How to Respond to 'Thank you review' of Your Business [and Why]

As a business owner, there can be few things that are as rewarding as a customer telling you that they had a great experience with your business. Let’s face it – it feels great to be given a compliment and be recognized for something that you take pride in doing. However, we see tons of good customer reviews given no attention at all on a regular basis.

This is a missed opportunity, and as a business owner/marketer, you need to realize this. A customer might leave a positive review for your business with only the intention of recommending it to other customers – but this is an amazing opportunity for you to start building a relationship with the customer. You can make a happy customer a promoter and even a repeat customer for your business if you get your review responses right. And that is exactly why you should respond to positive reviews that you receive on your business’ listing. Our step-by-step guide dissects the ideal response to a positive review, and has

examples + templates

of how you need to respond to positive reviews of your business online.

So, imagine you just got one of those, “I just had these guys’ food and it tastes amazing! 10/10 would recommend”, or, “I’ve never had a better experience with a moving company before! Affordable, helpful and GREAT at their job”, kinda reviews. This is how you should go about responding to them.

#1 Personalized salutations for leaving a good review

How you start off your review response might play a vital role in the subconscious mind of your customer. Being informal and referring to the customer by their first name can give off a very friendly vibe to someone who’s reading your response. But that doesn’t mean that this is how it should be. If you own a private jet rental business, or manage a luxury hotel, for instance, then being a little formal might help you, since your customers will likely be people who are affluent and expect respect. Take a look at these two salutations below:

“Good morning, Mr. Whethan”

“Hey, Josh!”

One of these is apparently formal, while the other sounds nice and friendly. Pick one that works best for your business, and go with that. But make sure that it’s personal. Never go with a blunt, one-line responses like, “Hey, glad that you like us”. Saying just that makes it sound robotic and perfunctory.

#2 Expressing gratitude

Be grateful that this customer has taken the time to write you a review. Show them that you’re happy they did it as well. Expressing gratitude is a great and positive way to start a conversation and that’s exactly what we’re here to help you do – to have a conversation and establish a rapport with your customer. Go about thanking them any way you feel like, but make sure you do it. Never go with the exact same response too many times – a customer who notices that you are saying the same thing to everybody will feel like they’re just one among many – and you don’t want to make them feel that.

“Reading this review made my day!”

“Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a nice review.”

“We are incredibly grateful that you took the time out to leave us this note.”

Keep it honest, and keep it unique. You can always use our review response templates if you’re hard pressed for time.

#3 Asking is better than telling

Now that you’re done introducing yourself to them, make sure you ask a question or make a request that will evoke a response from them. There are a few things that you need to be sure of when you do this:

Never make it too personal

When we say “requests”, we mean things like, “Please try our (new product/best-selling item) too, you’ll love it!”, and, “We’re delighted that you liked us! We have a special event coming up soon, and we’d like to personally invite you to it”.

A good customer relationship means everything in the world these days, so suggest the possibility of another visit from them in a warm manner.

Don’t come off as intrusive

Never, ever, ask them things like, “That’s lovely! Do you live close by? We’d love to see you again!”, or, “That’s great! Would you like to share your phone number so we can contact you about future deals/offers?” A customer might feel uncomfortable if you ask them such questions, or perhaps, they might feel a review thread is too public a forum for disclosing such information. Never ever wander into these waters.

Format it accordingly

Some forums (like Yellow Pages) do not allow over one response per review and discourage having a conversation thread there. In cases like these, make sure you leave your phone number in the one response you get to write.

Go with requests/suggestions that are:

• Light-hearted
• Helpful to your customer
• About your service/products

Here are some things that you could say:

“We’d love to see you again at (business name)! Give us a call at (business phone) for booking a table, getting something delivered or for any enquiries whatsoever in the future.”

“We make a killer blueberry cupcake that you simply must try – you’ll love it if you liked our (pastry that they mentioned)!”

“We’re hosting an event called Grandparent’s Day Out at (venue name), exclusively for families and senior citizens, on July 10th. We’d love it if you and your family could make it!”

#4 Make them feel welcome

And to finish it off before your signature, make sure that you let them know that you’d love to see them again. Make them feel welcome, so the next time people are wondering where to go, they’ll suggest you

“We’d be glad to serve you again.

Regards, Lauren”

“Looking forward to your next visit with us.

Regards, Mike Mangini Manager at (business name)”

Review responses can hold the key to making someone a loyal customer for your business, if done right. Be genuine, build their trust, and make them want to visit your establishment yet again.