Reputation Management, Restaurant Marketing

How to Deal With Bad Online Reviews for Your Restaurant

More Customers from Bad Reviews!

Even if the food in your restaurant is always perfect and your service is top notch, there'll still be the odd customer that will complain on Facebook or Google. It may be that their steak wasn't cooked exactly to their liking, their table wobbled slightly, or the waiter didn't open the door for them on their way out.

Whether they have a genuine issue or not though, many restaurants get frustrated and sometimes very defensive when they see anything other than a perfect 5 star review online.

I once saw a local restaurant owner having what can only be described as a heated argument on their Facebook page with a customer who had left them a bad review. The online fracas continued for days with members of the general public becoming involved too as word of the argument spread online. I hate to think how much damage it did to the reputation of the business.

I'm sure you can see that responding in this way to a less than glowing review can be harmful to your business, but if instead, you can respond to any criticism in a friendly, constructive way, then it can be a powerful way to actually boost your online reputation!

So firstly, how do you get to know if any bad reviews are posted for your restaurant?

You may well keep an eye on your Facebook page, Google reviews, Tripadvisor etc, for any new reviews but you can also get Google to tell you when any mention is made of you online by using Google Alerts.

Simply set up an alert for your business name and then anytime it is mentioned anywhere online, Google will send you an email to let you know about it. The sooner you know about any less than perfect reviews, the better, and so Google Alerts is a great (and free) way to achieve this.

Hopefully, all of your reviews will be excellent, but when you do see that a new review has been posted, how should you respond?

If it's a good review...

I'd recommend that you reply to the reviewer and thank them for their lovely review. Maybe also comment on something that they mention. "We're so pleased that you enjoyed our steak pie - it really has proved to be a favourite of many customers". This then helps to emphasise the good points so that more people will spot them. Thanking the reviewer also makes them feel good for leaving the review and makes them like you even more.

If it's a bad review...

It very much depends on the individual complaint, but being overly defensive rarely pays off. Rather than just considering the person who has left the review, consider your reply as being an advert for your restaurant that will potentially be seen by hundreds of people.

Even if you have to appear to eat a little humble pie, replying in a friendly and considerate way will massively boost your reputation over time.

Another good approach is something like this... "I was unaware that the issue you mentioned occurred, but I will look into it immediately to ensure that the situation doesn't arise again". So you've not actually admitted that anything was wrong, but have just said you'll investigate.

You may even wish to correct the situation by offering the complainer a free meal, drink or a discount on their next visit to both tempt them back again and let the general public see how much you care about your customers.

The main takeaway with all of these approaches is that you need to consider all of the people that will be seeing your reply, maybe over months or even years, and think about how it will make them feel about your restaurant.

Finally, if you already have bad reviews and a low star rating, what can you do about it?

One method is to simply ask your satisfied customers to leave a review for you. Many will forget or never get round to it, but some will do exactly what you ask and go home and leave a great review for you on Google, Facebook or Tripadvisor.

Alternatively, if you prefer to be more proactive in reducing poor reviews and increasing the number of 5 star reviews, then you may be interested in my Review Boost system. I guarantee that it will increase your 5 star reviews and I'm willing to prove it with a totally free, one month trial.

For full details and to get your free trial, Click Here.

Increased Restaurant Profits Guaranteed

Whether you are in a large city, a small village, or somewhere in-between, I guarantee that my free restaurant marketing guide will help you to get more new customers as well as tempt your existing customers back more frequently.

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Restaurant Marketing

How to Reduce Restaurant Reservation No-Shows

Every restaurant has them...

The prime time reservation at 8pm on a Saturday that just doesn't arrive.

And of course, they don't let you know they're not coming!

You have no idea if they just forgot, were ill, or simply changed their minds.

But what you do know is that you now have a table sat empty that you could have re-booked if only you'd known.

No-shows cost money - sometimes hundreds of pounds every single week!

In fact, in a recent article in The Guardian, one Peterborough restaurant owner said that no-shows had cost his business £3000 in just one weekend!

How many no-shows have you had in the last month? How much revenue have you lost because of them? And do you do anything to reduce your no-shows?

Surprisingly, many restaurant owners I've spoken to, feel that no-shows of 10% to 20% of total bookings is a common occurrence but they generally don't do anything to try to reduce that number.

There are however, some very simple methods you can use though to reduce no-shows in your restaurant, so here are a few of them for you to consider...

How To Reduce Restaurant Reservation No-Shows:

When the customer books, ask them this question: "If for any reason you need to cancel your booking, will you please call us to let us know?"
This sounds so simple, but asking the question has been proven to increase the number of people that will let you know when they need to cancel. If you take absolutely nothing else from this article, please start asking this question and I'll guarantee that more people will start letting you know if they need to cancel their booking!
Ask for a deposit at the time of booking
This has it's downsides as some people will just not be willing to consider leaving a deposit at the time of booking, but some restaurants have used the deposit very successfully to reduce cancellations and cover part of the cost when there is a no-show.
Take a credit card on booking and charge for no-shows
This is similar to taking a deposit but you only actually charge the card if they don't show. Again, some customers may not be willing to give a card in advance and of course you need to have a system that allows you to do this.
Send a confirmation of their booking
Many restaurant bookings are done over the phone and so the customer is left to simply remember the date and time that they have booked. Sending a confirmation of the booking by email or text message, serves to make the booking more "official" in the mind of the customer, and also gives them something to refer back to if they are unsure about where or when they've booked.
Give a reminder just prior to the reservation date
Giving a reminder a day or so before the reservation date is one of the very best methods of a/ reducing no-shows and b/ finding out in advance if the customer needs to cancel their booking. The reminder could be done by phone (if you or your staff have time to call everyone), by email or by text message.

Whichever method you choose, I highly recommend that you take the time to implement a system that you repeat for every single booking you take. These methods really do work in reducing the number of no-shows and so you are losing money by not implementing them in your restaurant!

Want My Help to Reduce Your No-Shows by Over 83%?

If you'd like help in reducing your no-shows, then you may be interested in my Restaurant Reservation Reminders system as it automates booking confirmations and booking reminders for you at a very low cost!

It has been reducing no-shows by over 83% for my restaurant clients, so I'd like to prove how effective it can be for your restaurant by giving you a full week's trial, at absolutely no cost!

Here's just a few details of the system...

Takes just seconds to enter the details of each reservation
The customer immediately receives a text (and/or email) confirming their booking
One day prior to their booking, they receive a further text (and/or email) reminding them of their booking
Each text message and email has a link to a web-page with their full reservation information and importantly... methods for them to easily and quickly contact you if anything has changed, or they don't want their booking any more.
A highly effective method that is proven to reduce no-shows
All for less than 15p per booking!

To see full details of the Restaurant Reservation Reminders system, to try a demo version, and to sign up for your free trial, simply click the button below.

I guarantee that it will dramatically reduce your reservation no-shows and increase your restaurant profits!

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