Problem
You see a check-in, and you want to reply as a brewery, but wondering how the otherside will react. What's the best way to handle this situation?
Solution
Responding to checkins as the brewery is a great way to learn from and build goodwill with one of your most vocal customers. On Untappd, you can respond by use of Public comment that all users can see.
Sometimes, you should be proceed with caution about commenting on reviews, as your good intentions may come across badly. To help guide you to the right path - keep these three points in mind, which are taken from Yelp (https://biz.yelp.com/support/responding_to_reviews):
- Your reviewers are your paying customers
- Your reviewers are human beings with (sometimes unpredictable) feelings and sensitivities
- Your reviewers are vocal and opinionated (otherwise they would not be writing reviews!)
Keeping these three things in mind should help you make the best of your time on Untappd interacting with your fans. Keep in mind that not everyone is going to like your beers, but try to gain feedback from these customers by following the steps below depending on the type of check-in you see:
How Should I Respond to a Negative Review?
We know it's hard to see negative reviews for your beers. Before responding to a negative review, take a deep breath and think very carefully about what you are going to write. Or even better, don't think too much: just keep it simple by thanking your customer for the patronage and feedback.
When someone gives you a poor rating, it can feel horrible - especially have all the hard work you have put into the brewing process. As a small business, founder or sole proprietor, sometimes these reviews can feel like a personal attack on you!
The good news is that by adding a public comment and establishing a genuine human relationship, you have a chance to help the situation and maybe even change this customer's perspective for the better. We've heard lots of success stories from brewery owners who were polite to their reviewers and were accordingly given a second chance.
But please be very careful here: if your reviewer perceives that you are being rude, condescending or disingenuous in any way, there's a chance he or she could get angry and make the situation even worse. Keep in mind that this is a vocal customer who could well copy and paste your message all over the Web. All comments that are posted as the brewery are public for all to see. Sometimes this can result in users rioting over your brand due to your customer service (or comments), which no one wants.
So just keep your message simple: thank you for the business and the feedback. If you can be specific about the customer's experience and any changes you may have made as a result, this could go very far in earning trust.
How Should I Respond to a Positive Review?
Responding to a positive review should be easy a cake right? However, sometimes it can lead to your customers having the wrong impression of your brewery.
When leaving a public comment, the best to do is the thank the user for their review, but not press them to sign up for a mailing list, or asking for personal information, etc. Sometimes this can be seen a "spam" activity, but get familiar with your audience before making these decisions. Also - don't automate your responses to users. Be genuine, and not copy and paste the same message over and over again. This can lead to annoyance and user blocking your account from interacting.
Note: Parts of this document were taken from Yelp's How to Respond as Business: https://biz.yelp.com/support/responding_to_reviews