Responding to reviews, good and bad

You are not writing to the reviewer. You are writing to the next hundred people who read it. That single idea makes every response easier.

Respond to all of them, within a couple of days.

Good reviews

Two sentences. Mention the specific project. Never copy and paste the same reply down the page, because it is obvious and it makes every reply worth less.

"Thanks [name]. That waterfall in [town] was a fun one, especially getting the equipment down that side yard. Enjoy it this summer."

"Appreciate it [name]. Glad the new filtration sorted the green water out. Give us a shout when it is time for the fall netting."

Negative reviews

Do not argue. Do not explain at length. Do not mention what they owe you. Anything defensive reads as guilty even when you are in the right.

Four parts: thank them, acknowledge, state the fact once if a fact is genuinely wrong, move it offline.

"Thanks for the feedback [name], and I am sorry the scheduling ran long. The rain that month put every job back and we should have communicated that better. Please call me directly at your phone number and I will make it right."

If the review is factually wrong:

"Thanks for taking the time. Our records show [the single fact], so I think there may be some crossed wires here. I would rather sort it out than trade messages publicly, so please call me at your phone number."

One response. Never a back and forth thread.

If it is not a customer

Report it, then respond once anyway for the benefit of readers: "We have no record of working with you and we think this may be meant for another company. If we are wrong, please call me at your phone number so we can sort it out."

The perspective worth keeping

One negative review among many good ones does almost no damage, and profiles with nothing but perfect scores read as fake. A calm, specific, non defensive reply to a bad review sells better than the good reviews above it.