Read private notes

Private notes is your follow-up inbox for customers who gave 1 to 3 stars and sent you a note from your review page. Read each note, contact the customer if they asked you to, and set a status so your team knows where it stands. It takes about 2 minutes a note.

A private note is sent as well as a Google review, never instead of one. Every customer saw the same Google button.

Before you start

• Your role can open Private notes. It needs its own permission. If you cannot see it, ask your admin. See Team, roles and permissions.
• Private note for 1–3 stars is on in the Review page settings. It is on by default.

Steps

Read the notes

1. Click More on the left rail, then select Google Reviews → Private notes. You can also click Read notes on the unread alert on Review page, or open the alert in your notifications.
2. Read the line at the top: Notes from customers who gave 1–3 stars. They saw the same Google button as everyone else.
3. Click Unread to see only the notes you have not read, or All for every note. When there are unread notes, the tab shows the count, for example Unread (3). The newest note is first.
4. To see notes at one stage of follow-up, pick a status: New, Contacted, Resolved or Unreachable. A status tab shows its count only when it has notes, for example New (2).
5. Read a note. It shows:
   • The star rating, the date and time, and the page language the customer used.
   • The customer's message.
   • Under Answers, the answers they tapped, each after its question, for example How was the wait? → Too long.
   • The Staff, Services and Products they picked, if any.
   • Their name and phone, if they left them, with Customer agreed to be contacted when they ticked the box. If they left neither, the note says No name or phone left.
   • Unread on a note you have not read.
6. Click Show more at the bottom to load older notes.

The answers show the question as the customer saw it, so they still make sense after you edit your questions.

Contact the customer

A customer's name and phone are kept only when they ticked Yes, {your business} may contact me about this on the review page. The page tells them their number is used only to contact them about this note, including on WhatsApp.

1. On a note with a phone the customer agreed to share, click WhatsApp. WhatsApp opens a chat with the customer's number. You type and send the message yourself.
2. Or call them on the phone shown.
3. Set the status to Contacted. See Set the follow-up status.

The WhatsApp button shows only on notes with a phone the customer agreed to share. Notes from before this release have no WhatsApp button, even with a phone, because the customer's agreement wasn't recorded then. Call them on the phone shown instead.

Don't ask for a review change

Fix the problem the customer raised. Don't ask them to change or remove their Google review, and don't offer anything for one. Use their number only for this note, as the page promised them.

Set the follow-up status

Every new note starts as New. Move it as you follow up:

Status	Use it when
New	Nobody has acted on the note yet.
Contacted	You called or messaged the customer.
Resolved	The problem is sorted out, or the note needs nothing more.
Unreachable	You tried, and could not reach the customer.

1. On the note, click its status and pick the new one.
2. Below the comment box, the note shows the status, who changed it and the date.

Add your comment

Keep a short record of what you did, for example Called back, offered a replacement. Only your team sees it. The customer never does.

1. On the note, type in the box Your comment (only your team sees it), up to 1000 characters.
2. Click Save. It shows only after you change the text. The message Comment saved appears.

To remove a comment, clear the box and save.

Mark a note read

1. On the note, click Mark as read. The count on the Unread pill goes down by 1.
2. To bring it back to the unread list, click Mark as unread.

Delete contact details

Delete the customer's name and phone once you no longer need them, for example after the problem is resolved.

1. On the note, click Delete contact details.
2. Confirm. The message Contact details deleted appears.

The name and phone are gone for good. You can't get them back. The note then reads Contact details deleted on followed by the date. The message, rating, answers, status and your comment stay.

Contact details are deleted after 90 days

Ohanvi deletes the name and phone on every note 90 days after the customer sent it, even if you don't. The message, rating and answers stay, so your notes and stats keep their history.

Get an alert for each new note

Super Admins and System Admins get a notification and an email for each new note, such as New private note: 2★ at Sunrise Dental – Indiranagar (business – branch). The alert shows the branch, the stars and the start of the message. It never contains the customer's name or phone. Open Private notes to see those.

Each person's Social notification settings decide the notification. It comes while either In-app or Push is on, so turn both off to stop it for yourself. The email follows the workspace's email setting for Social, not yours. A Super Admin can turn it off for the whole workspace. See Choose how notifications reach you.

To get alerts somewhere else, build a flow that starts on the event Private note from the review page. For example, send yourself a WhatsApp message with the note. See Build an automation flow.

Turn private notes on or off

1. Open Review page and go to Settings.
2. Click More settings, then turn Private note for 1–3 stars on or off.
3. Click Save settings.

When it is off, customers don't see Also tell the owner privately, and Private notes reads Private notes are off. Turn on "Private note for 1–3 stars" in the Review page settings. Notes already received stay in the list.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
No private notes yet	No 1 to 3 star customer has sent a note.	No fix needed. When one does, it shows up here.
Private notes are off. Turn on "Private note for 1–3 stars" in the Review page settings.	Private notes are turned off.	Turn on Private note for 1–3 stars and click Save settings.
Private notes is missing under Google Reviews	Your role has no access to private notes.	Ask your admin to give your role access.
A note says No name or phone left	The customer didn't tick Yes, … may contact me about this, or left no name or phone. Without the tick, the page doesn't send them.	No fix needed. The note is anonymous.
A note's name and phone are gone	Someone clicked Delete contact details, or the note is more than 90 days old.	No fix needed. They can't be brought back.
A note has no WhatsApp button	The customer left no phone, didn't agree to be contacted, or their contact details were deleted. A note from before this release has no WhatsApp button, because the customer's agreement wasn't recorded then.	No fix needed. If a phone shows, call them.
Keep the comment under 1000 characters.	Your comment is too long.	Shorten it, then save again.
No notification for a new note	Alerts go to Super Admins and System Admins only, or both In-app and Push are off for Social.	Check your role, and turn on In-app or Push for Social in your notification settings.
No email for a new note	Alerts go to Super Admins and System Admins only, or email for Social is off for the workspace.	Check your role, or ask a Super Admin to turn on email for Social.

Related

• Get more Google reviews
• Read Google review stats
• Choose how notifications reach you
• Reply to Google reviews

Screenshots to add

After Read the notes step 5 — a note card with the rating, answers, picked names, status and WhatsApp; after Delete contact details step 1 — the confirm window.