Yelp Review Template - 10 Responses Your Customers Will Appreciate

One of the most important aspects of proper online review management is responding to reviews both the positive and the pesky negative ones.

In a lot of ways, replying to negative feedback is more straightforward: acknowledge that you’re sorry for their bad experience, tell them you’ll try to improve, and thank them. But how to respond to praises and reviews where the majority of the experience is positive but there was still a small issue?

Fret not, we’ve got a Yelp review template for each use case, regardless of the review you’re dealing with.

Let’s see how you can make that rave review even better!

Elements Of a Review

Before we get to the Yelp review template, it’s important to first become familiar with the four elements of positive reviews you might run into. They’re not present in every scenario, but knowing what a solid review should contain will help you when crafting a response. The elements are as follows:

• Experience: this is the meat of the review and it usually describes the experience your customer had with a business. Do keep in mind that this part is typically subjective. For instance, past experiences with similar businesses could have influenced their experience at your fine establishment.
• Response: explains how your business responded to a customer’s experience.
• Helpfulness: portrays how helpful is the review and if the events described are detailed enough.
• Advice: showcases to whom the review is aimed at (readers, management, or staff members), and what advice is offered.

Quick reminder: you should treat every Yelp review template we show you as a general outline of how to interact with your customers. Every business has its own voice so make sure that you tweak these templates until you customize them enough so they’re in line with your brand voice.

Now without further ado, here’s the Yelp review template number one:

1. The Mixed Bag Review

You’ve probably come across a review that’s mostly full of praise but with a bit of complaint cleverly sprinkled in there. 

If you haven’t, then congratulations are in order as you’re one of the lucky few. These types of reviews can be very discouraging, which is the main reason why business owners will straight up ignore the nitpicks and focus on the praise. However, we discourage doing that. Here’s a Yelp review template you should use instead:

Dear [name of the reviewer]

We appreciate you sharing your experience. We encourage our customers to be comfortable sharing the bad news as much as we appreciate the good news.

We apologize that your (experience) didn’t live up to your expectations. Thank you for giving us the feedback and the opportunity to make it right. 

Rest assured that we’re using the complaints in your review to make a few changes:

[the list of specific changes]

Hopefully, we’ll be able to make things better and we’re looking forward to seeing you again.

Breaking it down even further, this Yelp review template is perfect if you want to increase the trust of your customers. For starters, you’re thanking them for the feedback, not invalidating your customer or ignoring their pointers. 

You’re also showing how much you care as you faced the criticism like a champ and outlined everything you’ll do to address the problem.

The reviewer and your new customers will appreciate the fact that you care about what they think and that you’re willing to improve your business.

2. The Unreasonable Review 

You can’t please everyone. For example, some customers will share their positive reviews but a part of their review will be focused on things you can’t control or weren’t given the opportunity to fix.

So even if you did everything right, and still failed to get those five stars, don’t lose your cool. Remember this Yelp review template:

Dear [name of the reviewer]

It was a pleasure [doing business with you/serving you]. We appreciate that you’re open with us and we appreciate your feedback.

We’re glad about [mention the positives].

We’re looking forward to seeing you again!

In this case, it’s not worth your effort to address the things you couldn’t control. Instead of being defensive, show your gratitude.

3. The Professional Review

There are your average reviewers and then there are influencers or influential bloggers that can reach millions of people. They have a certain level of following in your target audience and a bunch of followers of their own. 

This means that you should approach your response with a lot more care, for example:

Dear [name of the reviewer]

Thanks for your fair review. We’re glad you enjoyed [a detail from the review] and are happy that our effort resonated with you. 

We also appreciate you sharing your criticism with us. We took everything you described seriously and plan on changing things in the future. 

Thank you for your kind words and professionalism, we’re looking forward to seeing you again.

This Yelp review template works because the professional in question didn’t need to leave a positive review but they still did. They took their time to share their feedback and you should show gratitude. 

Pro tip: Send them a gift. Nothing says thank you like a small gift to show appreciation.

4. The Loyal Customer Review

Our next Yelp review template is for your loyal fans, the ones who are absolutely in love with everything you do and leave regular reviews full of praise. 

So what do you do? 

Easy. Since they’re openly showing their love for your business on a regular basis, it’s only fair to show them you love them back with a response like this:

Dear [name of the reviewer], we always enjoy having you around! 

Thanks for the kind words and [positive feedback]. Thanks for always taking the time to [remind them of their previous experience]. 

We’re looking forward to seeing you again - you’re always a welcome sight!

Once they see that you’ve responded to their review in such a manner, they’ll appreciate your business even more. Keep on going, and this relationship will continue growing.

5. The Selfless Review

Some reviewers just want to help other customers. They write in-depth reviews with a full rundown of their experience with you to help other people make better decisions about where they spend their money.

If you encounter a selfless review, you should use the next Yelp review template:

Dear [name of the reviewer]

We appreciate you taking the time to write such a detailed review, and we’re finding your input very helpful. We’ve taken both positive and negative elements of your experience very seriously.

As a result, we’re planning on making a few changes:

[list of changes]

Thank you for the feedback, we’re lucky to have customers like you!

6. The Exaggerated Review

Sometimes you just hit a home run with a customer, and they’re so happy with your business that they start exaggerating when writing reviews. You’ll recognize this review by the use of hyperbolic words like the best, greatest, etc.

However, remember that it’s their subjective experience  The problem here is that these exaggerated reviews might hype up your business so much that it will be hard to meet those expectations for other customers who read it. 

If that’s the case, we’ve got just the Yelp review template to help you:

It seems you had a blast with us [name of the reviewer]!

Thank you for sharing your review with us, it means a lot when we’re able to meet the expectations of our best customers!

Hope we see you again soon!

By making use of this Yelp review template, you’re showing your appreciation while also downplaying the exaggerated statements in the review. 

7. The ‘’Charles Dickens’’ Review

Some reviewers have a flair for storytelling with a habit to turn a review into a work of art. Reviews that have all the great storytelling landmarks like introduction, middle, and ending can help inspire and attract new customers. 

Here’s a great Yelp review template you can use:

[name of the reviewer], thank you for that amazing story! We appreciate you sharing it with us.

We especially loved the part where [a callback to something in the story]. If you’re ok with it, we’d like to share your story with our team.

Thank you for [choosing our product/visiting us/staying with us]!

This Yelp review template is neat because you’re reinforcing the captivating parts of the story and you’re building positive rapport with the reviewer. 

8. The Objection Review

Some reviewers will have a lot of objections that they defuse in the same review. For example, a common occurrence is complaining about the prices but also noting that the experience is worth the money. 

Whatever the objection may be, you can use this Yelp review template to respond:

Dear [name of the reviewer],

We’re glad you had a great time!

We appreciate the trust and we’re happy to have customers like yourself.

Hopefully, you’ll come to visit us again soon!

The main reason this response is effective is that you’re proving how trustworthy you are while at the same time outlining the quality of your customers.

9. The Joke Review

Some customers are really funny and they’ll be using the review to show off their comedy chops. Whenever you see a funny review you should match the tone and show that you’re in on the joke. For example:

[a play on the joke]

[name of the reviewer] is one of our favorite customers. [He/She/They] are really making it easy to stay professional!

You’re always welcome here [name of the reviewer].

By leveraging this Yelp review template, you’re establishing a back-and-forth kind of vibe with your customer while making their review look even better at the same time.

10. The Comparison Review

The final Yelp review template tackles reviewers who aren’t focused on your business. Instead, they’re simply writing about their experience with your product. Even though they’ve given you a positive review, it’s obvious that they aren’t loyal to your brand but are instead comparison shoppers.

Here’s the best way to respond:

Dear [name of the reviewer],

We’re happy to have been able to help and that you’re pleased with the results. Let us know if there’s anything else we can do.

We wish you the best of luck!

This Yelp review template is an opportunity to shift the focus to the details that matter instead of focusing on comparison shopping.

Your Response Matters

If you become a master at responding to reviews, you can capitalize on that positive feedback with greater effect. Quite simply, as a business, you have the power to make a smashing review seem better than it already is.

This is why every Yelp review template here is a great starting point. By tweaking these responses to suit your business and by expressing genuine gratitude while validating your customers, they will become your most loyal customers in no time.

However, even when you streamline your responses to your reviews, you have to do so at scale. You can’t focus strictly on Yelp as you have to handle feedback on various other platforms such as on your Google Business Page and Facebook.

If you need any help managing your reviews, contact us now!

Here at Oamii, we’re developing a powerful software solution for managing online reviews that will help you respond to reviews on multiple platforms even faster - and from a single dashboard too! Call us now at 561-228-4111 or fill out our form to find out more!