Review Response Skill

Reviews are read by the next buyer, not just the reviewer — so a reply is public customer service and marketing at once. A good response thanks genuinely, takes ownership without being defensive, moves the heat to a private channel, and shows future shoppers you're a business that cares. This skill writes that reply for the review in front of you, and gives you templates for next time.

Working from a brief

Given a review (or just "reply to a 1-star about late delivery"), write the full response anyway — infer a reasonable, on-brand reply and a fair resolution, marking specifics (confirm/insert) (order details, the exact remedy). Never invent facts about what happened; never argue with the customer in public.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else infer and label):

• The review — the text, the rating, and where it's posted (Google, Amazon, Trustpilot, app store…).
• What happened — your side/context if known, and whether it's resolved.
• Brand voice — warm/formal/playful, and the name you sign off with.
• What you can offer — any remedy you're willing to make (refund, replacement, discount, fix).

Output Format

Review Response

• Read — a one-line read of the review: sentiment, the real issue, and whether it's fixable.
• The reply — a ready-to-post response that:
  • Opens by addressing them by name and thanking them for the feedback.
  • For positive: echoes the specific thing they loved, adds a little brand warmth, and invites them back (no hard sell).
  • For negative/mixed: acknowledges the specific problem, takes ownership (no excuses/blame), apologises sincerely, states what you'll do, and moves to a private channel for resolution.
  • Closes human and signed.
• Short version — a tighter variant for platforms with length limits.
• Templates — reusable patterns for the common cases (5★ thanks, shipping issue, product fault, sizing/fit, wrong expectations) with [brackets] to fill.

Keep negative replies calm and brief — the audience is the next shopper.

Quality Checks

• Addresses the reviewer by name and references the specific point they raised
• Negative replies take ownership without excuses or blaming the customer
• Complaints are moved to a private channel for the actual resolution
• Tone matches the brand and stays calm — never defensive or sarcastic
• Positive replies add warmth without a pushy upsell
• No private data is exposed; invented specifics are flagged to confirm

Anti-Patterns

• Do not get defensive or argue facts in public — you're writing for the next shopper, not to win
• Do not paste an identical canned reply on every review — personalise to the specific point
• Do not expose order numbers, emails, or other private details in a public reply
• Do not over-apologise or grovel on a minor issue, or under-respond on a serious one — match the severity
• Do not bribe for removal or incentivise changing the review in ways the platform forbids

Based On

Online reputation & customer-service practice — specific, ownership-led public responses, private-channel resolution, and audience-aware (next-shopper) tone.