Customer reviews have a strong impact on your brand’s reputation and customer retention. Don’t forget that more than 93% of consumers read customer reviews before buying a product. Studies show that consumers who read customer reviews also read the brands’ responses. Today, we’re going to share our golden rules for responding to satisfied customer reviews. ...
Customer reviews have a strong impact on your brand’s reputation and customer retention. Don’t forget that more than 93% of consumers read customer reviews before buying a product.
Studies show that consumers who read customer reviews also read the brands’ responses.
Today, we’re going to share our golden rules for responding to satisfied customer reviews.
As you’ll soon find out, it’s not just about being polite… You can turn responses to positive reviews into powerful marketing levers!
1 – Thank Customers who Leave Positive Customer Reviews
All responses to positive customer reviews should include a “thank you.”
Remember that customers who leave glowing reviews have no obligation to do so and are a minority. Thanking them for their contribution is the least you can do. Any response should begin this way.
We also recommend making your thank you post public. You may be thanking the customer who left the review, but it will be read by hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands other consumers during their buying journey.
Here are a few examples:
- Thank you for your feedback!
- Our priority is to make our customers happy. Thank you so much for your feedback!
- We love getting feedback from our customers. Thank you for sharing.
- Thank you for sharing your experience. We’re delighted to hear that you like our product. Thanks again and see you soon.
- Thank you for taking the time to post a comment.
2 – Personalize Your Responses to your Customer Reviews
Customer reviews: let’s go one step further…
If you want your response to have an even greater impact, we recommend personalizing it. A study shows that 65% of customers dislike generic responses (Source: Baromètre Qualiweb 2021).
The good news is that personalizing your responses is easy. You can even partly automate the process by using personalization variables.
There are lots of way to personalize a response. They all require good customer knowledge… and tools.
Our Verified Reviews collection platform enables you to connect to different sources of data: CRM, transactional, etc.
Here are the different personalization elements that you can add to your answers with our platform:
Customer’s first and last name.
Order reference if the purchase was made online.
Late of purchase.
The last two personalization variables are useful when handling mixed customer reviews or requests. Whereas the first, the customer’s first and last name, can be used in all your responses, whether to positive or negative reviews.
All of the “thank you” examples above can be personalized with the customer’s name. For example: “{First Name}, thank you for your feedback!”
3 – Humanize Your Responses to you Customer Reviews by Signing Off
Customers like responses to be signed by the person who wrote them.
It adds a human touch to your message and boosts its emotional impact. Personalized signatures foster trust and reassurance.
Our previous example would go something like this:
“{First Name}, thank you for your feedback! Lisa, {brand name} Customer Advisor
You can also respond to customers on behalf of the entire team.
For example:
“Have a great day, on behalf of the entire team. Yasmine, {brand} Community Manager”
“On behalf of everyone at {brand}, have a great weekend. Victoria, Community Manager”
Signed response to a customer review
4 – Pay Attention to the Form
Form is almost just as important as content. A response full of spelling and grammar mistakes will be much less impactful.
Most customers pay attention to the quality of the writing and the style. We recommend using a spell and syntax checker to identify and quickly correct any mistakes.
As for writing style, it all depends on your brand DNA and target customers. A young, trendy brand shouldn’t use the same tone as a corporate organization.
But there is one simple golden rule, whatever the brand: “Be polite and professional.” It is a sign of respect.
Here are 2 very different responses that both work if they match with your brand DNA and customers:
- Thank you for your message, {First name}. We love getting positive feedback from our customers. We look forward to seeing you again soon! Leah
- Thank you for your message, {Title} {Last name}. We are delighted to hear that you are satisfied with our product. Have a nice day, Matthew F., {Brand} Customer Advisor
5 – Showcase Your Brand, Values and Products
You can also use positive customer reviews to highlight your brand’s strengths and values.
After thanking the customer for their review, you can remind them of your brand’s commitments and showcase your products.
This takes a little more time, but it can have a huge impact. Don’t forget that your responses are public and will be read by lots of customers.
Here are 4 examples of responses to a customer review that highlight the brand and its products:
- Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, {First name}. We’re the only platform on the market to offer {Name of a distinguishing feature} and we’re delighted to hear that it’s helped you reach your objectives. Jasmine, {Brand} Community Manager
- Thank you so much for your message. We completely agree that customer experience is a powerful sales driver. Which is why we strive every day to develop and improve our platform. Romain G., {Brand} Customer Success Manager
- Thank you for sharing your experience with us, {First name}. We’ve had lots of positive feedback about this new feature. We’re pleased to hear that you like it too, it encourages us to keep going! Jonathan, {Brand} Product Manager
- {First name}, thank you for your kind message. Protecting the environment is part of our company’s DNA. We carefully select each producer we work with and always go local when possible. Thank you for encouraging us to keep going! Naomi, {Brand} Brand Manager
6 – Highlight Your Special Offers or Other Products
Responses to positive customer reviews are an ideal opportunity to encourage customers to shop with you again.
For example, imagine a guest leaves a positive review after staying in your hotel. You start off by thanking them, of course. But why not inform them of your other services or special offers?
Here are 4 examples of responses to positive customer reviews that highlight your services or special offers and encourage them to shop with you again:
- Thank you for your message, {First name}. We’d love to host you again soon. As you may already know, our most loyal customers benefit from exclusive offers. You should receive them in your inbox shortly. We look forward to seeing you soon 🙂 Have a nice evening. Gregory, {Hotel name} Manager
- Thank you so much for your glowing review of our product, {First name}. To make life easier for our customers, we’ve set up a subscription system so that you can receive your new {Name of consumable} every month without lifting a finger. I thought you might be interested 🙂 Harold, {Brand} Customer Advisor
- We love getting these kinds of messages, thank you. If you enjoy hiking, we organize a 3-day “Adventure” trail every year, to discover beautiful landscapes with good company. You can read more about it here: {Link} Dan, {Brand} Customer Service Manager
- Thank you for your comment, {First name}. I’m glad that you enjoyed your meal! Everyone loves our raclette. Next time, I recommend our “royal fondue,” the chef’s specialty. Let me know what you think! 🙂 Leo
Conclusion
Most brands have understood the importance of responding to dissatisfied customer reviews. It is one of the ground rules when managing customer dissatisfaction. We hope that this article will have convinced you that satisfied customer reviews deserve your attention too. They present so many opportunities to dialog with customers, and you may be surprised by their return on investment. So, give it a try!