I recently came across an unfortunate post on a Food group on Facebook about a popular cafe, where a customer had a poor experience, and resort to venting out her frustration on social media. Within hours, the post got multiple comments with some people sharing a similar experience, while some speaking in favour of the restaurant. The post got so many hits, that it reached the owner of the restaurant, and he took to replying to the post himself. What followed was a heated stream of arguments, with the owner defending his restaurant, and the members of the group questioning the attitude of the owner himself, much less the restaurant service.
While there was no winner to the argument, I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps the restaurant was having a bad day, or maybe the customer was simply out of his mind, but a bad situation could have been avoided from being worse if the owner had simply kept his cool!
Having a bad review online is one of the biggest nightmares of a restaurant owner, as it doesn’t take much for news, especially bad news to travel fast. No matter how good your restaurant is, there is bound to be someone who doesn’t appreciate it, and will sooner or later post a negative review online. While it hurts, it is important to take the right steps and get the situation under control. Although I hope you won’t need it 
What to Do When Customers Give a Bad Restaurant Review
No matter how good your restaurant is, you cannot avoid a bad restaurant review. Sooner or later it happens; even to the best of us. Nowadays it has become a common practice to do an online research of a restaurant (even of the neighborhood cafe) before dining out. Anyone who has an access to the Internet can go online and write reviews and comments about a restaurant. And, thousands can read them, in turn, hurting the business. As a restaurant owner, although you have limited control over what is being said about your restaurant online, you can certainly take the measures to do some damage control. Find out how to maintain a spotless online reputation of your restaurant here.
How to Deal with a Bad Restaurant Review
Try these effective tips in case you get a bad restaurant review.
1. Stay Calm
As a restaurant owner, a bad restaurant review can be unsettling. Your instinct may make you jump the gun and tell them off. However, one bad review isn’t the end of the world. After all, why would people keep coming back if there weren’t any satisfied customers? Rather than being upset, take steps to restore your restaurant’s reputation. If you find that the person is merely someone trolling, just delete the post. But if it is a valid point, apologize, take ownership and explain what happened.
2. Respond Quickly
Whether negative feedback comes through email, social media, telephone or in person, it is extremely important to respond quickly. This gives an impression that you sincerely care and that they are being heard. A good rule to follow is to reply within 24-48 hours of receiving the feedback.
3. Encourage Positive Reviews
People are more likely to post a bad restaurant review as compared to a good one. Urge your regular patrons and satisfied diners to share their positive feedback online. And thank them for taking the time out to write. Promote your social media handles prominently to encourage more fan following.
4. Get Instant Feedback Channels in Place
Customers generally publish negative reviews online when they have no other way to voice the problem. Get a feedback channel in place to curb the bad restaurant review online. Train your staff to ask customers about their experience and let you know what they like and dislike or have a feedback form given after a meal. Very rarely will people post an online review after they have already made their opinions known in person.
You can use a feedback management app to get detailed feedback on customer experience and also receive item wise reporting of each dish served. In this manner, you not only prevent the customer from posting a nasty review online, you also get the insight which dish is not performing well among the customers. Use this information when you’re redesigning your menu.
5. Reply in the Public Domain
When you have a review or comment that could potentially harm your business, such as false or misleading information, reply in such a way that it is accessible to the public. For example, someone stating that your food has MSG can drive away health-conscious people, hence, set the record straight with a public reply to the review.
6. Offer an Incentive
A good strategy to follow to retarget customers who have had a bad experience is to offer an incentive. This should not be done to get them to change their review or revise their rating, but to change their perception and get them to revisit the restaurant. The incentive can be a discount or a free appetizer, or simply a code to identify them as a customer with a concern.
7. Moderate Comments
Websites, blog sites, Facebook pages and certain review portals like Zomato, allow owners to moderate comments before publishing them. If you have the time to be proactive on social media and have a good strategy to handle negative feedback, there’s no need to disable comments. But if you can’t constantly monitor your pages, it may be wise to disable comments so you can avoid criticism from piling up and going unanswered.
8. Be Proactive with your Customers
Many times, people review a restaurant unfavourably when they feel the service was poor or that the food wasn’t as good as expected. Make sure you approach customers and ask them how their meal was and offer a new dish if they seem unsatisfied. Ensure that customers leave your restaurant happy to minimize bad reviews and encourage repeat business.
Good or bad, restaurant reviews are an opportunity to learn, grow and develop. A negative review can be seen as the much-needed sign to evaluate your business. While a good review highlights your strengths – you know your chef is doing a good job and your servers are extraordinary. People may have the tendency to blow things out of proportion, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss it. Instead, carefully consider what was said. Maybe the restaurant floor was not impeccably clean, the service was not up to the mark or the food served indeed contained a foreign element. Accept the feedback and make genuine efforts to improve.
Keep a positive attitude and handle what comes your way with tact and poise. It will speak volumes about your restaurant – more than words ever could.
On the other hand, the best way to avoid a bad review online is to get instant feedbacks in place. Customers are much less likely to still post a poor review if their grievances have already been resolved. Thus, asking for customer feedback becomes crucial. Digital feedback forms come extremely handy in this case. Not only you can seek specific feedback from customers based on what they ordered, you also get instant notification on your phone in case of a poor feedback, thus allowing you to take instant corrective actions to pacify the guests.
Take feedback from your customers the smarter way!
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