In this article, you'll learn how to reply to customer reviews of your facility on SpareFoot. Replying to your reviews is a unique opportunity to deliver great customer service outside your store and build your facility's online reputation.
Public replies are also the most effective way to ease any prospective renters' concerns about negative reviews of your facility. Unfortunately, negative reviews are a part of life, and trying to dispute them could hurt the credibility of your business. Posting a thoughtful, well-constructed public reply is a great, transparent way to address negative reviews of your facility and improve potential new customers’ perceptions of your business.
Ready to start replying? Here's how:
Step 1: The Reviews section of your MySpareFoot portal lists all SpareFoot reviews posted for your facility. To get started, head to the Reviews page of MySpareFoot and click on the review you'd like to reply to from the list.
Step 2: To the right, you will see a "Leave a response" free-form text box where you can enter your reply to the customer's review. Not sure what to write? Check out our best practices for replying to reviews!
Step 3: Once you're happy with your reply, simply click the blue "Submit" button. Then, our Reviews Team will review the content to ensure it meets our review terms and conditions. Once approved, the reply will be posted to your listing immediately beneath the review:
Remember, everyone who visits your facility page will see your reply, so please use your discretion when posting a response to any review. To stay within SpareFoot's review terms and conditions, please do not include phone numbers, email addresses, or websites in your response.
For more guidance about what makes a great reply, check out our quick list of review response best practices before submitting yours.
Tips for replying to negative reviews
You take pride in your business, so when a dissatisfied customer takes to the internet to write a negative review, we know it can feel like a personal attack on you and your facility. But don't despair! While negative reviews are a reality of doing business online, research shows that negative reviews are actually an opportunity to show off your great customer service - not a disaster that will destroy your online reputation.
While it may seem counterintuitive, web-marketing industry leaders agree that the occasional negative review will actually make your business look better and more reliable in the long run. Most consumers are reasonable people - they understand that no business can possibly satisfy everyone's needs and expectations. In fact, consumers are so confident in this certainty that research shows they're skeptical of businesses with no negative online reviews. It makes sense: consider the last time you searched for a product or service online. Weren't you wary of businesses with too many glowing reviews?
So, although your first instinct might be to attempt to have a negative review removed, remember that consumer confidence in your business is just as important as positive feedback. While negative reviews aren't necessarily a bad thing, it's what you do next that matters most.
Post a public reply
Engage with the customer and remain a part of the online conversation. This is your opportunity to put your prospective customers at ease by being polite, professional, and respectful. No matter how false you believe the reviewer's account to be, remember they were asked for their opinion of their experience - and an opinion can't be wrong.
Check out our article on review reply best practices for tips on making the most of this opportunity. And above all, take all the time you need to cool off and clear your head before you reply - you don't want your reply to get noticed for the wrong reasons.
Take it offline
If the reviewer is a current tenant at your facility or you have their contact information on file, reach out to see if you can resolve the issue. Not only is this an example of great customer service, but it may also prompt the customer to add an addendum to their review or to request that it be taken down altogether. That said, it's best to let the customer offer; asking them to reconsider can make it seem as though you had ulterior motives in solving their issue, and could lead to more harm than good.
Get more reviews
Industry research has shown that your overall number of reviews matters to consumers far more than whether your reviews are all positive. Accumulating more than 10 reviews on your listing shows that your facility is well-established, which will encourage consumer confidence. And, recency counts! Even if you're not looking to compensate for a negative review, it's still best practice to aim to acquire at least one new review per month.
The SpareFoot Review Request tool offers a free, easy way to request reviews from your most satisfied tenants; new reviews from happy customers will quickly bury your negative review.