know one thing that all business owners have in common… They HATE a bad review.
While many clients use our Review Manager™ system to direct positive reviews online, and negative reviews to a private email, some customers still find their way to the public review sites with a bad review.
The importance of responding to reviews:
It is important to respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, which we do for our clients, but one of our clients took matters into his own hands and found incredible results.
Bobby LeRose, owner of Bobby Q’s Cue & Co. in Norwalk CT hates reviews more than most business owners, feeling they were often unfounded and harsher than they needed to be. Many times wanting to “lash out” at the reviewer, which is never a good idea, he agreed to allow the MaxExposure Team to handle his review responses, which took the emotion out of the process for him.
After we responded, he randomly did some research, to find out why the review was so bad. In the process, he would find the reviewer’s name from their credit card info or on social media platforms such as Facebook, noticing that many times they would have “a mutual friend” (most restaurateurs know someone who knows someone you know) and then in an attempt to win them back, he reached out to them privately via direct message through Facebook.
Instead of reacting with an equally negative response, Bobby left them an apology for their situation and a very polite invitation to connect with him personally, to make whatever the issue was “right”. In some cases, he called the customer and spoke with them live online.
The response has been phenomenal…
In all cases (and there have only been a few), the reviews were either deleted all together, or changed from 1 star to 5 stars, with updated comments sharing their pleasure and surprise that an owner would take the time to reach out personally. The end result was a happy customer and a better star rating on sites like Yelp and Facebook.
Regardless of your business, reviews are here to stay. They are necessary today for customers to know more about you. How we respond to them, and the best way to handle them, is critical to any business in the “New Economy” of online consumer engagement. Bobby Q’s has found a way to make them right, and protect his excellent reputation online.
If you want more information on our Review Manger™ System or Review Response Program, contact me at www.MaxExposureSocialMedia.com/Joe-Grushkin
About the Author:
Joe Grushkin is a serial entrepreneur for over 35 years. Currently, as the CEO, President and Founder of MaxExposure Social Media, the premier Social Media & Reputation Management Firm on North America, he is growing the business with effective leadership skills and developing a management team to lead in the future. MaxExposure assists small and media sized local businesses in over 80 industries. More information is available at www.MaxExposureSocialMedia.com