Google Review Words Are Positive but Only 1 Star

If y'all read our blog or newsletter, you lot already know that nosotros love to share tips on responding to online reviews. Nosotros've covered how to respond to negative reviews , how to respond to positive reviews , and how to improve your existing review response strategy . We've even taken a few deep dives into specific rating categories, breaking down the "do's" and "don'ts" of responding to a one-star rating or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, responding to a 5-star rating .

We'll continue to provide yous with more keen tips on replying to positive and negative reviews, with a series of detailed guides coming to our website soon — but this week, we thought we'd shift gears to smooth the spotlight on an often-neglected area of review response : responding to neutral reviews, such every bit 3-star ratings on Google or Yelp. Nosotros'll explain why it matters, how to do it effectively, and how our review reply service tin can offer your business solutions.

Why Should My Concern Respond to Neutral Reviews?

A recent survey found that in 2020, approximately eighteen% of consumers — most one in five — did not receive an owner response afterward reviewing a local business. The same survey found that only 35% of consumers received a reply "for every review they wrote," compared to 21% who received replies to "over half" and another 21% who received a respond to "at least i review."

In an ideal earth, 100% of consumers would report receiving responses to every review — non a meager 35%. And then what's going on hither? Why practise so many reviewers receive replies to some, but not other, comments they exit for businesses?

At that place are likely many answers, from COVID-related understaffing to unclaimed Google My Business (GMB) listings. All the same, ane possible explanation is that businesses tend to prioritize negative or positive reviews, while devoting less attending to neutral feedback similar three-star ratings. (Simply search a phrase like "how to respond to reviews" or "responding to reviews" and compare how many hits mention "positive" or "negative" in their titles, compared to terms like "neutral" or "three-star." Notice a difference?)

Maybe your business organisation is currently engaged in the same blazon of strategy. After all, isn't it more than important to deal with unhappy customers and damaging reviews than it is to respond to lukewarm comments? Isn't your team's time ameliorate spent engaging happy, curious, or upset reviewers, instead of reviewers without strong opinions?

Not necessarily. While it might feel every bit though the virtually extreme reviews should take precedence, that type of selective triage strategy but isn't comprehensive enough to requite you an edge over your competitors. On the opposite, information technology'southward vital to ensure that all of your commenters receive replies, regardless of their initial tone or attitude toward your brand. Here are four reasons why you should have your neutral reviews equally seriously — and respond to them as diligently — as your i-star and 5-star ratings:

1. Responding to reviews of any kind — whether positive, negative, or neutral — "tin assistance build customer trust," which in turn impacts your lesser line . Just don't merely take our word for information technology; that's quoted directly from GMB .
2. Responding to reviews tin can ameliorate your local SEO, potentially making information technology easier to rank in "local pack" results (meaning the top 3 results relevant to a search).
3. Neutral reviews can create opportunities to annunciate services, discounts, or other exciting company updates that would be inappropriate (or impossible) to include in responses to negative reviews.
4. Concluding but not least, consider another quote from Google : "When you reply to reviews, information technology shows that you value your customers and their feedback." By being friendly and helpful in your response, you can potentially plow a neutral attitude toward your brand into a positive one.

How to Reply to a Neutral Review or 3-Star Rating

Most neutral business reviews fall into one of 3 categories:

1. The balanced neutral review. The reviewer says something positive about your business, but also makes a negative comment: they're happy near 1 attribute of their experience, but feeling disappointed or frustrated with something else.
2. The true neutral review. The reviewer expresses neither positive nor negative feelings, instead writing something like, "This place is okay," or, "The service was alright. Swell, not great."
3. The non-sequitur review. Occasionally, y'all might receive a customer review that seems to come completely out of left field. Its contents might be ambiguous, baroque, or outright baffling, such every bit a comment about something that'due south completely unrelated to your business.

Let's take a closer look at some strategies and points to consider when replying to each type of neutral review.

Responding to a Balanced Neutral Review

This type of review merges a positive and a negative annotate into one, requiring you to address both in your response. That means you have to strike the sometimes-tricky residual between accepting praise gracefully, offering sincere apologies, and providing satisfying solutions. If y'all focus as well much on the negative in your response, it can undermine and overshadow the practiced comments about your business — merely if you lot focus also much on the positive , the reviewer volition experience like yous either didn't read (or worse, willfully ignored) elements of their comment.

So how practice y'all find the right balance? While you'll need to personalize each response, these four basic elements can help provide core construction for a successful review respond :

1. An acknowledgment. Greet or acknowledge the reviewer, setting a warm, personal tone for the remainder of your response. For case, you can say, "Thanks for sharing your feedback, [Reviewer]!" or, "Hi Joey, thank yous for leaving a rating and review for [Business Name]."
2. Your appreciation. In add-on to thanking the reviewer generally for their annotate, yous should besides specifically acknowledge the positive aspect of their review. Depending on what they wrote, you could respond with something similar, "We capeesh your kind comments nearly our [item the reviewer was happy with]," or, "Nosotros're truly grateful for your comments about [Employee Name] and will make certain we share your compliments with them!"
3. An apology. You tin phrase your apology in countless ways, but should make an effort to transition smoothly betwixt acquittance and apology. For instance, after you acknowledge the positive, yous could write, "Nosotros're glad you experience satisfied with [our client service / pricing / location / etc.] just are sorry to hear you're having difficulties with [the reviewer'southward issue]," or, "Nosotros sincerely repent for [the reviewer'southward issue] and want to ensure you receive the neat service our team is known for providing."
4. A follow-upwardly. Consider thanking the reviewer over again, and invite them to contact your office or squad so that yous tin resolve the issue. For instance, you could close past proverb, "Please get in affect with our office at your earliest convenience and a member of our squad volition be glad to assist you," or, "Your satisfaction is of import to us, [Reviewer Name], and we await forward to getting this resolved for y'all rapidly!"

Responding to a Truthful Neutral Review or Non-Sequitur Review

A truly neutral comment, such equally "adequate" or "decent," calls for a slightly different strategy. Since there's no specific complaint or issue to address, your response should instead aim to demonstrate that you're eager to provide the exceptional experience your business is known for. Your goal is not to resolve a problem, only rather, to clinch the reviewer you're receptive to their feedback and sincerely want to deliver the best possible customer feel for them. To accomplish that goal, here are three elements you should attempt to include in your reply to a truly neutral reviewer:

1. An acquittance. This function is the aforementioned as Pace 1 above — but afterwards saying thanks, information technology's fourth dimension for a different approach.
2. An encouragement. While you don't necessarily demand to apologize, you should emphasize that y'all're willing and able to improve by encouraging the reviewer to follow upward with boosted feedback. For instance, you could write something along the lines of, "We're glad that you were satisfied with [your feel / your visit / relevant product / relevant service] and would love to hear some boosted feedback virtually how we could ameliorate our service even more."
3. An invitation. Inviting the client back is a mode to simultaneously show confidence in your business and provide friendly service. For example, yous could close your response with an invitation such equally, "We hope you'll visit us once more soon and so that nosotros can deliver the exceptional [feature / product / service / experience] you deserve!" Or, simply leave information technology at, "We hope we'll have the opportunity to serve you lot again, [Reviewer]!"

These strategies can also be applied to non-sequitur reviews. Even if the comment is random, nonsensical, or irrelevant to your business, your response nevertheless provides an opportunity to demonstrate professionalism and courtesy — not only to the original reviewer, but to whatever person who might be reading your reply.

Asking a Demo of Our Response Scribe Service for Agencies, Resellers, and Multi-Location Brands

If this all sounds similar a bigger project than your business can commit to correct now, don't worry: our team tin handle the work for you. Shout Most Usa offers a dedicated review response service to provide 100% of your reviewers with personalized replies within 24 hours of receipt. Nosotros also offering custom review direction services , which are available separately from or combined with our response scribe feature depending on your needs.

Serving multi-location brands along with agencies and resellers , Shout About United states offers scalable, seamless review and reputation management solutions for medium to big businesses. Contact us today to learn more, or asking a demo to meet information technology in action.

Emily Homrok is a freelance copywriter with more seven years of writing experience. She joined the Shout About U.s.a. squad as a content strategist in 2020.

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Source: https://shoutaboutus.com/blog/how-to-respond-to-a-3-star-rating-or-neutral-review-of-your-business/

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