ON HOW TO HANDLE

Jon Bryan

FROM VISION TO VICTORY

YOUR 5 STAR GUIDE

ONE STAR REIVEWS

Restauranteurs

I’m Jon Bryan, founder of instorereviews.com.

For over 30 years, I’ve worked behind the scenes

developing tech and solving problems for

restaurants. I have helped franchise owners for

Pizza Hut, Subway, and Applebee’s as well as

dozens of independent operators trying to find their

own path to success.

Over the last 4 years, I have taken a deep dive into

restaurants, and reviews. Chatting with owners,

staff and managers alike. I have found the cost of

these reviews to be devastating in both dollars and

cents, as well as staff morale and team motivation.

This book is a collection of what I’ve learned:

simple, actionable ways restaurants can avoid, and

deal with the dreaded negative review. At the end,

we will show you a way of handling negative

reviews that you have never seen before.

I’m excited to share my experience with you. I

also want to hear your feedback, ideas and

thoughts on how to avoid, and deal with negative

reviews.

Jon Bryan

ABOUT THE

AUTHOR.

THE COST.

SHOCKING.

It is not the one review, nor the impact impact of

losing that one customer. It is the reach far beyond that

one guest. Let’s take a look. That person tells 9-15

others. They would have brought a friend or two. It’s the

ripple, the negative buzz that is costing you, not the

single guest. We do the math at the end of this section.

Take a look, you might be surprised.

The negative buzz

So, when that one guest leaves your establishment

with a level of dissatisfaction that reaches a point of

actually leaving a negative review, they tell 9-15 of

their friends and coworkers. Those that the guest shared

with would have brought a friend or two with them. So

on the low end, we are talking about 10 potential

guests, bringing a companion, now 19 guests.

Your rankings will take a dip on Google Maps. A

restaurant’s position in Google’s local search results has

an enormous effect on how many potential customers

discover it.

Ranking

The Math: Reach: 30 Guests. Lifetime Value? 750

+/- each. That negative buzz has a $21,500.00

possible reach. Even if the reviewer and their

companion are the only ones that do not return,

that is $1500.00 in lifetime value.

Real reviewers usually have:

A profile photo or a few public posts.

Reviews across multiple businesses, often in the

same city.

A mix of positive and negative feedback over

time.

FIRST THINGS

FIRST.

Is it Authentic?

News flash: Not all reviews are left by guests. The

first step is to try and separate the true from the

false.

Fake reviewers often:

Have no photo or a generic icon.

Leave only 1 or 2 reviews ever - sometimes all

on the same day.

Post reviews for businesses in different countries

or cities within days.

Use odd or mismatched names (e.g., “John Mike”

or “User123”).

👉

Tip: Click their name — if they’ve reviewed a car

wash in Texas and a sushi bar in Manila the same

week, it’s fake.

Genuine reviews tend to:

Mention specific details (staff names, dishes,

location layout).

Have a balanced tone (“Food was great but

service was a bit slow”).

Fake reviews:

Overly generic or marketing-like (“Best

restaurant ever! Amazing food!!”).

Use repetitive phrases (“Highly recommend!”

“Awesome experience!”).

Contain poor grammar or copy-paste text

across multiple places.

Sometimes attack competitors with emotional

exaggeration (“Worst food ever, don’t go

here!!!”).

Cross-Reference Photos and Patterns

Real reviewers often upload unique, on-location

photos (food, menu, storefront).

Stock-like images or none at all

→

suspicious.

Some fake review networks reuse photos from

other businesses.

Check the Timing and Frequency

If there’s a sudden burst of 5-star reviews

within a day or two, it’s a red flag.

The same goes for a cluster of 1-star reviews —

often a sign of a competitor hit job.

Authentic review growth is gradual.

👉

Tip: With In Store Reviews, by making it easier for

staff and guest, you get more on-site location

verified reviews.

OK.

NOW WHAT?

Be Calm - and QUIET

Take a step back. Let the shock settle. Shift

gears

Dumping on staff is NOT a good idea

Don’t make a bad situation worse.

We all know the feeling. You just want some

justice, right? Well that is exactly what not to go

after. It is better to want to solve a problem. To

want to target and channel that energy straight to

the solution, not to spray your anger across the

entire crew, affecting your top performers equally

with those who are not.

Priorities

Gain focus. Remove emotion. Get on a fact

finding mission. You need information to turn this

negative into a positive. To “stop the bleeding”.

Don’t fall into the trap, and cause further harm.

Whatever damage is done, is just that: done. Eyes

ahead.

F O C U S O N T H E P R O B L E M ,

I T G E T S B I G G E R .

F O C U S O N T H E S O L U T I O N ,

I T G E T S B I G G E R .

Firstly, give it time. Reach an objective, calm state of

mind. The goal is to improve in areas that might be

lacking. If you don’t know where the bad review came

from, calling all staff and encouraging them to correct a

mistake that only one person made is probably not a

good idea.

So, unless you have the In Store Reviews app

subscription, you are shooting in the dark. You have no

idea of the time, section, or table. So it is time for some

detective work.

Time is money, so first validate you actually have a

problem. One “slow service” review could just be a

guest expecting fast-food speed in a fine-dining setting.

That’s not a service failure, that’s misaligned guest

expectations. Now, if you have 3, in a short period of

time, that is a different story.

OK. I WANT

ACCOUNTABILITY.

Give it time

👉

Tip: With In Store Reviews, you get a time and

date stamp, with the Table # of every negative

review obtained through our system

But what to do? Have the “all call” and be sure

everyone feels the pain? Maybe, but I think there is a

better way.

Reacting has to be strategic with staff. If you tank

your staff’s morale, you just set yourself up for poor

service with attitude, leading to yet another negative

review.

Investigate

So, here are some practical tips to possibly help

narrow down the source of the issue:

Look at the dates.

Any new staff during that time period?

Any staff with known personal problems?

What about life events?

Starting there, if you have an idea of a possible

source, rather than having “the talk”, observe their

performance, and correct current issues as they arise.

It may not be that individual.

Or, that personal problem in their life may have

been resolved. Without any firm data, it is just not

worth going back in my opinion, unless this is not the

first time you narrowed it down to a specific individual.

What if you can’t narrow it down? Albeit time

consuming, I suggest auditing CCTV footage general

service data points during your best guess time that

the negative review occurred. Here is the strategy.

Measure critical data points across servers, at the

same level of restaurant volume. Make a spreadsheet,

or download my sample and fill in the blanks.

Measure:

Time to greeting

Time to beverage service

Time to order point

Time to order delivery

Time to table touch

These measurements should tell you whether you

have a problem today. Time consuming, yes. Check the

ISR Tech Tips to see how we reduce that to nearly zero.

Service Audit

Y O U C A N ’ T F I X

W H A T Y O U D O N ’ T

M E A S U R E

Once you have verified that it is a valid negative

review, and feel it warrants investigation, then we can

look at ways of reducing ongoing issues.

Talk to your servers. Again, we have not done the

“all call”. So in casual conversation, you can ask, have

you had any issues with <xyz> lately? I know it was

going on for a while before, but I have not heard much

recently.

Perform Table touches for guests with the same dish.

Watch for the same dish to go out. Talk to your

customers about how there meal is today.

Sometimes food quality complaints can simply be

personal taste of course. Once you have investigated,

and verified your product is being prepared properly

and is up to standard, it is time to let it go.

Food Quality

Y O U C A N ’ T F I X W H A T Y O U

D O N ’ T T A S T E - C H E C K I T

B E F O R E Y O U R G U E S T S D O

First things first. Verify all proper cleaning supplies are

in stock, readily available and stored where they are

supposed to be.

Secondly, perform a cleanliness audit. Busiest time of

each shift. Perform daily for 3 days.

Be certain to audit across different crew members and

shifts.

Do not make assumptions or pre-judge anything. You

must have an open mind.

Pay attention to smells, not just a glance at visual

appearance or neatness.

Cleanliness

T H E R E ’ S N O F L AVO R

ST R O N G E N O U G H TO

H I D E D I RT

You may have a legitimate case for removal when the

review:

Was posted by someone who never visited your

restaurant.

Contains hate speech, profanity, or personal

attacks.

Reveals private information like names, photos, or

phone numbers.

Comes from a competitor or ex-employee.

Includes irrelevant content (politics, religion, or

unrelated rants).

Is spam or a duplicated post.

ACT I O N A B L E D ATA T R U M P S

W I L D AS S U M P T I O N S

E V E RY DAY

CAN IT BE

REMOVED?

General Guidelines

Don’t give canned responses. Make it personal, and let

them know you understand.

Don’t be contrary or argumentative.

Keep it brief. Long responses draw more eyes.

Respond to positive and negative alike. Again, you draw

less attention to the negative, and are viewed as being

less reactive.

Move it off-line. Ask them to stop by, you would like a

chance to make it right.

Don’t include personal information. That violates the

terms and conditions of Google, and might get your

comment removed.

RESPOND.

ONLINE.

General Guidelines

👉

Tip: Bypass all of this with instant notifications

with the table number. Engage guests and correct

situations while theys are still seated in you dining

room with instorereviews.com.

We are truly sorry, that is not how we do business.

Please message or call us directly, we’d love the chance

to make this right.

Please stop by and have a chat with management. We

would like to learn more and have a chance to make it

right.

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback. We

are taking a careful look at this to ensure it does not

happen again.

Rest assured your input is appreciated, and important

to us. We are looking at how this might have happened.

This is not how we operate.

If you have time, stop by. We would like to learn more.

Our sincerest apology.

I can hear your frustration and understand. We are

doubling up on our efforts to ensure this does not

happen again. Our apologies.

Sample Responses

👉

If there is something specific, make mention of it

to show you are hearing what they are sharing.

Negative Review Alert

Table # 14

STOP REACTING.

START MANAGING.

Respond directly to the unhappy guest at their table

before they get out of their chair. No more guessing.

Understand the root of the problem, whether it is valid

and what staff is responsible. No more guesswork.

LEARN MORE @ INSTOREREVIEWS.COM

GET REAL-TIME NEGATIVE

FEEDBACK NOTIFICATIONS

WITH TABLE # BEFORE YOUR

GUEST EVEN LEAVES THEIR

CHAIR!

Our revolutionary app will forever change the way

negative reviews are handled. Get the insights, business

intelligence you need. Understand the exact source of

the problem, complete with time-stamp and table

number. Take control of service issues and guest

satisfaction today.

LEARN MORE @ INSTOREREVIEWS.COM

WE PROVIDE DIGITAL

REPUTATION & MARKETING

AGENTS AT EVERY TABLE.

INTRODUCING YOUR

PERSONAL TABLE-TOP

MARKETING AND

REPUTATION AGENT

Meet your hardest-working employee

Always on duty. Never asks for a day

off or a raise

Easy for you, your staff and the guest.

Designed to get results on day one

Reports to you in real-time.

Provides you real-time actionable

data, removing the guess-work.

LEARN MORE @ INSTOREREVIEWS.COM