Responding to Customer Reviews

We receive feedback from our customers through a couple of avenues, including the Hard Hat Training website and our company listing on Google. To maintain good customer relations and improve our search engine optimization, we regularly respond to customer reviews from both of these sources. 

Note: Search engine optimization (SEO) is a series of steps we take to help our website more likely to show up during internet searches. For example, our excavator course shows up in the top 10 results on a google search for "excavator training." This is because the contents of that page have been optimized using keywords, back links, and other factors. 

Accessing the Back End of the Website

To manage and reply to reviews on our website, you need to access the admin area on WordPress — also known as the back end of WordPress — for hardhattraining.com. The URL for the back end is https://hardhattraining.com/itinajjmofsey. On this page, the login credentials should auto-fill if you are signed into LastPass.  If they don't auto-fill, speak to the web department to get the login credentials. 

Next, click "Products" on the left-hand column and select "Reviews" from the drop-down menu. On this new page, select "Approved." This will show you all of the reviews that have come in recently.

Approving Reviews

We have a setting on the website reviews that prevents them from going live on the website until they've been approved on WordPress. This allows us to filter out spam reviews.

via GIPHY

You will need to look at any new reviews and approve them or mark them as spam. To do this, hover under the "Review" column on a review. A menu will appear with the options "Approve" and "Spam." You can click whichever option best fits the situation.

You may be wondering how to determine if a review is spam. It's simple! Look out for: 

• Reviews that have links
• Reviews that are irrelevant to our products
• Reviews that just really don't make any sense

How to Reply

After sorting the reviews, you can hover over the review you want to respond to and click "Reply." This will bring up a field where you can input your response to the customer. When you have finished typing, click the blue "Reply" button to publish your reply on the website. 

Accessing the Google Business Profile

To manage and reply to reviews on our Google Business Profile, start by going to business.google.com and signing in with our [e-mail] account. This is the account the business profile is registered under. The credentials should be saved in LastPass. If you're having trouble finding the correct login credentials, you can get them from the web department. 

Once you have logged in, click the button labeled "Read reviews" and locate the "Reply" button at the bottom of the review you want to reply to. This will open a field where you can type out your response to the customer. Once you have finished, click the blue "Reply" button to publish your reply on Google.

Responding to Positive Reviews

It's satisfying to get feedback from customers who are pleased with the products we offer. When responding to positive reviews, there are several things you can do to show our customers that we appreciate their comments: 

• Customize your response: Tailor your response for each review, rather than using a template. Directly reference the name of the training course and other details from the customer's review that show you are addressing them personally.
  • • "We are so happy to hear that you found the XXX training informative."
• Express gratitude to the customer by name. This will make your response seem more authentic and thoughtful.
  • • "Thank you, John!"
    • "We really appreciate your review, Jane!"
• Add value. Share any additional information the customer might not have known and invite them to return to us for their training needs in the future.  
  • • "We also offer safety training for XXX, if you ever need it. We look forward to working with you next time."
    • "Remember, your XXX certification will last you for X years. We hope you'll consider us in the future for safety training." 

Responding to Negative Reviews

Ouch! Negative reviews can hurt a little bit, but don't let them get you down, and don't take them personally. Remember that these negative reviews can help us improve our products and customer interactions. Use the following tips and examples to respond professionally and courteously: 

• Respond promptly and briefly. Show customers that you take their concerns seriously by responding within 24 hours. Keep your response brief (1 paragraph) to make it digestible at a glance. 
  
  • • "We appreciate your review, Jane. We know how tough it can be to sit through several hours of training, and we try to make our courses engaging using pictures, videos, and interactive quizzes. That said, we're always looking for suggestions about how we can make them more interesting. If you have any, you can send them to us through this link: https://hardhattraining.com/course-feedback/."
• Express sympathy and apologize (when appropriate). Try using the three A's: Appreciate, Acknowledge, and Apologize. Remember, however, that you do not need to take responsibility for something that isn't your fault. 
  • • Bad: "John, you probably didn't see the link that you needed to click at the end of the course to access the certificate. Try that next time!"
    • Good: "John, we appreciate you leaving this feedback for us. We understand how important it is for our customers to access their certificate at the conclusion of the course. We are so sorry that you had trouble printing yours. If you give us a call, we can walk you through the process of accessing it on our learning management system. You can reach us at [phone]."
• Investigate their concern and offer a solution. You may need to enlist the help of another department to identify the problem. You can also encourage the customer to contact you directly so you can resolve the problem with them one-on-one. 
  • • "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, John. We looked into it and you were right — that question in the quiz is graded incorrectly. We went ahead and had our learning development department fix it so that it won't become a problem for anyone else. We appreciate you giving us this chance to improve our course, and we hope you'll consider using our training materials in the future."
    • "Hi, Jane! We see that you left a 1-star rating but no details about your experience with us. We would love to learn more about how we can improve your experience. Give us a call at [phone] so we can talk about it!"
• Customize your response. Just like with positive reviews, tailor your response to the review you are replying to. Address the customer by name, and make sure to reference their complaints directly. 
  • • Bad: "Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry you did not have a good experience with this course. Please let us know if you have any questions."
    • Good: "Thank you for your feedback, Jane. We're sorry to hear that you didn't like the narrator's voice in the course. Unfortunately, we cannot change the narrator, but we do offer the option for you to mute the narration while you take the course. We hope you'll come to us for your safety training needs in the future."