Restaurant owner: the complete guide to managing your Google reviews (+20 tips)

They make or break a restaurant's reputation. Customer reviews are often a mental burden for restaurateurs. Yet they play a vital role in your digital communications : they affect your image, but can also boost your online visibility and attract more customers. This was the case for our customer Cardito, who was able to double his reviews.

So how do you manage your Google reviews? How can you collect more customer reviews?

What to do with negative customer reviews ? How do I respond? Can I delete a negative Google review?

Find the answers in this comprehensive guide to Google reviews of your restaurant!

Why respond to Google reviews of your restaurant?

1. To attract customers and increase your revenues

Today, 80% of French people choose a restaurant online.

The Google My Business listing is the first thing potential customers see when they search for your restaurant.

This digital showcase features :

1. All customer reviews of your restaurant ;
2. The number of stars left by these customers ;
3. Your average Google rating.

All these elements have a huge impact on Internet users:

• ‍92% of French people read restaurant reviews*‍
• 77% prefer customer reviews to food critics' reviews *.
• 33% would never eat in a restaurant with a review of less than four stars* (The Fork).

Reviews therefore have decision-making power: convincing (or not) Internet users to come and eat at your restaurant.

And that's not all!

According to a Harvard study, 1 extra star on a rating would increase a restaurant's sales by 5 to 9%.

2. To improve your referencing

Referencing" or"local referencing" refers to techniques that enable your restaurant to appear at the very top of online searches. This means you'll appear right away when someone searches for keywords that apply to you (e.g. "brunch with terrace", "burgers Paris 11").

Want to know more about SEO to boost your online restaurant? Take advantage of our guide to local SEO below!

But having many good reviews is excellent for SEO.

The more customer reviews you have, the more popular the Google algorithm considers your restaurant to be.

And the more reviews you respond to, the more the algorithm considers you to be an active and trusted restaurant.

It's well worth the time and effort to manage your customer reviews!

So don't hesitate to ask your visibly satisfied customers to leave you a comment after their visit.

You can also organize review campaigns using a QR code, a Malou Totem or a Malou Wheel of Fortune.

The right reflex:

1. Prepare 2-3 sample responses that you can use for both positive and negative reviews;
2. Personalize each response by mentioning the customer's name, the reason for their complaint, an apology, a solution (coming back, a free dessert), etc. 
3. Insert keywords in reviews to boost your SEO.

3. To increase your average Google rating

Your average rating on Google is not equal to the average of all your ratings! This figure out of 5 takes into account other factors (1/the fact that you respond to your reviews 2/the speed with which you respond 3/the number of reviews, etc.) Result: responding - and responding quickly - to all your customer reviews raises your average rating 🤯

Thus :

1. Many opinions;
2. Get lots of positive reviews;
3. Reply to all his reviews ;

Significantly improve your score.

That's why we advise our customers to launch review campaigns (see part 3 of this guide).

We've even created an online calculator that lets you estimate the number of positive reviews you need to increase your rating.

Take the test (free simulation)👇

Ready to start managing your customer reviews?

Here are our must-know tips for restaurants👇

How to respond to Google reviews (8 tips)

1) Respond quickly (maximum 72 hours)

Respond quickly - ideally within 72 hours - is rule n°1.

For :

1. Responding to a negative review reduces its impact on your rating (its weighting in your overall average);
2. Responding to a positive review improves your average rating.

On the other hand, responding promptly to a customer shows your interest in their experience. On the other hand, a late response would abort the beginning of a contact with them, and you'd miss out on building customer loyalty.

If you notice that you haven't replied to 1 or more reviews from a few weeks/months ago, take the trouble to reply anyway. Better late than never!

At Malou, our MalouApp mobile application gathers all your reviews in one place and lets you respond to them directly from the app. Our artificial intelligence can generate automatic responses in a matter of seconds.

2) Reply in the language of the reviews submitted

Customers who have taken the time to leave positive feedback about their experience will be delighted to see that you've also made the effort to respond in their language. Even if your answer is only approximate!

To help you with the translation, don't hesitate to use simple tools like ChatGPT.

‍You'll give your customer the feeling that you're considering their point of view, but you'll also encourage non-French-speaking web users to visit you.

3) Personalized response

Personalized replies allow you to :

• ‍‍Showthat you are genuinely interested in customer feedback and experience;
• Improve your local SEO by including keywords in your answers.

To do this, greet the customer by the first name displayed, and repeat elements cited in their review.

The aim is to avoid giving the customer the impression of a generic response, copied and pasted to each and every review!

For referencing purposes, add the name of your restaurant as a signature, your neighborhood, the name of a dish, etc.

Best of all: if you remember this customer, personalize your answer even more according to what they ordered, the occasion of their visit, your discussions in the restaurant, etc.

4) Include keywords in review responses

To move up in local search results, there's nothing like keywords!

In fact,review responses are a strategic place to place terms searched for by potential customers.

However, it's important to use them intelligently, so as not to render the sentences nonsensical. Algorithms on platforms such as Google read the content of customer reviews and their responses, and use the terms used as keywords relating to the restaurant.

Define the 10 keywords most relevant to your restaurant and often searched for by Internet users. Then use them in all strategic places: descriptions, review responses, Google posts...

For example: "pizza Paris 14", "Indian restaurant", "best artisanal ice cream in Lyon", etc.

At Malou, we define the most strategic keywords for your restaurant, based on their search rate and your restaurant's identity and offering.

5) Always thank the customer

Positive or negative reviews, you should always start by thanking the customer for taking the time to share their experience in your restaurant. For negative reviews, this helps to soften the situation, and maintain a positive image of your restaurant despite strict feedback.

6) Invite the customer to return

After thanking the customer for coming and returning, invite them back! To try out new dishes, for example.

‍It's also a great way to highlight your new products: if you're organizing a special event, change your menu, create a new cocktail, add a terrace, a special winter corner... Because when you respond to a review, the customer concerned receives an email notification, thus creating an opportunity for you to capture their attention.

7) Plan a regular time slot

Taking the time to respond to your customer reviews is imperative... But also time-consuming!

The right reflex: to avoid wasting time and be regular (which pleases the Google algorithm), dedicate 1 hour a week to responding to reviews.

1. Choose a time when you are sure to be quiet (off-peak hours, between shifts, in the evening, on your days off);
2. Choose a particular day (Monday, for example).

Finally, you can delegate this task to members of your team or to your community manager.

8) Use AI (artificial intelligence) to save time

That's what we've chosen to do at Malou: create tailor-made Artificial Intelligence that generates responses to reviews in just 3 seconds! It also mimics your tone of voice and includes important keywords for SEO.

You can also use other tools such as Chat GPT.

To do this, prepare a prompt (an instruction) for Chat GPT to generate customized responses for you.

For example:"You're a restaurant owner. Here's a list of customer reviews of the restaurant. Respond to the reviews as follows: comment with "hello ("person's first name") and include the keywords "brunch Paris 11".

How to respond to a negative review (8 tips)

Negative reviews are inevitably more complex to manage than positive ones. Responding to a dissatisfied customer has certain prerequisites, but is also necessary to reduce the impact of the feedback, both online and in the customer's environment.

Some restaurateurs dread and fear negative reviews to the point of preferring not to respond to them. Yet responding to negative reviews improves your average Google rating and your SEO!

Negative feedback, if well managed, can play down a situation or give you the opportunity to improve your image with Internet users.

1. Can I delete a negative Google review or a fake review?

👉 The answer is no, it's not possible to remove a negative or false review yourself.

👉 What to do:

• Go to your Google business card;

• In the event of a fake review (the review seems to come from a robot, a competitor, has no connection with your establishment, or is intended to harm you): report it to Google ;
• To do this, click on"more" then "flag as inappropriate" ;
• The Google teams intervene in the following days to decide.

If, in the opinion of the teams, the notice does not comply with the rules, it will be deleted. Otherwise, the notice will continue to appear.

👉 The last resort: responding to the notice!

If the review hasn't been removed by Google, be sure to respond calmly and clearly. Explain why (false review, intention to harm you, etc.), that will be enough.

2. Step back from negative feedback

First thing to do: take a step back. According to Forbes explains that there are three types of negative customer feedback:

• The "SOS" notice: the customer wishes to alert your establishment to a problem they have encountered and would like you to find a solution;
• Feedback: the customer wants to tell you about a problem that you should resolve to improve your dishes or service;
• The "alert" review: the customer wishes to inform other Internet users that they should not visit your establishment.

76% of those who leave a negative review expect only an apology and a show of interest from the establishment concerned.

In the case of SOS or feedback: thank the customer, specify the solution.

In the case of an alert: state that you don't agree with the review and invite users to visit your site.

A little humor or a light-hearted tone will always go down well with potential customers.

3. Propose solutions publicly

Providing solutions in the body of your answer, publicly demonstrates your mature handling of the situation.

"You can't please everyone!" - there will always be customers who find something negative about their experience with you. There's no such thing as zero risk!

Remember that other Internet users are aware of zero risk. With social media, they've probably already experienced it: hateful comments, harassment... So they know that certain opinions are not legitimate, and they know what's what.

The important thing is to show your community that leaving your restaurant unhappy is not a common occurrence. And that you can afford to offer solutions to make up for it.

That's why taking the time to analyze and respond to a negative comment is worth it. ‍

Possible solutions include offering a discount/promotion, a free dessert, a goodie, etc.

4. Continue privately to avoid a cascade effect

Once you've publicly proposed a solution to the customer, you can continue the discussion in a private message, or invite them to contact you directly if the platform doesn't support private message exchange like Google.

This shows that you take their request seriously, and that you are genuinely trying to understand and learn from their dissatisfaction. In addition, private messages enable you to maintain a relationship with the customer more instantly than through reviews. You can keep them informed of the improvements you've made in response to their criticism.

5. Don't hesitate to invite unsatisfied customers to return.

Why invite a dissatisfied customer to repeat the experience at your establishment? Simply to change their mind! By making these suggestions, you'll be showing Internet users that this dissatisfaction is not a habit and is only the cause of an incident. If they agree to come back, pamper them and make sure they leave with a smile on their face. Who knows, you might even end up turning him into a regular customer.

6. Request notification update

If tensions with the user subside, don't hesitate to ask them to change their mind or to reply to their own comment , letting users know that the problem has been taken into account and resolved.

In this way, your negative reviews can be transformed into positive ones. Of course, this step should come at the very end of the review process.

However, if the customer refuses to change his comment, don't insist. The important thing is to publicly state that the problem has been solved, and to present this solution transparently.

7. Use negative customer reviews to improve processes

If certain comments come up regularly, ask yourself how you can improve your processes. Once a month, you can bring your teams together in a meeting room to review all the customer reviews and identify the strong points that come up frequently, and the negative points.

At Malou, our Artificial Intelligence analyzes the semantic content of all customer reviews and draws up detailed reports.

Thanks to this functionality, restaurateurs have real-time access to the positive and negative elements highlighted in customer reviews in different categories: cuisine, price, atmosphere, service... and can act accordingly.

8. Dealing with defamatory advice

We advise you to report the review ("flag as inappropriate"), then reply to it, highlighting any inconsistencies in the review. For example, a comment about a dish that is no longer on the menu at the time of the review, or a suspicious account that seems to belong to a competitor...

If the review hasn't yet been removed by Google, it can at least reassure Internet users who may be inquiring about your restaurant and have seen this prohibitive rating. Don't forget: responding to customer reviews, both positive and negative, increases your chances of success by 88% of converting customers.

How to get more Google reviews (4 tips)

Prefer video? Find out how to quickly collect your first 1000 reviews in our webinar replay!

1. Train your teams

Because they're in charge of service and are in close contact with your customers, your employees are in the best position to ask for feedback.

Be careful: it's not enough to say"ask customers to leave a review"!

Take the time to train your teams and find practical tips to help them.

Put them in situations and run simulations. When can they ask for advice? You can also create scripts.

The ideal time is usually after the meal, when the bill is being paid, for example.

2. Use and abuse QR codes

It's one of the best ways to collect reviews!

Get the link to your Google listing and turn it into a QR code.*

*The procedure for retrieving the link and generating a free QR code is explained by our expert Mathilde in the replay below.

Once your QR code has been generated, you can :

1. Print it and display it in your restaurant;
2. Slip or staple them onto the bags before delivery;
3. Create stickers.

The pro tip: stick stickers on table corners, on the counter where customers pay, or, even better, on toilet doors!

If you're worried about bad reviews, rest assured: it's relatively rare for a customer to leave an angry review while they're with you. So QRs shouldn't lead to waves of bad reviews.

3. Using Malou totems

QR codes are great for getting started, but they can have their limits:

1. They're not flashy enough;
2. They wear out quickly;
3. They are unattractive;
4. And above all, they require 4 steps before you can access the notice.

This means: 1. scan the QR code with your phone 2. click on the link 3. write the review 4. send.

At Malou, we've created magic totems with contactless technology (an NFC chip). All customers have to do is hold their phone up to the wooden totem, and the "Leave a review" page is automatically displayed.

4. Launch customer review campaigns

Booking and delivery platforms, social media... There are many ways to collect data from your customers.

If you have their email addresses or phone numbers, you can send them a message directly.

Personalize your message (emailing or sms) so that they really feel involved.

The disadvantage of harvesting campaigns: they are time-consuming and can solicit customers who are dissatisfied with their experience.

At Malou, we've created a feature on our app that allows you to send automated but still personalized campaigns that filter out negative reviews so they don't get published online!

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