Five-star reviews are so important for the reputation of any business. Customers are just as likely to trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth, so when they see a 5-star review about a business, they’re going to be intrigued about the service.
Plus, when a 5-star review is written, it’s a nice boost for the business and its employees!
Thing is, what do you do next? Is responding the most courteous thing to do, or do you ignore it? How do you respond to a 5-star review?
Whether you’re new to owning a business or if your existing business just received a 5-star review, we’ve got you covered.
In short, it’s always good to respond to any compliment, especially when it’s a near-perfect review of your business, but it’s important to know how to structure your response. Here is our guide to responding to 5-star reviews with examples!
Should I Respond To A 5-Star Review?
When a customer is generous enough to leave a 5-star review, it is worth your time to respond as a business.
This is ultimately because your response will show other potential customers that you genuinely care about their opinions and reviews, both positive and negative.
In a lot of cases, very few businesses will actually respond to reviews, which can come across as standoffish and unbothered.
However, not responding to a review is a missed opportunity for the business. Customers are more likely to use a business’s services when the business responds to reviewers, because it also shows how much the business cares about customer satisfaction.
Not only does it make the business look good, but responding to a 5-star review helps to maintain customer loyalty.
Receiving such a high review doesn’t mean you should stop your relationship with that customer – instead, you should acknowledge their feedback in a way that encourages them to return, or at least recommend your services.
How Do You Respond To A 5-Star Review?
We’ve established that customers need to be acknowledged for their generous reviews. After all, these people aren’t being paid to leave you 5-stars, so it’s only fair that you thank them in response.
If you’re worried about what to say when responding to a 5-star review, luckily, you don’t have to think too much about it.
The key is to maintain a balance between informality and formality to show that you are humans that are grateful that your work is being appreciated, but you’re also part of a business that appreciates the feedback.
Short And Simple
You don’t have to overcomplicate things when responding to a positive review.
When responding to a negative review, businesses will often write one or two paragraphs discussing whatever issues that came up in the review, before either apologizing to the reviewer or suggesting other advice.
Positive reviews don’t need a long response, but they should also be more thought-out than a simple “Thank you”. Remember, these customers took time out of their day to leave such a good review, it only makes sense to let them know you appreciate them.
- “Hi (reviewer name)! Thank you for your kind feedback, your words are very much appreciated. Have a great day!”
- “Thank you so much for your generous feedback, “reviewer name”. Hope to see you again soon.”
- “Thank you for your review (reviewer name), your kind words mean a lot to us.”
- “Thanks for supporting our business and for being such a loyal customer, (reviewer name).”
Personal And Grateful
Sometimes, leaving a short and simple review might seem a bit too impersonal. Businesses can really benefit from personalized responses to 5-star reviews, because it shows how much the business cares about their customers.
It’s less about encouraging customers to return (which is always a bonus), and more about thanking them on a human-to-human level.
Here are some personal response examples to 5-star reviews:
- “Hey (reviewer name), thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a kind review! We can’t wait to see you and meet your family when you return to our restaurant.”
- “Thank you for your lovely feedback, (reviewer name). We hope your daughter enjoys her special birthday cake. Please send her our best wishes!”
- “Hello (reviewer name), I’m so glad your wife loved the anniversary flowers – I knew the lilies would make her heart melt! Thank you for choosing us to celebrate the big day.”
Encourage Them To Return
While all businesses enjoy getting new clientele, it’s far more meaningful when existing customers choose to use your services again. So when you respond to 5-star reviews, you have an easy opportunity to encourage customers to return.
Here are some examples:
- “Thank you for your kind feedback, (reviewer name). We look forward to seeing you again soon. Just give us a call and we’ll reserve the best seat in the house for you!”
- “Hi (reviewer name), thank you so much for being such a loyal customer. Feel free to pop in to say hello whenever you’re in the area!”
- “We’re so glad you enjoyed our food, (reviewer name). Your kind words mean we will be moving the roast duck dish from the daily specials to a permanent place on the menu!”
How To Get More 5-Star Reviews
So we’ve established that responding to 5-star reviews is important, and an easy opportunity to build customer loyalty. But how do you get more 5-star reviews on a consistent basis? ReputationStacker does it for you automatically.
ReputationStacker is an automatic service that invites your customers to complete a short feedback review via text message or email.
All you have to do is enter the customer’s mobile phone number or email into the system and ReputationStacker handles the rest for you, directing your customers to leave a review on a range of review sites of your choice, such as Yelp, Facebook, and Google.
ReputationStacker is easy to use, and equips the business with real-time reports to keep them up-to-date with how their online reputation is according to recent reviews.
It’s also a handy tool for businesses to be notified whenever a review is written, so they can respond to reviews immediately. And it even allows businesses to automatically display their reviews on their own website.
Conclusion
Responding to negative reviews is essential for businesses to understand their faults and to amend a customer’s concerns, but responding to positive reviews is equally important.
Following the suggestions above, will help you respond to 5-star reviews, and using a system like ReputationStacker will ensure that you continue to get them on a consistent basis!
