Restaurant reviews in Finland: what you answer and what you leave alone

In a restaurant the reviews are read in the evening and forgotten by morning. Then there are two hundred of them and nobody remembers which ones were answered.

Answering is not politeness, it is order. Answer briefly. Answer within a few days. Write for the next reader, not for the person who is already disappointed. Thank by name the one who praised something specific, because that tells the reader what works here.

Not everything gets an answer. Clear provocation, a competitor's text and the same message posted in several places are not answered at all, they are reported.

The hardest part is rhythm. In a busy week the answers pile up, and the gap is more visible to a reader than any single review. Madloba Consult has its own guide to answering reviews consistently.

How to check it yourself

1. Count how many of the last twenty reviews have an answer.
2. Look at how many days sit between the last review and its answer.
3. Find two reviews that should not have been answered at all.

Questions

Who should write the answers?
One person, with a short list of what is never promised in public. Several voices read as several restaurants.

Should we answer old reviews?
The last months are enough. Going back a year looks like a campaign.