Whether your approach to a bad review is to apologize or go berserk (or something in between), Google's made it possible for business owners to have their say. Owners can now respond to reviews posted on the Place Pages of Google Maps.
Owners should proceed with caution, of course. While there's value in appearing attentive and making a quick reply, everything on a company's Place Page will probably stay accessible for years or even decades, so owners should be sure their comments will put their business in a positive light.
That said, a single negative review doesn't have to represent a major conundrum. A post on the LatLong Blog stated, "By responding, you can build stronger relationships with existing and prospective customers. For example, a thoughtful response acknowledging a problem and offering a solution can often turn a customer who had an initially negative experience into a raving supporter."
And it should be possible to enhance the value of good reviews, too. The post continued, "A simple thank you or a personal message can further reinforce a positive experience."
Anyway, in order to reply to a review, business owners just have to make sure they've claimed their Google Places listing. Then it'll be possible to see a "Respond publicly as the owner" button and take whatever approach seems best.
Of course, staying silent remains an option.
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Thanks
I think this is a good thing but for some businesses this could end in disaster especialy if the owner takes offense to a reveiw.
backend API to google places
Google Help specifies the RSS schema to feed reviews to Google Base. Have you heard any news about feeding reviews to Google Places, yet?
This is essential
The ability to respond to a review is essential, even if it is only a single response (so it does not turn into a flame war). There needs to be a mechanism to combat sabotage and spam.
It also give the business an opportunity to show that they care about their customer support and are willing to listen to their customers/clients.
Being able to respond to reviews is essential
Having a small resort in Palm Springs, California I know it is essential that businesses be able to respond to reviews.
A perfect example is we had one guest who stayed with us for 3 nights over a Valentine's holiday. We charge $149/night. I quoted the person the rate and it is on our site. The person tried to either scam a front desk employee insisting that we quoted $149 for ALL 3 nights or $49/night or didn't pay attention when they booked and read our site.
They then wrote a terrible review on a hotel review site basically saying we were crooks. Because I was able to respond to the post with correct information no damage to our reputation happened.
It is essential that businesses be able to respond to reviews> I applaud google for now allowing the chance to do so.
Take This Article To Heart
When responding, take this article to heart, make it something positive and this is a great opportunity Google has given business owners.
Responding to Reviews
I both am a small business and advise small businesses on their Internet Marketing and agree being able to respond to reviews is appropriate. But as others have suggested it should be done carefully and with a focus on learning and enlightenment. Take it as an opportunity to inform, clarify and of course where appropriate acknowledge your human and so is your staff.
If you have many reviews and they are all glowing then most people would be suspicious something is not right. But if a review is misinformed this is now an opportunity to correct.
It's a good thing
I never understood why we couldn't respond to negative reviews in the first place. I'm sure Google received a ton of complaints and feedback about this so I'm glad they did something about it. Thank you!!!!
Re
This is a good thing as long as business owners no matter how hard it might be, respond in a dignified non confrontational manner.
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