How to manage online customer reviews?

Is it important to respond to all reviews? What should you do when you receive negative feedback? And is it possible to remove them? We have the answers to all your questions about how to better manage your online reviews. 

Do I need to respond to all reviews?

Asking customers to leave reviews is important, but responding to them is even more crucial. Whether positive or negative, there is nothing worse than ignoring a review. Customers appreciate seeing that their opinion matters and that you take them into account. 

Just as your customers took the time to write a review, thank them by doing the same. Take the time, when you manage your reviews, to respond to them and show that you care about their opinion. This will not only help you build a positive online reputation for your business but also improve your relationship with your customers. 

Based on a study Partoo did, 93% of users report that they read owners’ responses to negative reviews. Keep in mind that users are aware that even the best business can’t please everyone. What makes a difference is how merchants respond to customer reviews. Not responding to a negative review can be interpreted as an admission of guilt. Don’t miss this opportunity and respond in the best possible way!

Managing reviews on Google My Business will help you improve your SEO positioning in search results on Google and Google Maps. In turn, increasing the online visibility of your business. 

How to respond to negative reviews? 

When someone writes something negative about your business, it’s normal to be frustrated. Your first instinct may be to defend yourself. However, getting into an argument with customers is the worst idea if you want to safeguard your online reputation. It’s best to handle your criticism professionally, but responding to online criticism is an art. Here are some rules to help you: 

• As with positive reviews, negative reviews should be responded to within 24 hours. 
• Before posting your response, remember that other users will read it. Use this opportunity to show your potential customers your professionalism and demonstrate that you can handle a negative situation. 
• Apologise to the customer, show empathy, and thank them for their feedback. This approach will calm them down and they will be more willing to remove their review or retract it.
• Always offer a practical solution to the problem. Suggest to the customer to continue the discussion privately, by email, or by phone. Try to get more information about the problem.

Is it possible to remove negative reviews? 

Unfortunately, the answer is no. On most online review platforms, such as Tripadvisor, Yelp, or Google My Business, it’s not possible to delete reviews left by customers. Only the customer himself can delete the review he has posted.

What you can do is to report a review as inappropriate and request its removal. In this case, the specific platforms will decide whether or not to remove the review. However, platforms such as Google decide to remove a review only if it violates their imposed usage policies, such as in the case of hate speech, violent comments, or inappropriate content. 

Therefore, avoid reporting a review just because you do not agree with what the customer wrote about your products and/or services. Reviews that have been left legitimately are unlikely to be removed.  

What about fake reviews? 

If you think you are the victim of a fake review, report the comment as defamatory and ask your social media followers or review websites to remove it. Even in this case, however, you will not be able to remove the review yourself.

What to do if the reviews are not visible? 

Are you collecting reviews for your Google listing but they are not showing up? There are several reasons why reviews may not be visible on Google:

• Google filters reviews for spam. So it can take up to 2 days before a review is approved and becomes visible.
• The review in question has been removed for violating Google’s guidelines or for being considered a fake review.
• If a profile receives many reviews in a single day, this may look suspicious to Google’s algorithm and the reviews may be blocked for a short period.
• The Google My Business listing of your local business has been suspended and all reviews have temporarily disappeared. In this case, they will reappear once the listing is restored. 

How to manage all reviews of your business?  

Monitoring and responding to all the reviews left for you on the various review sites (Facebook, Google, etc.) can be difficult. While through Google Alert you can receive a message every time your business is mentioned online, this tool will not help you respond quickly to all the reviews. 

Partoo offers you the perfect solution to manage your reviews quickly and easily. Thanks to Partoo, you will receive all reviews in a single interface, so you can monitor and respond to customer reviews on Facebook, Google, and Tripadvisor in just a few clicks!