How To Reply To Google Reviews, Including The Bad Ones

Reply to the good ones too

Most businesses only reply when something goes wrong. That is backwards. A profile where every review has a warm, specific response reads completely differently from one where only complaints are answered.

Specific is the important word. Thank you for your kind words does nothing. Mentioning what actually happened does.

A structure for positive reviews

• Use their name.
• Mention the specific thing they mentioned.
• Add one detail only you would know.
• Invite them back in plain language.

Example: Thank you Margaret. Getting the lower denture to sit properly took us three appointments and you were patient through all of it. It was worth getting right. See you at your check up in the spring.

A structure for negative reviews

The reply is not written for the person complaining. It is written for the next fifty people who read it. That changes everything about the tone.

1. Thank them for the feedback without sarcasm.
2. Acknowledge the specific thing, without arguing about the facts.
3. State plainly what you did or will do.
4. Move it offline with a direct contact.
5. Stop. Do not add a defence at the end.

Example: Thank you for telling us, and I am sorry the wait ran long that afternoon. We had an emergency case that pushed everything back and we should have called you. I have changed how we handle that. If you would give us another chance, call me directly and I will look after it personally.

What never to do

• Never dispute their version of events in public.
• Never mention health details, treatment or anything specific about their file. In Canada this is a privacy issue as well as a bad look.
• Never reply the same day if you are angry. Write it, leave it, send it tomorrow.
• Never use the same reply twice. People scroll.

How fast to reply

Within two or three days is fine. Within an hour looks anxious. What matters is that every review has one.

Catching up on old reviews

If you have years of unanswered reviews, do not try to clear them in one sitting. Google notices a hundred replies in an afternoon. Do five a day, oldest first, until you are current.