Apple. Home Depot. Bank of America. These are brands we’ve all heard of, and probably have even used or purchased ourselves at some point — not too surprising, since all of them rank among the world’s most valuable brands as of 2022.
There are useful lessons that businesses and franchises, plus the agencies they work with, can learn from these brands and their competitors, such as their customer service strategies. For example, how do these hugely successful brands interact with their customers online? Especially when those customers were less than thrilled by their experiences?
We’ll take a look at some real-life examples in an effort to answer those questions. In this week’s post, our response scribes will analyze a few major brands’ review reply strategies, where they’re being utilized, why they’re effective, and — maybe most importantly — how they might be modified to suit the needs of your business and customers.
The three examples we’ve compiled below collectively cover some of the most common complaints that businesses receive from their customers, from incorrect orders and unexpected charges to poor customer service and confusion over products or services. They also represent three of the most common types of websites or mobile apps where ratings, complaints, and reviews are shared online: consumer protection-oriented sites, like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website; more conventional review platforms, like Google Business Profiles (GBP, formerly Google My Business/GMB); and of course, social media platforms (such as Twitter).
Home Depot is the largest home retailer in the U.S. and boasted revenue exceeding $151 billion as of 2021. This customer left a negative review and 1-star rating for Home Depot on the BBB website after experiencing an issue with a product she ordered. According to the review, the customer received the wrong item and was told she would be charged an additional payment to get the correct item.
This is a common complaint or scenario that many businesses find themselves dealing with on a regular basis, from missing sodas in a takeout meal to replacement parts that arrive in the wrong size or color. But in any of these scenarios, regardless of which party is “in the right,” the bottom line is that the customer relationship has been damaged and needs to be repaired if the business wants to retain that customer — and, at the same time, avoid losing ground to a competitor. So how did Home Depot’s team address this review, and what are some pointers that your business can learn from this example?
Here’s what our team likes about this response:
Many of us own a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, a watch, a desktop computer, or another type of device made by Apple — maybe even two or three of them. After all, according to Kantar.com, the tech juggernaut has a staggering brand value of over $947 billion as of 2022, placing Apple “on track to become the first trillion-dollar brand.”
So, maybe your brand isn’t worth quite nearly a trillion dollars (yet). That doesn’t mean you can’t successfully and effectively apply some of the same review response principles that Apple’s team uses when responding to comments online.
While it’s difficult to find owner responses to ratings or reviews of the Apple Store (which only has about 500 brick-and-mortar locations worldwide), we can still get a great idea of how their support team handles customers’ issues by looking at the official Apple Support Twitter account. Here’s an example of a tweet from a customer who was having an issue with a product they purchased:
While Twitter enforces tight character limits that review platforms like Yelp and Google don’t, the basic scenario is the same: your business has received a comment from a customer who’s having a problem and requires assistance. Now, your team needs to react. Here’s how Apple Support addressed the situation:
Here are some details we like about Apple’s response:
Bank of America is one of the most widely-used banks in the U.S., with close to $90 billion in revenue in 2021. Of course, not all of those customers are always satisfied with their BoA experience. Here’s a negative GMB review, accompanied by a 1-star rating, from a customer who had a disappointing customer service experience while visiting a Bank of America location in New York early this year.
This review is slightly different from the previous two in that it involves an employee rather than a product or service. Here’s how Bank of America’s team replied to the complaint:
Here are a few details that we want to highlight from this response:
Responding to your online reviews — ideally, while incorporating some of the tips we discussed today — is a modern and cost-efficient customer service strategy that can be rapidly implemented and easily scaled to small, medium, and large brands at every stage of their growth.
In today’s post, we analyzed the review response strategies of some of the planet’s largest and most profitable brands, such as Apple and Bank of America. But you don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of employees — or invest millions of dollars in market research — to start reaching and retaining more customers this quarter. All you need is the team of response scribes at Shout About Us, who ensure that all of your ratings and reviews receive customized responses within 24 hours.
Discover why leading digital agencies like CallSource, Curious Jane, Qebot, and V Digital Services trust Shout About Us to provide turnkey review and reputation management solutions. Schedule a demo of our review reply service and reputation management platform today, or contact our team online to get started.