Guidelines for Company Responses
How Companies Can Respond to Reviews on GoodBed

At GoodBed, when a customer submits a review, we welcome responses from authorized retailer or manufacturer representatives (sometimes referred to on this site as "owners"). We believe this two-way dialogue makes GoodBed a more useful resource for both mattress companies and consumers – a place where businesses can engage with their customers, reviewers can seek resolution, and onlookers can be sure they are getting the full story. That said, we do have some guidelines in place to protect our readers.

How owner responses work

1. GoodBed allows authorized representatives of mattress manufacturers and retailers to respond to reviews about their particular products or stores only. To become an authorized representative, you must first claim your profile.
2. You must be logged in to your authorized owner account with GoodBed when you submit your response. If we can’t tell that you’re an authorized representative, we can’t publish your official response.
3. We will post your response directly below the review to which you are responding.
4. Owner responses will only be approved if they meet our response guidelines.

Family-friendly

Just as we say to our reviewers, please write your response as if your grandmother were going to read it. Here are a few ways to do that:

• No foul language. If Granny wouldn’t approve your response, neither will we. Your response must pass the soap test of no profanity, threats, prejudiced comments, hate speech, graphic sexual content, or the like.
• No personal attacks. We will not accept responses that contain personal insults.
• No use of ALL CAPS or spam-like punctuation. If your response makes excessive use of ALL CAPS, exclamation points or the like, it will be declined. Same goes for typographical symbols meant to be curse words, HTML tags or other spammy-looking content. Please be tasteful in writing your review. Have Granny read it if you need to.

Authentic

We don’t allow our consumer reviewers to quote other sources, add hearsay, or reference material published elsewhere, so the same rules apply to owners. We only want authentic and original responses.

Non-promotional

Your response should not read like an advertisement. Please refrain from making boastful claims or using general marketing copy in your response. Nor should you reference email addresses, phone numbers, or web addresses for such purposes.

No badgering the reviewer

Reviewers on GoodBed are able to change their review at any time, however this is entirely at their discretion. When the reviewer is notified of your response, they will also receive a link through which they can see your response, and will be able to change or update their review if they see fit. We do not allow owners to request or suggest that a reviewer update their review.

No comments on GoodBed policies

We will not accept responses that are directed to our staff, or comments on GoodBed policies. If you have questions, concerns or comments on our policies, you may contact us directly. Our contact information can be found here.

Respect for personal privacy

To protect our reviewers, we will decline any management response that includes personal information—including names, addresses, phone numbers or other identifying information—or that requests such information from a reviewer.

Fake reviews

Retailer or manufacturer representatives, employees or agents may not pose as customers to submit or comment on reviews. Such activity goes expressly against the spirit of this site. In addition to being unethical and a direct violation of our guidelines, review fraud is also against the law in many jurisdictions, including the United States (see Federal Trade Commission Rule 16 C.F.R. Part 255).

If you think that a fake review has been submitted about your product or store, we recommend using our Report Abuse feature to let us know why you think so. Our moderators will promptly review your abuse report and decide whether there is sufficient reason to remove the review. If it is not removed, you are of course still welcome to respond to it. That said, please ensure that your response is constructive and useful, which means that it should be focused on the review itself, not on GoodBed's moderation decision or policies.

Tips on responding to negative reviews

Although understandably a concern amongst owners, negative reviews frequently represent a hidden opportunity. Today’s consumers know that no company can completely avoid negative reviews, and that every company has its share of loyal devotees. So for savvy shoppers, seeing a company’s response to negative reviews can sometimes be the most telling sign of all. We recommend taking the following steps before responding to a negative review:

• Investigate the incident promptly and thoroughly.
• Draft a thoughtful response, and then sleep on it – the best responses tend to focus on some combination of making things right and/or politely setting the record straight.
• Re-read your response – would you send this letter to Granny if she gave you some negative feedback? If not, edit accordingly…
• Share it with a trusted (and articulate) colleague

By following these steps, you have the opportunity to turn a negative experience for one past customer into a positive impression for many future prospects.

Other suggestions

To ensure the maximum positive impact from your response, we recommend you keep in mind these additional tips:

• Be helpful. An owner response should be helpful, not only to the reviewer, but also to other people reading the review. For example, if you are responding to a negative review, try to focus your response on how you can address the consumer’s frustration in a manner that is consistent with your company’s policies.
• Be personal. Read and respond to reviews, good or bad, as though they are personal letters written to you. This mindset will often help you find a more personal and empathetic voice in your response.
• Be specific. Please be thoughtful in writing your response. Avoid sweeping statements (eg, "Everything this review says is wrong"), and instead focus on specific points. Do not use a boilerplate template for each response.
• Be professional. If you believe there are factual inaccuracies in the review, you are welcome to clarify them. That said, keep in mind that prospective customers reading your response are much more likely to be impressed by your customer service skills than your debate skills.
• Be timely. Customer impressions can be a little like concrete – the longer they sit, the more solidified they get. Wherever possible, it is best to respond while their experience is still fresh and top of mind.
• Be respectful. Reviewers are real people who felt strongly enough about their experience to share it on our site. Take the time to acknowledge and thank them for sharing their feedback with you, good or bad, so that you can use this information to continually improve your business.

Thank you!

Thanks for following these guidelines! We value your professional responses to our readers, and appreciate your help in making GoodBed the most useful resource for mattress shoppers.