One of the most common resistances I hear to business owners taking part in Yelp is the negative reviews. The bad news is, that’s a very real thing to be scared of. The worse news is that staying off Yelp isn’t going to help, those negative reviews are a’comin whether or not you show up for the party.
So, it pays to be there. You can monitor, you can gently remind satisfied customers that they should check you out on Yelp and you can hope they will write positive reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great your performance, everyone wont see eye to eye with you. This is where the negative review comes it, this is also where it becomes imperative that you are on Yelp.
Most of the time, a negative review won’t be the end of the world. Like we’ve covered before, negative reviews can actually be good for your brand. They lend the positive reviews credibility and astonishingly, it’s quantity over quality when it comes to reviews. A place with 45 reviews looks better than a place with 4 reviews, even if the former has 3 stars and the latter 4. Sometimes, however, someone will show up with an axe to grind. Worse case, they can spell. Okay, absolute worst case, they can spell and break their review up into paragraphs.
What to do when someone with a vendetta shows up? Someone that is ranting, raving and spewing?
Ignore them. Especially if their review is one long block of text, full of spelling and grammar errors. If you’re dealing with someone that understands hanging participles? Well, maybe at that point it’s best to respond, but you must have a plan. You should have a well thought out response that shows empathy and a drive to fix the situation. Never, ever get personal, never ever engage them online.
For a template, see the book. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope that your angry reviewers cant spell. Hell hath no fury like a Yelper scorned.
One of the most common resistances I hear to business owners taking part in Yelp is the negative reviews. The bad news is, that’s a very real thing to be scared of. The worse news is that staying off Yelp isn’t going to help, those negative reviews are a’comin whether or not you show up for the party.
So, it pays to be there. You can monitor, you can gently remind satisfied customers that they should check you out on Yelp and you can hope they will write positive reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great your performance, everyone wont see eye to eye with you. This is where the negative review comes it, this is also where it becomes imperative that you are on Yelp.
Most of the time, a negative review won’t be the end of the world. Like we’ve covered before, negative reviews can actually be good for your brand. They lend the positive reviews credibility and astonishingly, it’s quantity over quality when it comes to reviews. A place with 45 reviews looks better than a place with 4 reviews, even if the former has 3 stars and the latter 4. Sometimes, however, someone will show up with an axe to grind. Worse case, they can spell. Okay, absolute worst case, they can spell and break their review up into paragraphs.
What to do when someone with a vendetta shows up? Someone that is ranting, raving and spewing?
Ignore them. Especially if their review is one long block of text, full of spelling and grammar errors. If you’re dealing with someone that understands hanging participles? Well, maybe at that point it’s best to respond, but you must have a plan. You should have a well thought out response that shows empathy and a drive to fix the situation. Never, ever get personal, never ever engage them online.
For a template, see the book. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope that your angry reviewers cant spell.
