Asking for reviews and answering bad ones

Reviews are referrals from strangers, and most happy clients will write one only if you ask at the right moment and make it easy. Learn a request routine that follows Google's rules and Canadian law, and a calm method for answering negative reviews in public.

Read the transcript

Asking for reviews and answering bad ones.

A review is a referral from someone the reader has never met.

For a couple comparing three caterers late at night, or an office manager choosing between two DJs, the reviews are the closest thing to a friend's advice.

Where reviews matter for event businesses.

Pick the two or three platforms your buyers actually read, and focus your requests there.

Google comes first for nearly everyone, because it sits beside your listing in search and in Maps.

When and how to ask.

Timing decides your response rate.

Ask when the client is feeling grateful and still remembers the details.

The numbers behind a routine.

Review counts grow from habit, not campaigns.

Here is a worked example with illustrative numbers.

What not to do.

Some review tactics are common and still against the rules.

Avoid all of these:

Answering a bad review.

Every business that works enough events will eventually get a negative review.

Readers judge the reply as much as the complaint.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Build a review request routine with the right timing, channel and wording
• Identify review practices that breach Google policy or the Competition Act
• Write a public reply to a negative review using a four-part structure

A review is a referral from someone the reader has never met. For a couple comparing three caterers late at night, or an office manager choosing between two DJs, the reviews are the closest thing to a friend’s advice. Most satisfied clients never write one, not because they are unhappy, but because nobody asked them at the right moment.

Where reviews matter for event businesses

Pick the two or three platforms your buyers actually read, and focus your requests there.

Google comes first for nearly everyone, because it sits beside your listing in search and in Maps. Spread your requests sensibly: a wedding photographer might ask most couples for Google and send every third couple to a wedding platform.

When and how to ask

Timing decides your response rate. Ask when the client is feeling grateful and still remembers the details.

• For weddings and private events: within a week of the event, ideally when you deliver something they are excited about, such as the photo gallery, the final invoice paid in full, or a thank-you note.
• For corporate events: after the debrief call, when your contact has just told you it went well.
• For performers and entertainers: the next morning, while the client is still hearing comments from guests.

Make it a two-step process. First, ask in person or by phone: “It would mean a lot if you shared a few words about your experience. Would you be open to that?” People who say yes are far more likely to follow through. Then send a short message with a direct link. Google lets you share a review link or QR code from your Business Profile, and reviewers must be signed in to a Google Account.

Here is a request template you can copy.

“Hi Amira and Jon, thank you again for letting us be part of Saturday. The speeches still make us smile. If you have two minutes, a short Google review would help other couples who are trying to choose a planner. Here is the direct link: [link]. Honest words are what helps most, so please write whatever you would tell a friend. Priya and Marco, Lantern & Lane.”

Notice that it asks for an honest review, not a five-star one, and offers nothing in return. Both points matter, as the rules section below explains.

The numbers behind a routine

Review counts grow from habit, not campaigns. Here is a worked example with illustrative numbers. A west-end caterer handles 60 events a year.

• If they ask only when they remember, perhaps 20 clients are asked. At a 30 percent follow-through, that is 6 reviews a year.
• If they ask every client, using the two-step method, all 60 are asked. If the in-person yes lifts follow-through to 45 percent, that is 27 reviews a year.
• Over three years, that is 18 reviews against 81. A buyer comparing the two businesses sees a very different picture, and a recent one.

Put the request into your CRM as an automatic task on the day after every event, so it does not depend on memory.

What not to do

Some review tactics are common and still against the rules. Avoid all of these:

• Offering anything for a review. No discounts, gift cards, free add-ons or prize draws in exchange for reviewing, or for changing or removing a negative review.
• Review gating. Sending a “how did we do?” survey and then asking only the happy clients to post publicly. Google’s policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews.
• Pressure on site. Asking guests to post a review at the event, or handing a client a tablet at the end of the night.
• Staff reviews and review swaps. Employees, family or vendor friends reviewing you without disclosure, or two vendors agreeing to review each other.
• Writing reviews for clients. Drafting a review and asking the client to post it under their name.

Answering a bad review

Every business that works enough events will eventually get a negative review. Readers judge the reply as much as the complaint. A calm, specific, brief response shows future clients how you behave when something goes wrong. Use four parts:

1. Thank and acknowledge. Thank them for the feedback and name the issue without arguing.
2. Take responsibility for what was yours. If the canapés ran out, say so. If it was not your doing, state the facts once, neutrally, without blaming the client.
3. Say what you have changed or offer to talk. Give a concrete fix, or invite them to call you directly.
4. Sign it with a name. A real person reads as accountable.

A worked reply from a caterer:

“Thank you for taking the time to write, Daniel. You are right that the second round of hors d’oeuvres went out late, and I am sorry it left guests waiting during the toasts. We have since added a second runner for events over 100 guests. I would welcome the chance to talk it through with you. My direct line is [number]. Elena, owner.”

Things to avoid in a reply: arguing about details, revealing private information about the client or the event, sarcasm, and copying the same reply onto every review. Write it, wait an hour, reread it as if you were a future client, then post. Google checks replies against its content policies before they appear, and the reviewer is notified when you reply. They may then update their review, and many do.

When the complaint is really about another vendor you brought in, such as a late bus or a cold dessert from a separate bakery, do not name and blame them in public. Say what you did to fix it on the night and what you have changed in how you choose or brief vendors. Then raise it privately with the vendor.

Reply to positive reviews too, briefly and personally. A thank-you that mentions a detail of the event shows readers that the reviews are real.

In Canada and the GTA

Google’s rules. Google’s Maps user-generated content policy says merchants may not offer incentives, “such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services”, for posting a review or for revising or removing a negative one. Merchants also may not discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers. They should not require or pressure customers to review while they are on the premises, or ask staff to collect a set number of reviews or reviews with specific content, and reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as current or former employment, are prohibited. Asking for genuine reviews is allowed. Read the full Maps user-generated content policy. Violations can lead to reviews being removed and, in some cases, action against the profile.

You can reply to reviews once your Business Profile is verified. Replies appear under the review as the business, are checked against Google’s content policies before they are posted, and can be edited or deleted later. If a review breaks Google’s policies, for example because it is spam, off-topic or from someone who was never a client, you can flag it. Google’s manage customer reviews page explains the steps. A review you simply disagree with is not a policy violation, so answer it instead.

The Competition Act. The Competition Bureau has warned that “anyone who writes or permits writing reviews that give a false or misleading impression to consumers could be liable” under the Competition Act. Employees must disclose their connection when reviewing their employer or its competitors, even if their opinion is honest, and if the connection cannot be shown clearly, as with a star rating alone, they should not post. The Bureau recommends training employees and monitoring for misconduct. In the event industry this extends naturally to vendor friends: a DJ who gives a photographer five stars because they work together every weekend, without saying so, creates the same problem. Fake reviews made to look like the experiences of impartial clients are a concern for the Bureau.

Privacy in your replies. Under PIPEDA, information about an identifiable client is personal information, and you should not use it for purposes the client would not reasonably expect. Revealing a client’s guest count, budget, payment history or family details in a public reply, even to defend yourself, is a poor idea. Keep replies to the service you provided and take the details offline.

Review requests by email or text. If your review request also promotes your services, it is a commercial electronic message under CASL. The simplest course is to treat every review request as one: send it to clients within the 2-year implied consent window that follows a purchase, identify your business with a mailing address and a contact method, and include an unsubscribe mechanism.

Local practice

In the GTA, many clients write reviews in languages other than English, including French, Punjabi, Tamil, Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese and Tagalog. Reply in the language of the review if you can do so well, or in English with a short thank-you in the reviewer’s language if you are confident of it. Do not machine-translate a sensitive reply to a complaint without having a fluent speaker check it.

Wedding reviews often arrive weeks after the event, when the photo gallery is delivered, and corporate reviews cluster in January after the holiday party season. Plan to watch your profiles closely in those windows, and aim to reply to every new review within a few days.

If a review contains what you believe are false and damaging statements of fact, rather than an opinion, do not threaten the reviewer in your reply. Flag it to the platform, keep a copy, and speak to a lawyer before taking any further step.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the platform’s current policies or a lawyer for your situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)