See every review
Google, Yelp and Facebook in one inbox, each store kept separate, with an alert within minutes. A review still unanswered after a week is flagged as overdue.
Review management
Review management software that drafts your replies
All your Google, Yelp and Facebook reviews in one inbox, with every reply drafted in your voice for your OK.
Replies to 1–2 star reviews always wait for you.
Reviews & Reputation is $79 per location per month, with no contract. Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. See how Esplanda works.
Illustrative example
The three habits
Every review seen and answered fast
Online reputation management for a small business comes down to three habits: see every review, reply fast and keep new ones coming. Reviews sit for weeks because checking three apps is nobody's job. Esplanda makes it one job.
Reply fast, in your voice
Each reply is drafted from the review, the sale behind it when one can be matched, and the house tone you set once; you approve, edit or skip. A review in another language shows in yours, and the reply goes out in the reviewer’s: see reviews and replies in your customers’ languages.
Keep them coming
One request after the sale by email or text, the same way to every customer, timed to the sale. How the asking works.
How a reply reads depending on when it was posted
The audience for a reply isn't the reviewer. It's everyone who reads that review over the next year while deciding whether to come in.
| Reply posted | How it reads to a stranger | Esplanda's default |
|---|---|---|
| Same day | Someone is paying attention and cares | The target for 1–2 star reviews |
| Within 48 hours | Normal and competent, which is fine | The target for everything else |
| After a week | The complaint had to be chased | Flagged as overdue |
| After a month | Damage control, and obviously so | Reported as a miss |
| Never | The reviewer's version is the only one on record | Tracked and shown in the weekly report |
- Patterns become one task. When several people complain about the same thing, you get one task for the store, not a pile of apologies.
- The week in one report. Replies sent, response times and new reviews, every week.
The one-star reply
How to reply to a one-star review
When you respond to Google reviews that hurt, five steps work every time. Esplanda drafts every negative reply this way, and you approve it.
- Thank them and name the problem. Restate what went wrong in plain words. A reply that won't say what happened reads as evasive to everyone who sees it later.
- Apologize once, without conditions. Not “sorry you feel that way,” which reads as an accusation. Not three paragraphs, which reads as panic.
- Say what you changed. The most valuable sentence in the reply: a shift covered, a supplier swapped, a process fixed.
- Move it off the public thread. Give a named person to reach. Never negotiate in public, and never offer a refund for changing the review.
- Stop after four sentences. You're writing to the next hundred readers, not arguing with one.
Review requests
More reviews, asked the right way
Ask everybody, ask promptly and make it one tap. That is most of the difference between a store with a handful of reviews and one with hundreds, and Esplanda times the ask to every sale.
- Timed to the sale. Each request is timed close to the purchase, while the visit is still specific, by email or text, whichever that customer agreed to receive. Each one goes out inside your contact limits, and requests are unlimited on Reviews & Reputation, with no marketing line needed. Your other campaigns run in email marketing for small business and marketing automation for small business.
- Recency beats volume. Fifteen reviews from the last three months, each with a reply, read better than forty whose newest is a year old. Fresh reviews also feed your local SEO software results.
What Esplanda does
- Asks every customer the same way, in the same words, to the same place.
- Replies only to real reviews from real customers, each one drafted for your approval.
- Flags reviews that break the rules: spam, a competitor, the wrong business, abuse, and prepares the report for you.
Review requests that keep your profile safe
- Real reviews from real customers, each one in the customer's own words.
- Every customer, the same link to Google, happy or not, so there is no review gating.
- No incentives attached: no money, discounts or prizes for a review, the way Google's and Yelp's rules and the Federal Trade Commission require.
Recent, answered reviews also help AI assistants describe your store, and our AI visibility tool checks what they say.
Comparing tools
What to look for in reputation management software
For a local business, review management and reputation management software do one job: catch every review, answer it well and keep real new ones coming. Six things decide how well a tool does it.
| What to look for | Why it matters | What Esplanda does |
|---|---|---|
| Every review site in one place | A review on a site nobody checks sits unanswered for weeks | Google, Yelp and Facebook in one inbox, with an alert within minutes |
| Fast replies that sound like you | The reply is read by everyone deciding whether to come in | Drafted from the review, the sale behind it when one can be matched, and your house tone |
| A person on the hard ones | A wrong reply to an angry customer costs more than a slow one | Replies to 1–2 star reviews always come to you |
| Review requests inside the rules | Review gating and incentives break Google’s and Yelp’s rules | Every customer asked the same way, to the same place, with no incentive |
| Each store kept separate | The person who was there should answer | Reviews split by location, so a complaint about one store goes to that store |
| Connected to the rest of the store | Repeated complaints point to something to fix | Patterns turned into one task, and requests sent from the same customer list as your register and your customer loyalty software |
Pricing
Reviews & Reputation, $79 a month
- Reviews & Reputation$79per location per monthNo contract and no setup fee, bought on its own beside the free Esplanda POS
- Replies50review and listing replies a monthEach drafted in your voice for your approval. Past fifty, Esplanda tells you instead of billing you more
- Requests and mentions3brand-mention queries watchedPlus unlimited review requests after the sale, and an alert within minutes of every new review
Nothing is published in your name without you, and replies to 1–2 star reviews always wait for you. Read why Esplanda is safe to trust, see the full reputation management pricing, or see every line on Esplanda pricing.
Questions
Review management questions owners ask
What is review management software?
Review management software, often sold as reputation management software, watches the sites where customers review you, alerts you to new reviews, helps you reply and asks customers for reviews. Esplanda brings Google, Yelp and Facebook into one inbox, tells you when a reply is needed and drafts each reply for your approval, while 1–2 star reviews always come to you. It is the Reviews & Reputation line, $79 per location per month with no contract.
How do I respond to Google reviews?
Reply to every review, briefly and within a day, sooner for a negative one. Thank the person, name what happened, say what you changed and give a direct way to reach you. Short, specific replies to positive reviews count too.
Should I reply to positive reviews too?
Yes, briefly. A profile where every review has a short, specific reply reads as an actively run business, and replying is one of the few review signals fully in your control. Esplanda drafts each reply from what the customer actually said, so a run of thank-yous never reads like a template.
What should I say to a one-star review?
Thank them, name the problem plainly, apologize once without conditions, say what you changed and give a direct way to reach a person. Then stop; four sentences is usually enough. In Esplanda, replies to 1–2 star reviews always wait for your approval.
How do I get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every customer, promptly, and make it one tap. The ask works best close to the sale, while the visit is still fresh. Don't ask only the happy ones, and don't offer anything of value in return; both break Google's rules. Esplanda times one request to every sale and asks every customer the same way.
Can I offer a discount in exchange for a review?
No. Offering money, discounts, free products or a prize drawing for a review breaks Google's and Yelp's rules and can draw enforcement from the Federal Trade Commission. Esplanda's review requests always stay inside those rules: every customer asked the same way, with no incentive attached.
How does Esplanda keep my reviews real?
Every review is written by your customer, in their own words; Esplanda asks for it and helps you reply. Every customer gets the same link to Google, happy or not, so there is no review gating, and replies go only to real reviews from real customers.
Can I get a bad review removed?
Yes, when it breaks the review site's rules: spam, a competitor, a review of the wrong business, or abusive or off-topic content. Esplanda flags reviews that look reportable and prepares the report. For every other review, a fast, specific reply is what the next reader sees.
Answer every review without the evenings
Start free today, or book a demo and we'll walk through Esplanda on a business like yours.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Reviews & Reputation is $79 per location per month when you want it.
