Who Owns the Franchise Customer Review Strategy?

How Franchisors and Franchisees Can Work Together on Reputation Management

Imagine this: a disgruntled customer posts a scathing one-star review about a franchise location. The local franchisee is mortified, the franchisor is worried about the brand’s reputation and both are asking “who should swoop in to address this”? 

In the age of Yelp, Google, and TripAdvisor, customer reviews are the new gold in franchising. But when it comes to managing those reviews, franchisors and franchisees sometimes awkwardly dance to see who will take care of this issue. Is it the franchisor’s job to set the strategy and tone, or the franchisee’s role since they dealt with the customer firsthand? The truth is, online reviews are simply too important for either side to ignore, and finding the right balance in ownership of review strategy is critical.

Why a Franchise Customer Review Strategy Matters More Than Ever

Customer reviews are essentially digital word-of-mouth, and we all know how powerful word-of-mouth can be. According to franchise.org, nearly 90% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family. In fact, one recent industry survey found that virtually everyone reads reviews before buying something online, and nearly half of consumers trust those reviews like advice from a loved one​. 

In franchising, these stakes are even higher: one bad review for a single franchise location doesn’t just affect that store, it can make prospective customers question the entire brand. On the flip side, a bouquet of five-star reviews can lift the whole franchise network’s reputation and even boost its local search rankings. (Yes, reviews don’t just influence people, they influence Google and some experts estimate review signals account for about 15% of Google’s local search algorithm).

A Frontiers in Psychology study confirms that 93% of consumers say online reviews affect their shopping choices. Given that impact, it’s no wonder franchises are laser focused on managing this feedback. A solid star rating and positive comments aren’t just ego boosters; they’re directly tied to foot traffic and sales. And here’s a crucial insight: customers today expect businesses to engage with reviews. According to Forbes, 88% of consumers would use a business that replies to all its online reviews, compared to just 47% who would consider a business that doesn’t respond. In other words, ignoring your reviews (good or bad) is like ignoring a ringing phone at your front desk. You’d be surprised how many brands delay in replying, if they reply at all.

When a One-Star Review Goes Wrong (and Right)

Let’s look at a scenario that actually unfolded in a well-known franchise (we won’t name names to protect the well intentioned). One evening, a franchisee at a busy restaurant location received a brutal 1-star review on Google. The customer complained about waiting 30 minutes for a meal that arrived cold. 

The frustrated franchise owner, without consulting anyone, fired off a long reply that basically said, “It was a busy night, sorry you feel that way, but others had a great time.” Uh-oh. The tone came off as defensive and a bit snarky. You can guess what happened next: the unhappy customer blasted that response on social media, it went mildly viral and the franchisor woke up to a mini PR crisis. 

The franchisor had to step in, issue a more polished public apology, and work with the franchisee on damage control. The franchisee wasn’t too happy about being overruled, and the franchisor wasn’t happy to be cleaning up a mess. Moral of the story: a disjointed approach can turn one bad review into an even bigger headache.

Now here is the silver lining for this situation. After this incident, the franchisor and franchisee actually sat down and worked out a better review strategy together. The franchisor agreed to provide draft responses and training on handling tough reviews, and the franchisee regained the lead in responding, but with oversight. The next time a negative review came in, the franchisee composed a thoughtful reply (acknowledging the issue and inviting the customer to contact the store manager directly to make it right), and ran it by a corporate rep in their joint reputation management system. 

The response was empathetic and on-brand, and it won the customer back. Even better, other customers saw the franchise taking feedback seriously. The difference was night and day. This case highlights that when franchisors and franchisees collaborate on review management, it can turn a potential disaster into an opportunity for loyalty. One franchise executive put it this way: “Responsibility for review responses might be at the corporate level or at the franchisee level. Ideally, it is a combination of corporate language with a local flair.”  In practice, that means the head office ensures the message is polished and brand friendly, while the local owner makes sure it feels personal and genuine.

Recently, I worked with a big brand that oversaw multiple nationwide brands. What intrigued me was the system they had in place. They created a reviews team composed of four media managers. As reviews came in, they would analyze and create a thoughtful reply for the franchisee. Now, when you are overseeing more than 30 brands, you can imagine how many reviews are coming into the ecosystem. This process was unique and the first I encountered, and I thought about how well established it was and how their review system not only protected the brand’s image, but it also alleviated the workload for the franchisee. 

At times, the franchisor needs to take a bird’s-eye view of the review system to create an efficient review process. Social proof is currency; therefore, having an annual review can help not only protect the brand but also generate more business.

Best Practices for a Winning Franchise Customer Review Strategy

So, with franchisor and franchisee both invested in the outcome, how do you create a rock-solid franchise customer review strategy? Here are some best practices that experts and successful franchise systems swear by:

• Establish Clear Guidelines: Franchisors should set the ground rules for review management. This means providing franchisees with a policy on who responds to reviews, how to escalate serious complaints and the expected tone (professional, courteous, and solution-oriented). Having a playbook prevents off-brand reactions. It also ensures every location is on the same page. For instance, many brands require that each franchisee read and respond to reviews within 24 hours​. A wise standard to keep response times prompt across the board.
• Blend Brand Voice with Local Flavor: As mentioned earlier, the best approach is often a tag-team. Franchisors can provide template responses or talking points for common scenarios (like a refund request or a thank-you for a glowing review) to maintain consistency. Then the franchisee can personalize it, referencing the customer’s specific experience or signing off with their name/title so the response doesn’t read like it was issued from a distant PR department. This combo lets customers know the business cares at both the local and national level.
• Never Argue, Always Empathize: This one’s mostly for the franchisees on the front lines. When that occasional unfair or exaggerated review appears, it’s easy to get defensive (we’re all human!). But take a deep breath and stay professional. Acknowledge the customer’s feelings, apologize for their bad experience and offer to make it right or continue the conversation offline. Prospective customers scrolling through reviews can smell a defensive rebuttal a mile away and it’s a major turn off. Keep it classy and remember the response is as much for future readers as it is for the one reviewer.
• Share the Insights: Reviews are a treasure trove of free feedback. Franchisors should aggregate and analyze reviews across locations to spot trends. Are multiple franchisees getting complaints about a particular product or process? Are certain locations consistently praised for something others could learn from? Use that data! 
  
  According to localclarity.com, if one franchise is consistently receiving negative reviews, it’s clear something is going wrong at that location. Similarly, very positive reviews indicate that something is going very right, and those lessons can be shared across the franchise business to improve performance. Smart franchise systems hold regular review roundups: corporations might highlight a “review of the month” and discuss what went well or how a situation was salvaged. This turns individual reviews into system-wide learning (and avoids repeating mistakes).
• Make Review Management Part of the Culture: Franchisors and franchisees should treat reputation management as a core business function, not an afterthought. Celebrate great reviews with your team as it boosts morale and reinforces good habits. At the same time, treat negative reviews as coaching moments rather than personal attacks. Some franchise owners even post notable reviews (good and bad) on an employee bulletin board so everyone can learn and stay motivated to improve. When everyone from the CEO down to the newest employee recognizes the value of customer feedback, responding to reviews becomes second nature.
• Leverage Tools, But Keep the Human Touch: There are many reputation management tools out there (some franchises subscribe to services that help solicit reviews via text or email, filter out spam, etc.). These can be fantastic for efficiency – for example, automatically prompting happy customers to share their experience online. Use technology to your advantage, but don’t rely on it entirely. A templated response generated by software should still be reviewed by a human. Remember, the goal is to sound human and genuine. Humor, warmth and even a bit of humility in a response can turn a situation around. A franchisee might inject a light joke like, “We read your comment about our wait times and our cooks have kicked into high gear (they’re having extra coffee this week!).” A franchisor can encourage this kind of personable tone as long as it aligns with the brand’s values.

A Strategy Worth Sharing

So, who owns the franchise customer review strategy? The most successful franchises have realized the answer: both, together. The franchisor provides the vision, tools and guardrails; the franchisee provides the local soul and immediate action. When done right, this partnership turns reviews into a two-way conversation that strengthens the brand and the individual business. It’s encouraging to see many franchisors and franchisees moving past the tug of war and instead sharing the responsibility. After all, they share the customer at the end of the day.

In a world where a single review can sway countless buying decisions, franchisors and franchisees can’t afford to operate in silos. Collaboration, communication and a dash of personality are the secret sauce for a winning review management strategy. The result? Happier customers, better reputations, and a franchise system that thrives from top to bottom. And that’s something worthy of a five-star review.