Your Business: Customer reviews with Natalie Le Gal, L'Assiette and La Fourchette

Natalie Le Gal who, with her husband Romain, owns Auckland-based French eateries L'Assiette and La Fourchette.

Natalie Le Gal and her husband Romain are the owners of two Auckland-based French eateries - L’Assiette, which opened in Britomart three years ago, and St Heliers-based La Fourchette, which opened in July last year.

What role do customer reviews play in your businesses?

We're in a service industry and part and parcel with that is people are going to make comments or give you feedback. In hospitality in particular we've always been open to critique, and historically that's been done by restaurant reviewers, but with the advent of the internet and social media there's been a rise in the number of customers posting reviews as well.

In recent years Aucklanders seem to have become really into their food, so they feel more inclined to give feedback. On one hand it's great to see everyone so passionate about food, but on the other hand everyone's a critic. That's a good thing, because you can use reviews as a barometer of how your business is doing and the public's perception of it, but at the same time it can also be tricky for restaurants dealing with reviews that you have no control over.

How do customers leave their reviews of your restaurants?

In terms of feedback or reviews there are sites like TripAdvisor, which seems pretty popular these days, and Yelp and Zomato. There are also some bloggers out there who critique food. There are lots of people who will have a meal, take a photo of it, then put it up on Facebook or blog about it - it's just part of their daily lives, and in the restaurant business you have to be open to that.

Who keeps tabs on your reviews and how often?

We have a manager both in L'Assiette and La Fourchette, so they regularly google reviews and see the latest ones that have popped up. TripAdvisor also sends you alerts when you've had a new review, but I'd say generally we try to check in every two weeks and see what feedback has popped up, and take it from there.

We're actually looking at bringing someone in to the business who will specialise in the social media side of things because it is a growing area for restaurants. I think social media is an important way to instigate engagement with your customers and if you can be more proactive on that side of things I think it can help more generally with public perception and reviews.

Do you respond to reviews directly online?

To date we've had a policy of not responding to reviews online and I'm not entirely sure that will change once we get a social media person on board. Responding can be difficult because, depending on the nature of the review, it can be hard to pin it down to a place and time. If someone has an issue with the speed of service or with their food when they're in the restaurant you can really react to that, and do what you can to make the best of the situation, But it's harder to respond directly, or gauge how to respond, when issues are presented online.

But do you respond in other ways?

If there's feedback coming through online with a common theme, we definitely instigate change. For example, we had some common feedback on the portion size of one of our soups so we increased that and hopefully the customers are happier with that as a result. I think you do need to be aware of the reviews and take them on board, but if you spin into action over every little comment that's made you'll be running around like a headless chicken.

What advice would you have for other small business owners about dealing with customer reviews?

Don't take every review to heart - because some can almost be hurtful when you know how hard your staff are working and how much you're trying to achieve success - but it is important to monitor them. And if there is a common theme in terms of what people are saying then institute some changes.

Coming up in Your Business: What are small business owners doing to make their operations more sustainable? What measures are they putting in place to ensure they lessen their impact on the environment and improve their bottom line? If you've got a sustainability story to share drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com

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