Reponding to Positive and Negative Comments

​How to Respond to Positive and Negative Comments?

Professor. MSc. Alexis Rodríguez Reyes

Technical English for Tourism Purposes

Testimonials are a powerful marketing tool not to be underestimated; they provide social proof that lend credibility to your business and attest to its reliability. While both positive and negative reviews are equally important, your response is arguably even more important; your response to feedback forms your reputation, so it’s essential that you work with every left opinion.
Testimonials are particularly influential in the tourism industry. Travelers almost always read reviews because they do not want to buy a pig in a poke.

Steps to respond to comments.

Reading negative statements about yourself is always unpleasant, and you may be tempted to react rudely or otherwise negatively. This is not recommendable at all since it’s extremely unprofessional.

​Do Not Respond in an Emotional State

Thank the tourists for the time spent and effort they spent writing a review.

​Be Thankful

It is extremely disrespectful to the customer if their negative review just goes unnoticed.

​Do Not Ignore the Negative

Respond to customers either through the official company account or as the official representative of the company, but either way, introduce yourself to the client. Referring to them by name puts the situation into a more sincere context.

Introduce Yourself and Address Them by Name

If you really made a mistake, admit it. Apologies are an integral part of the answer. Find a solution to the problem and offer it to the customer. Even if it’s not the most convenient solution for you, the decision must be to the benefit of the customer!

​Apologize

Many companies simply copy and paste the template in the style of “Your opinion is very important for us…”. Try to consider each situation, case, customer will most likely recognize your genuine concern for their negative experience.

Avoid Patterned Answers

If you consider there is a solution, offer inmediately, customer is not always raight but, giving a reasonable deal could make you improve and create a positive perspective of the customer and improve your service.

​Give a Possible Solution

Confirm the details of the claim. Ask as many questions as you need to determine the nature of the issue. Understand what expectations your customer had, what went wrong from their perspective, and how you can fix it after the fact.

Ask Clarifying Questions

Open Ended

Number steps to respond to a negative comment.

​​Saba Grill Restaurant in California

SoHo 54 Hotel in New York

Activity Time

You are the manager of the place, now you receive a negative comment in your website, read it carefully and answer it.

Apply simple steps seen in this class.
Then share with the class the comments.
Prepare 1 or 2 slides to present your work.

You have 30 minutes to prepare it.