the reviewer enjoyed. Your response doesn’t need to be long or over the top — simply be authentic, appreciative, and concise. 

The Five Steps of Responding to Google Reviews

Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, needs to be done in a timely manner to be effective and impactful. 

1: Use a Tool

If you have a reputation management tool, you may be able to respond to the review directly from the dashboard. Use this if you have one available to you — it streamlines the process and makes it easier to keep track of which reviews you’ve responded to.

2: Be Proactive

If you don’t have a reputation management tool, build manual response management into your daily schedule. Set time aside each day after you monitor online reviews to respond to new comments. It’s advisable to respond to negative reviews first (even ones you suspect to be fake) in order to limit the damage and put the wheels in motion for dispute resolution.

3: Shape an Appropriate Response

Reviewers generally fall into a specific category. Identifying which type of reviewer you’re dealing with will help you formulate a plan of action for your response. You can use our ‘Types of Reviewer’ resource to help you do this.

4: Take Negative Reviews Offsite

Negative reviews are a fact of life for any local business. The key to dealing with them is having a honed response process. As a first step, encourage the reviewer to converse with you off the review site. Invite them to send you an email or to give you a call.

Once the issue is resolved, ask them to amend or update their review to reflect the steps taken to remedy the situation.

5: Develop a Range of Canned Responses

If you don’t have time to craft a unique response for every review, develop a stock of templated responses which you can mix and match. Be sure to vary elements to suit the original review, such as referencing a staff member they’ve mentioned, a location (if you have multiple locations), or a particular product, service, or business feature (such as outdoor dining). Our handy review response templates — with examples you can copy and paste — are a great starting point if you’re looking for help responding to positive reviews.

When responding to negative reviews, one of the best responses is simply asking for more information and trying to find out what went wrong.

Despite your natural feeling of frustration, make your best effort to remedy the situation. Resolve the problem by apologizing and repairing it. If you resolve the issue, many customers will be happy to change their reviews.

Below I’ll run through steps covering how to respond to negative reviews online.

1. Keep calm and take a breath

It can be hard not to take personal insults and low-star ratings as being directed at us, but it is important to remember that sometimes people are venting their frustrations about something else. A good way of responding to a negative review might be to thank them for taking the time—yes, even if they didn’t like your business or service—and to ask what could have been done better in order to make things right with them.

Before responding to a negative review, take a moment to breathe deeply and think about it. If necessary, get up and walk around the block. The best thing to do is to settle your emotions before responding, as being angry with a customer is never a good outcome.

You might find it helpful to have a list of standard responses to refer to when responding to a customer who’s had a bad experience. In writing a reply to the reviewer, you can use these “canned” responses as a starting point. Then tailor your canned responses to each reviewer’s feedback to ensure people reading your reviewers don’t see too much repetition.

Taking a moment to think about what you want to say, or the kind of response you want to use, can be incredibly helpful—especially if you’re upset. 

Take the below response, for example. If emotions had been settled before responding, the responder might have delivered a better response, without the sarcasm. It would have been better to look at this situation from the perspective of asking if anything could have been done better to make things right with the reviewer.

2. Remember that you must respond to negative reviews

Bad reviews actually have the power to improve conversion rates, so it would be a shame not to take this golden opportunity to respond. Taking the time to respond to a negative review can result in a 16% boost in customer advocacy.

Remember that the most effective form of marketing is word of mouth. Businesses experience a 37% decline in customer advocacy simply by the act of not responding to negative reviews.

Be empathetic in your approach. Reviewers often just want to be heard. Sometimes, all it takes to make a customer happy is to show them that you have heard them and that you want to solve their problem. Customer satisfaction can be doubled by resolving a customer issue in a single contact, as you’re far more likely to get a repeat sale.

Over 70% of buying decisions are based on how a customer feels they are being treated, so do your best to make all of your customers feel valued – even the unhappy ones, as below.

3. Consider the type of reviewer you’re dealing with

There are many different types of reviews and reviewers, but there are a few categories into which most people fall. You’re guaranteed to make the response process faster and more effective if you take advantage of BrightLocal’s tips on different types of reviewers, like first-time, sharpshooters, and serial complainers, for example.

First-time reviewers: Consider whether the negative feedback is accurate. If it is, make internal changes to remedy the problem. When applicable, explain how you will prevent this issue from occurring again in the future. Also, if you disagree with the reviewer’s assertions, politely and professionally present your point of view.

Sharpshooters: When dealing with a short, confident review from an expert, keep in mind that brevity is the goal. Condense your response into clear and concise sentences rather than lengthy ones to better reflect this type of reviewer’s communication style.

Serial Complainers: The serial complainer can really hurt your business, so tread carefully. These reviewers have experience with similar businesses and know how to make them look bad in the process. To avoid this, take note of what other companies did when responding with them as well as avoiding making mistakes they made!

4. Resolve the issue

Sometimes customers leave reviews because they are disappointed or disgruntled, and not because of something you’ve done. If possible, try contacting them privately with a response that politely addresses their message.

Work to solve the problem with more than just a response. Discover what went wrong and why the reviewer was so dissatisfied. Search your database for their email or phone number and contact them. Instead of addressing the issue online, you’ll be able to speak directly and resolve it “in person.”

Efforts to resolve the problem show the customer (and others) you mean business. When customer trust is broken, it is critical to go the extra mile. Fixing the problem not only makes the customer happier, but other potential clients will see how important your customers are to your business, as you can see below.

5. Get a second opinion

Though it’s tempting to jump into defending yourself against unjustified complaints, responding with anger will do more harm than good. Responding in an informative manner, that acknowledges the customer’s frustration, will help you to avoid escalating any unnecessary problems.

To ensure that your response to a bad review is accurate, let an impartial third party read it before you post it online. Double-check your message and tone by sending the response to several colleagues to ensure that it “reads” well to a third party. This is important because your response may be interpreted as overly defensive or aggressive, and this would not help to win over the customer.

Share an example of what you have written with friends, family, and/or a private business network. Be transparent and open with the feedback you receive and make adjustments accordingly.

6. Remember that a well-written negative review response can increase sales

Look at the positive within the negative. Negative reviews will stay negative forever if you do not respond, and we all know that nothing is lost on the Internet. How you respond to negative reviews can provide consumers with insight into your business’ credibility.

In addition to fixing problems raised by negative reviews, there is another benefit. You gain the trust of potential customers. If you fix your mistakes, they will see that you are thorough and responsible, and that is certainly something to be valued as a business. 

This is a good time to gain insight into what your company may be doing wrong. Seeing the potential hidden within a negative review may help you improve your business. Look at the review and carefully consider what the person wrote.:

• Did they have a problem with a staff member? 
• What was their experience like at your location? 
• Has your product or service failed to meet their expectations? 

In analyzing what the customer says, look for larger issues that need to be addressed at your business, as in the example below.

7. Take the discussion offline

On the other hand, negative feedback can provide a wealth of useful information, because what your product or service lacks is sometimes more obvious to your customers than you.

Have you ever tried to collect customer surveys to get this information? A task of this nature is near-impossible. Although people may sincerely want to answer all the questions, sometimes they just forget about it when the daily rush gets to them. So reviews give you a lot of valuable feedback in this respect.

Additionally, this type of feedback gives you time to resolve issues before the problem escalates with other customers. The best cure is prevention. Your customers know better than anyone what is missing from your product, so pay extra attention to what they have to say.

According to Harris Interactive, 75% of customers believe it takes too long to reach a live agent on the phone. Increasingly, people use online reviews, social media, and other online methods for customer service and to voice their opinion publicly since it gets higher attention.

The best way to handle attention-seeking people is to take the discussion offline as soon as possible. Simply let the customer know you heard them, like the example below, and then ask them to call or email you personally so you can resolve the matter. 

8. Ask for a do-over

As long as you’ve taken steps to resolve the situation with an unhappy customer, you shouldn’t hesitate to politely request that they update/change their review to reflect the resolution.

One of the best ways to do this is to send an email outlining what happened, what you resolved, and the steps you’re taking to improve things going forward, and then politely asking if they would mind updating their review.

9. Get more positive reviews to push down the negative reviews

The vast majority of people read an average of 10 reviews before they decide to use a business. The review process is usually ordered chronologically, so if you keep a steady stream of positive reviews flowing in, you will see those negative ones extinguish over time.

The best way to counteract one negative review is to get a few more positive reviews to “push down” the negative review. Provide an easy way for your customers to write positive reviews (and respond to Google reviews) about your business.

Your business is worth a searcher’s time when it has online reviews. Easily and quickly create a steady stream of positive customer reviews for your company with Brightlocal’s Get Reviews tool.

10. Respond in a timely manner 

The clock begins ticking once reviews are posted. In the below example, the response was almost one month later and customers expect to hear back from you within 24 hours.

It’s important to respond seriously to negative reviews of your company, especially if the customer felt dissatisfied enough to write one.

Responding to negative reviews is a perfect example of the phrase “time is money”. Take note of any negative feedback when it appears on your radar and begin to formulate a response immediately. You can begin with an explanation that states, “We understand your concerns and are investigating the situation to determine how we can best address them. If you give us 24 hours, we will get back to you.” Follow up on your review by editing it and explaining what you’ve discovered and what’s next.

11. Identify and respond to fake reviews, too

Handling negative reviews with grace is a key to online reputation success. It’s important to understand how customers feel about your business online but to also be aware of who left a review. Occasionally a review can come from an ex-employee, a competitor or it can be fake. (Check out the obviously fake review in the image below).

It is important to understand the guidelines for each platform in order to know what can be flagged and how. The links below can you help you better identify how to proceed.

• How to Delete or Remove a Review
• How to Report a Fake Google Review
• Guidelines for the Top Local Review Sites

Online reviews have many benefits. They’re an important indicator of your overall reputation, have the power to make or break a sale, and directly influence whether someone chooses you or opts for a competitor. 

Plus they’re a known local SEO ranking factor—whether or not you respond to reviews (in addition to the volume and frequency of new reviews) will influence where you appear in the local pack. 

So it’s not enough to only have a process for online review management, that includes requesting reviews and building a review profile. You also need a documented process in place when it comes to responding to your customer reviews. 

Why should you respond to customer reviews?

Our own Local Consumer Review Survey shows that a quick review response is more crucial than ever:

• 96% of consumers say they read the business response, both good and bad
• The majority of consumers writing a review expect to receive a response
• 20% of consumers say they would expect to wait no longer than one day for a response
• 26% of consumers expect a response within two days

Because timely review responses are so important, it can be helpful to have a few pre-prepared templates on hand.

The following examples will help to ensure that you’re always providing a professional, polished, and appropriate reply—no matter the sentiment of the feedback, or how pressed for time you may be. 

What type of review response templates do you need?

There are many different types of reviewers. They range from people who truly love your business and just want to share their joy, to serial complainers who are just downright unreasonable. 

So you can realistically expect a range of review styles—covering everything from ‘a star rating with no text’ and ‘short and sweet feedback’, to ‘lengthy storytelling’ and ‘venting complaints’.

To address this range, you can either build your own custom templates, or skip straight to some examples and adapt for your business. Either way you’ll need a selection of both positive review response templates and negative review response templates.

Constructing Your Own Review Response Templates

A good review response starts with a few key building blocks: 

• An acknowledgement: Good or bad, your response should open by thanking the reviewer for taking the time to share their experiences. 
• A reference to their experience: Provided that you aren’t dealing with a very basic star-only review, it’s good practice to reference any details the reviewer has shared about their experience. If they’ve singled out a particular coworker for praise (for example) then name that person in your response. If the reviewer found your customer service to be especially helpful, repeat that in your response.
• An invitation to discuss further: If the reviewer wasn’t happy with any aspects of their interaction, then invite them to reach out via email, direct message, or telephone so that you can learn more. This shows that you’re keen to understand their issues and that you are open to taking steps to remedy them where possible. 
• An invitation to return: End your response on a positive note that invites the customer to return soon. 

Customizable Review Response Templates

These positive/negative review response templates are ready to be copied, pasted, and edited for use straight away. 

1. The ‘unfair’ 1-star review

Dealing with negative reviews can be tricky—especially when the review is erroneous or misrepresented—as you’re naturally starting from a place of irritation. So take a deep breath, open up this first negative review response template, and draft a cool, calm, and collected message.

Negative review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. I’m sorry to hear that your experience hasn’t met your expectations on this occasion. It sounds like [insert reason for the miscommunication]. 

I’ve shared this with the team so we can make our [insert policy] a little clearer. Please do reach out [insert contact info] if we can assist further. 

2. The ‘did not use’ 1-star review

When a potential customer says why they ‘didn’t use you’, there’s an opportunity to reply and reassure other potential customers that you want to address their concerns.

Negative review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

I’m sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with us. It’s always our intention to provide great customer service and useful, transparent advice. Please accept our sincerest apologies that we didn’t live up to your expectations on this occasion. 

I’m thankful that you reached out to share your experience as your valuable feedback helps us to improve our processes and better serve our clients. Please reach out to us at [insert contact info] to discuss how we can make this right. 

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3. The ‘great but’ review

This review can be super frustrating to read. The reviewer admits that you offered a great experience but they have docked a star anyway because the service or product was great but not exceptional. This kind of review is very useful to have on your profile because it offers several reasons why readers should engage with you. Having a concise and appreciative positive response review template will serve you well here. 

Positive review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed [insert experience] and look forward to welcoming you again soon! 

4. The ‘overall happy’ review

This customer offers a four- or five-star review, with an overall positive feel but with one or two little niggles. This is actually a wonderful review to have because it shows that you’re still prepared to fix any minor issues.

Positive review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

First of all, thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us—we really value your input and flagging up areas where we can further improve. I’m so happy to hear that [insert staff name] was able to help you [insert outcome] and put things right. It sounds like you [insert end result]. I’m pleased we were able to help! 

5. The ‘professional reviewer’ review

This will typically be a balanced review, referencing both pros and cons. Because it comes from an influencer, or from someone whose opinion is valued by peers, it requires a well-crafted, positive response that refers to the specific points raised. 

Positive review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

It was great to hear that you enjoyed [insert visit/experience detail]. We really appreciate your detailed review and the fact that you [insert a plus from review]. 

Thank you also for your feedback highlighting where we can do better. We appreciate hearing about your experience and your thoughts about [insert reference]. Your comments are really helpful in highlighting opportunities to improve our service even further and your recommendations are being addressed internally. 

We hope to welcome you back again soon! 

6. The ‘short and sweet five-star’ review

This is the kind of review that we all dream of… one that’s nice and easy to respond to! 

Positive review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

Many thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We’re very happy to hear that we met your expectations and were able to [insert detail] quickly! 

7. The ‘brand evangelist’ review

Your brand evangelists love all of their interactions with your business, and they’re happy to share their enthusiasm with the world. These are the kind of reviews that put a smile on your face… so take the time to be nice back! 

Positive review response template

Hello [Reviewer Name],

We’re delighted to hear about your recent experience with us and we’re so pleased that you recommend our [insert product/service]. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and we look forward to welcoming you back soon!

In Conclusion

Having a predefined library of positive and negative review response templates can be an incredibly helpful asset. 

It speeds up your ability to craft personalized, professional responses that emphasize your gratitude for the feedback—whatever it might be.