How to Ask For a Google Review

If you just saw a Google review and don’t know what to say, you’re in the right place.

Sometimes, replying to reviews on a public platform can be strange and awkward. But customers rely on reviews to make purchase decisions and decide what (and from whom) to buy.

If you want to maximize your online revenues, a Google response strategy is one of the most crucial online reputation factors. So, let’s go into the ins and outs of Google Business reviews – here’s how to reply to a Google review.

Why Reply to a Google Review

Google cares, and so do your customers. Google reviews are especially important for your online visibility and profitability.

Every customer cares about thoughtful reviews. For happy customers, Google review responses can make them feel appreciated and reinforce their brand loyalty. Negative review responses show the customer and everyone reading the review section that you care. The right responses also show that your business is polite, customer-centric, and solution-oriented.

Beyond your company’s online reputation and individual customer relations, there are potential leads. Almost all customers read online reviews before making a purchase. 58% say they would pay more for products with good reviews. However, 75% of customers are also wary of fake reviews. 

The only solution is to get serious about getting more good reviews and making the most out of existing reviews.

All in all, the worst thing you can do regarding Google reviews is to be careless. Even negative reviews can end up having positive effects if you reply correctly. Consistent Google review responses:

• Build a caring online brand image.

• Build customer trust.

• Improve your business’s visibility in the search results.

• Enable you to reinforce loyalty or turn negative experiences into positive ones.

Responding to Google Reviews 101

95% of customers read product reviews before making a purchase. The most important host is Google, holding 73% of all online reviews. If you want to drive online business, a good review profile on Google is the key.

While there are alternative places to get and show off reviews, Google offers some unique advantages:

• It is the most visible review platform by far.

• It is still relatively easy to get better reviews on Google.

• Google is the largest driver of online business.

Google is a goldmine, holding 89.99% of global search engine market share, and is the largest online product advertising platform.

The best way to tap into the power of Google reviews is to form a strategy. A Google review response strategy includes:

• Standard rules to follow when crafting any review response.

• Google review response templates.

• Templates sorted by review stars (1 template per review star).

When responding to any review, you first need to adhere to a set of clear guidelines. Let’s go over those rules. Then, we can discuss the intricacies of responding to strongly positive or negative reviews.

Tips for Responding to a Google Review

The Google review response best practices are the default rules. No matter the details of the review, follow these tips.

Focus on Them

Focus on the person who left the review and the emotions they express. Keep your responses focused on them and their pain points.

When you get alerted of a new Google review, the most important tips are to:

• Respond as soon as possible, ideally in less than 24 hours.

• Leave a response wherever they left their review.

• Address the specific details they left.

• Offer incentives in specific cases.

• Encourage the reviewer to communicate with you privately if there are any complaints.

Google reviews can all be handled from your Google Business Profile account. From there, go to the “Manage Reviews” section. 

You can manage all the reviews from one listed business from the dashboard at a time. Your review responses will be public. That’s why you want to always leave customer-centric reviews that reflect well on your brand!

Appreciate Their Details

Publicly share how you appreciate the details of any Google review in your replies. Then, the specific praises and complaints left in each review should also be noted. With aggregated and well-analyzed review data, you can actually use reviews to make key improvements to your products, services, and customer support.

Whenever you see a particular product, service, feature, or other factor mentioned, respond to it. For example, if you see a review that mentions the robustness and longevity of a product, mention it regardless of whether it’s a compliment or complaint:

“We’re happy that you have gotten so much out of our [PRODUCT]. We aim to maintain the highest quality standards so you can use it for longer.”

“We’re sorry to hear our [PRODUCT] didn’t meet your expectations. We always aim to maintain high product standards and are dedicated to finding a solution.”

In cases where they don’t leave details, ask them for more. Asking for details may seem risky, particularly when their review is negative. But remember that politely asking for details will:

• Demonstrate that you care about customer experiences with your products or services.

• Enable you to note your business’s successes and main selling points.

• Enable you to reach a more precise solution if they have complaints.

• Maintain an “us vs the problem” or “we succeed together” frame when communicating.

Personalize All Responses

You can (and should) use templates, but don’t over-rely on them. Personalization matters.

When you’re responding to a review, start by addressing the reviewer by name. Even if it’s an anonymous person using their username, addressing them by name adds some warmth to the situation. It can help assure them that your response focuses on their feelings.

Google reviews are public, and other users can see them. So, personalized responses are more important with Google reviews. Appearing robotic or detached from individual human experiences can even do more harm than good. So, take the time to fill in their name at the top of your response. Respond to them with language that matches their energy level

A personal touch doesn’t require much time. It’s as simple as using their name, responding to their emotions, and addressing their review’s details. However, the effort you take to personalize your response is one of your highest-reward resources.

Personalized responses can greatly improve your brand’s reputation with individual reviewers and the potential customers who read those interactions. At least 60% of customers check reviews before purchasing, and 72% only engage with personalized messaging.

After you reply to a Google review, use customer’s responses to personalize marketing material. This is the next step in taking Google reviews and turning them into growth opportunities.

Stay Specific & Concise

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with Google review responses is making them too wordy. Compassionate, customer-centric review responses are concise. You can be respectful, personalize responses, and offer rewards or solutions in just a few lines.

Only say what is necessary in a review response. You don’t need to repeat anything in order to reinforce a point. Rambling, over-explaining, or just leaving large walls of text is more likely to lead to customer frustration. Modern customers expect you to respect their time.

Take the Conversation Elsewhere

You may not always want the conversation to continue beyond the initial review and your response. But in some cases, you will want to leave information for the customer to contact you. That way, you can communicate with them directly in a less public setting.

This part of a Google review response should be standard in some specific situations. If they leave a very negative review and a complaint, you should invite them to discuss the issue and find a solution. 

In some cases, you may want to contact happier reviewers as well. The most common situation is promotional efforts, where you reach out to reviewers to offer a gift or something similar.

Humility is Always Good

Humility and politeness are generally appreciated, whether you’re responding to a negative or positive review. In terms of review responses, just remember to place the customer’s concerns above any sense of business pride.

There are many ways to frame a brand reputation. But there is always room to work a healthy degree of humility into your messaging. Think of the fact that each customer and each sale is earned. Customers appreciate real people behind real businesses that are just trying to do their best, like everyone else.

When Things Get Heated, Remember…

It’s always “us vs the problem”.

Fake reviews and dirty tactics to tarnish competitors’ reputations do exist. They also cannot be ignored. However, you should always avoid public accusations of fraud or simple trickery. 

Even if you may be right 99% of the time, one angry response can cause massive problems and lose you one or more customers forever…

Even if you’re right 100% of the time, angry emotional review responses are a bad look.

There are better ways to deal with fraudulent reviews. There are also better ways to deal with blatantly offensive and inflammatory reviews. You can actually remove Google reviews that violate Google policies about deceptive or inappropriate content. This includes swearing, threats, hateful content, and reviews left by bots, impersonators, or competitors.

Use Online Reputation Management Software to Respond to and Optimize Google Reviews 

Organization and systematization are important parts of your review response strategy. Review response features are one of the core features of online reputation management software.

Reviewshake offers core features that make review response strategy consistent and turn Google reviews into business growth fuel.

First, there is Review Generation. Review generation features encourage happy customers to leave reviews with timely reminders and easy review processes. This is important because negativity bias means that, by default, unhappy customers are more likely to leave reviews than happy customers. But with a simple, controlled nudge, you can start collecting all the positive thoughts your happy customers have.

Next, the Inbox feature makes it easy to respond to all reviews from all platforms. You can respond to all Google reviews there. You can also use it to communicate with customers who have complaints and work toward a solution. Use the Inbox to respond faster and quickly take customers to email or SMS.

Crucially, the Review Analytics feature offers a road map for how to end up getting more positive reviews and less negativity. The feature tracks trends over time, identifying common praises and complaints across review platforms. You can also use competitor analysis to find competitive advantages, disadvantages, and opportunities to stand out.

Google Review Response Examples

Positive Review Response Example

You need to respond to all online reviews, including the most positive ones. A happy customer deserves just as much attention as an unhappy one, and all responses are appreciated.

The focus of responding to positive reviews should be:

• Expressing gratitude to the customer

• Building customer relationships

• Getting useful feedback

Your response to a positive review should be based on what exactly the customer said and what you can offer them. Depending on the CRM route you decide to take, we offer nine positive review response examples for you to consider or use to build your own templates.

Neutral Review Response Example

Neutral reviews are some of the most useful when customers leave details about what they liked and disliked. In any case, you still want to thank them for their review. But while you’re at it, address any details they left. If they didn’t leave details that align with their rating, ask them!

As with all reviews, the best way to start your response is by thanking the customer for leaving valuable feedback.

Example neutral review: 

“The software stack works pretty well” ⅘

Response example: “Hi Samantha,

Thanks for your feedback! We always strive to provide the best software, and your valuable input ensures we always improve. We’d love to learn more about what you liked and about any areas you think could use improvement. Please reach out at [CONTACT INFO] if you want to share any thoughts or suggestions!”

Negative Review Response Example

Negative reviews require especially thoughtful responses. If your customer is upset, it’s important to:

• Demonstrate to them and others that you care about customer experiences

• Understand exactly why they are upset and ask them if they don’t tell you

• Take the conversation off the review board so you can find out more and offer a solution

There are many reasons customers leave negative reviews, and they need to be addressed differently. A product quality issue can’t be dealt with in the same way as a slow customer service response issue.

Here are 17 negative review response examples that you can use to guide your templates.

Can Google Users Reply to My Reply of Their Review?

No, Google users cannot directly reply to your review response. Google reviews publicly display only:

1. The user’s review

2. The business’s first public response to the review

After that, there is no public opportunity for a discussion. That’s why you want to provide contact information or instructions in your responses to negative reviews, in particular.

While the public conversation with the customer is over after you leave your response, they can still edit their review. A negative review can, in some cases, be turned into a positive one. For example, imagine a customer who:

1. Makes an order.

2. Receives a defective product.

3. Leaves a negative review.

4. Sees the business’s response, including contact information.

5. Receives a sincere apology and a free replacement in the mail after an offline conversation.

6. Changes their review from one-star to a four- or five-star review due to excellent customer service.

Cases like this are common. They are also why it’s so important to always follow our tips for how to respond to a Google review tactfully. Also, state your intention to solve the problem and leave a way for them to contact you!

Focus on the Big Picture

Every Google review is a crucial human experience that has implications for your business. But while you’re caring for each valued customer, it’s the big picture that helps you grow your online business.

Reviewshake is an online reputation management tool that helps businesses improve their online reviews. In addition to review generation, Review Analytics enables you to discover trends in your reviews across online platforms. See trends over time and compare your results across platforms with those of your competitors.

As you adjust your Google review response strategy, you will need to know how any changes affect your results. That’s exactly what Review Analytics is for.

When you get great new Google reviews, it’s also important to share! Great reviews are the best social proof your business could ask for. So, use our Review Marketing features to share your reviews across websites and platforms with tools like widgets and social sharing.

Reviewshake provides the tools for a strategic approach to your online reputation. With a bird’s eye view provided by these features, you can see the big picture while focusing equally on each individual Google review response.