Article
Listen & Take Control of Your Online Reputation
A positive online rating on a user review platform such as Yelp, Google and TripAdvisor can make your day. A bad review can ruin it. Unfortunately, many operators feel they are at the mercy of these sites when they can do a great deal to harness their popularity to grow their businesses.
Shed your passivity. By responding to all reviews, good and bad, you can demonstrate your business's attentiveness to guest satisfaction, and underscore what is special about your concept. If that doesn't grab your attention, consider operators who ignore their online reputation do so at a steep cost.
Explore how you can leverage user review sites to boost revenue, engage customers, and improve concept performance and execution. We also look at how independent operators, like you, have streamlined managing their restaurant's online reputation.
Every negative online review that goes unanswered risks turning away a new diner. So says Joshua Binning, operator of Mexican restaurant Lucha Cantina in Rockford, Illinois. Some restaurateurs tend to write off reviewers as complainers. "I look at it as 'this is a person who is trying to start a conversation.'"
Particularly as diners migrate to take-out or delivery, they may feel these sites are their only opportunity to air a grievance. These customers can't flag a server or talk to the manager to point out a problem, which they don't discover until they are in their own kitchen.
And that's when they reach for their devices to vent on Yelp, Google or another platform. When operators don't respond and criticism goes unchallenged, it validates the reviewer's words to other diners.
Engaging with bad reviews allows operators to tell their side of the story and make things right. Just as they would do if the guest was seated at their table.
To Binning, the natural thing for an operator to do is listen to the bad reviews (without getting defensive), look for the lesson, and take steps to right the situation. "Many of my most loyal customers are those who had an issue we solved and made up for it. Now they love us.
A bad review is "an opportunity to make a lifelong customer, adds Binning. He is so passionate about the power of user reviews, Binning goes out of his way to encourage them.
Don't Forget the Queso
Diners who review restaurants on these sites generally do so in polarized circumstances: things were incredibly great and they want to rave about their visit, or things were abysmal and they want to vent. In both cases, diners are exercising their voices.
Just as an operator would never ignore tables, they cannot ignore reviews or write off a particular user review site 'based on a couple bad apples,' especially when there may be "truth in their review that your restaurant isn't as good as you think it is...
To Shawn Walchef, owner of Cali Comfort BBQ in San Diego, California, user review sites are "another room in the restaurant." You can't ignore them he said, particularly when there is "truth in their review that your restaurant isn't as good as you think it is," says Walchef.
Binning recalls a series of reviews that showed a problem with his business's order fulfillment. When takeout orders first increased in 2020, team members were forgetting to include queso with to-go orders of chips and queso. That's a big deal.
It was only after a series of reviews complaining about the issue that Binning realized the oversight. Now, order tickets print out with a message not to forget the queso.
"If we wouldn't have asked [for reviews], it would have taken us months longer" to discover the issue, he adds. Meanwhile, those customers could have decided to grab their Mexican food elsewhere.
Sabrina Canario, founder and CEO of Canario Communications handles digital marketing and PR for the Malibu, California French-American restaurant Nicholas Eatery. She offers another lesson learned from negative online reviews.
Nicholas Eatery opened last year. When the restaurant's operator, Nicholas Fanucci, faced delays with the permitting process, he promoted his concept as a food truck, serving American comfort food favorites, like breakfast burritos.
The permit process completed, Fanucci opened the doors to Eatery as its fixed location. Says Canario, "When they reopened, they had a new menu, French-American fusion, [but some] people missed the [old menu]." says Canario.
Fanucci realized he was leaving money on the table by not offering items his food truck guests liked. "We do a brunch and we brought back breakfast," says Canario. The larger lesson for operators? "[Keep] in mind what people like and appreciate and try to bring that in if [you] can implement it and make money off it."
A Six-Step Formula
Daniel E. Craig, founder of Reknown, a digital marketing, guest experience, and reputation management company, offers a six-step formula for taking control of your online reputation that's geared toward restaurant operators. Craig suggests a sys- tematic approach that begins with a reputation audit. Without a system, it's easy to overlook reviews or respond "in a random, reactive way," which is likelier to backfire.
To audit the restaurant reputation, Craig recommends checking every review site to see how your concept stacks up against the competition. Do you have four stars to their five? If so, what are they getting right that you aren't? Hint: the reviews will tell you.
A key indicator: Do they have twice the number of reviews as you, even if the ratings are similar? Then, they must be doing something to encourage customer reviews. Pay attention to not just the number of reviews/ratings and the overall score, but how (or if) the business respothose reviews. Hint: you should respond, every time.
Once you understand your restaurant's reputation online through an audit of these sites, you can develop goals and timelines, come up with a plan, and get your employees on board. The audit also gives you a baseline, so you can track performance over time.
Different Folks
While Google, Yelp, and TripAdivsor all offer user reviews, each site captures a different audience. Operators who understand the target audiences of these sites can thus choose which review sites offer the most meaningful opportunities for customer engagement for their brand.
Rick Camac, a dean at the Institute of Culinary Education, says Yelp tends to be used by locals whereas TripAdvisor is "more likely used by [out-of-town] visitors as a way to determine where to dine."
So, concepts located outside of tourist destinations may not need to invest much energy in TripAdvisor, since their location gets few travelers; however, those in major cities should pay close attention. Yelp user reviews predate Google's, but the latter's search engine is catching up quickly. Locals and tourists often leave reviews within Google simply because it's easy, particularly if they found the concept via a Google search.
DoorDash, the third-party delivery company offers customers the opportunity to rate restaurants on order accuracy, fulfillment and delivery time (however, the timing is based what the operator performance of the driver).
Software makes it easier for do-it-yourself tracking and responding to user reviews. Other operators pay digital marketing firms to manage their reputations. Canario says she tries to check Yelp and Google every day on behalf of Nicholas Eatery and responds to each new review.
Responding in a timely manner is important, says Camac, because "there are diners who choose their restaurants based on ratings." Particularly in smaller cities, "restaurant owners are missing a lot of potential diners as [review sites are] first and foremost where many diners look and it's what they trust." Camac says he's managed reviews manually but suggests Rannko, Gather Up, or Yext software for streamlining review management.
'Thank You' is the Best Response
With a positive review, the best response is to thank the guest for leaving a review. By showing you appreciate the review, you create a connection with him or her and increase the chance guests will revisit. Responding to positive reviews also subtly markets your restaurant by focusing diners' attention on what went well. As your concept gets more good reviews, it will place higher in review sites' search algorithms. This can make a big difference in the number of users that discover your brand, decide to dine in, and leave their review.
Responding to negative reviews can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be distressing if you bear in mind the following. First, keep it short and solutions-oriented. When customers complain there isn't an ocean view, Canario will recommend nearby beaches where they can enjoy their takeout. Sure, it's too late to satisfy that guest; but someone else will see it, and, perhaps, enjoy the oceanside picnic experience and be inclined to pay it forward with a nice review.
Second, look for the grain of truth in a bad review. Maybe you forgot the queso, as Binning's employees did. Maybe a piece of brisket was too fatty.
Third, own what went wrong and do what you can do to improve the situation. To Binning, this means engaging with the customer about their bad experience, listening to their complaint, and taking action. One of Lucha Cantina's core beliefs is that customers should not pay for food they don't like, so they will refund money as a step to make things right.
As far as negative reviews, says Canario, "we always thank guests for reviewing us." As part of the service recovery process, they invite the guest to return to the restaurant to meet the owner who acknowledges the bad experience and maybe offers a free dessert or even comped meal.
Finally, be true to your brand. If a review is biased, or if a customer berates employees in a hostile manner, then placating the angry reviewer becomes less important. In these cases, you are left with little choice than defending your concept or employee. People will generally side with the restaurant when it is unfairly attacked.
How to Encourage User Reviews
While most of us hesitate to fish for compliments or ask for trouble, you should not be shy about soliciting feedback, rather than waiting for users to review your concept when they feel like it. Canario uses the newsletter to solicit reviews. She quotes from two recent reviews and includes a button that readers can click to leave a review for Nicholas Eatery. Guests might be more likely to leave a review when they know their comments could be featured in next week's newsletter.
Binning and Walchef leverage technology to automate their solicitation of guest feedback. Binning uses Tock for to-go orders and reservations at Lucha Cantina and PopMenu for his newer ghost brand, Ranchero Pizza. Both of these platforms have automated review requests, where the software emails the customer after their order to ask for feedback.
Note, most current reservation scheduling software has automated feedback systems that allow a diner to respond with a review and star ratings. These are forwarded to the restaurant or the designated manager for review and response. These usually will have more information including servers name, number of guests, dollars spent, and other details that can be helpful.
A nice feature of these systems is when you have a complimentary review of the service, for example, you can forward them to the appropriate wait staff member with a personalized atta-boy or -girl from the owner or manager. If the review is less than favorable, you can forward the review with a question to find out what went wrong from your server's perspective. This is useful to keep employees engaged in the review process and lets everyone in the house know you are keeping an eye on quality of food and service.
Binning estimates that 10 percent of his customers give feedback on these channels, versus 1 percent of customers independently deciding to review the restaurant on a site like Yelp. In the four months since he got Ranchero Pizza up and running, he estimates that he's gotten 200 reviews for something that's essentially a side hustle.
These reviews are internal to PopMenu or Tock, but Binning takes an extra step to leverage the good reviews within Facebook or Instagram advertising, "kind of like an infographic." Leveraging the customers' own words "[lets] the customer tell our story versus us telling our story," he explains.
Walchef also shares reviews on social media sites, often posting them as Instagram Stories "to remind people" about the brand.
Walchef uses online guest feedback application Ovation to print a QR code on every receipt. Activating the code leads the guests to four emojis on which guests can click to describe their experience and be entered to win a $100 gift card. (See "DIY: Automating Reputation Management" below.)
By making it easy to leave feedback in this manner, Ovation encourages a high response rate. Walchef says that if the review is anything less than the best emoji, his manager on duty will actually text back and forth with the customer to find out what the issue was and try to resolve it in real time (or as close as possible).
The New "Front of the House"
In the "new normal" online reviews are an extension of the traditional front of the house. Canario advises operators give as much attention to customers online as they would if they were seated on-premises.
Not that owners, managers and staff aren't already overworked. That's why digital marketing consultants and firms can be an invaluable go-between who have more desire than time to manage user reviews.
If that isn't enough, consider the place of the independent restaurant in your market. Chains are essentially faceless entities where guests can get a predictable meal. Guests seek out independents for a more personalized and unique experience. You have an opportunity to build a relationship with every guest who sits at your table or orders food to be eaten off-premises.
By giving the same TLC to guests on user review sites, you can increase the reach of your guest engagement and leverage guest accolades and complaints to incrementally improve your concept's quality and performance.
Keep Learning…
A Comprehensive Strategy to Manage Your Restaurant's Reputation
Tejas Mehta, who founded the online reputation management platform Reputicity, believes that there are multiple levels of opportunity for operators who respond to restaurant reviews on sites like Yelp. Writing in restaurant trade media publication FSR, Mehta explains that operators who respond to reviews can:
- Increase the frequency of visits from customers who loved their meal by reminding them of the great experience they had or suggesting something new to try next time
- Win back diners who had negative experiences with a personalized response, which demonstrates to other readers that you are attentive and care about the guest experience
- Find out what isn't working at their restaurant, so they can fix it.
DIY…
Automating Reputation Management
You can do it yourself, but you don't have to. These days, operators will find a range of software tools to automate reputation management, including:
Gather Up (https://gatherup.com): Rick Camac, a dean at the Institute of Culinary Education recommends this for customer feedback management, with SMS and email response plus review monitoring. The company offers a 14-day free trial. Plans start at $90/month for one location, with special multi-location pricing plans.
Marqii (https://www.marqii.com): Cali Comfort BBQ owner Shawn Walchef's pick for centralized reputation management and digital consistency. Plans range from $74.99 to $249.99 per month.
Ovation (https://ovationup.com): Walchef's choice for real-time guest feedback and texting. His basic package costs $99/month and texting is from $49/ month additional.
Rannko (https://rannko.com): Offers data syncing across platforms and review management; try a 7-day free trial. Both the data syncing and review management functions cost $49/month, and there's a pro plan as well.
Yext (https://www.yext.com): Camac's suggestion for review monitoring, response and follow-up with competitive intelligence features to help with goal setting and benchmarking. There's a free demo, and pricing is available upon request.
Keep Learning…
Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com
An independent restaurant's revenue can grow by five to nine percent for every one-star increase in its Yelp rating, according to a research paper by Michael Luca in Harvard Business School Working Paper Series.
