TruTricks Notes By Brian Swichkow: Somedays it seems like “common sense” is an endangered species. The social media tools of today have effectively flattened the human social hierarchy. Nowadays, anyone with the motive to make their story known to the world has all the means to do so. If you have a customer who had a horrible experience with your business, it’s only a matter of time till they share that with those around them. With the rise of social media I sincerely believe, and hope, the the people and businesses that attempt to censor their brand image become extinct.
Below is a great example of how attempting to censor yourself from others will come back to bite you in the rear. Instead of taking a defensive strategy, address the issue head-on and turn a negative customer experience into a positive testimonial. If you can’t make right by your customers they you’ll never be successful in today’s market.
Source: “Doctor Sues Patients Over Bad Yelp Reviews”
We’ve seen all sorts of business owners get upset about Yelp, but it seems to be ratcheting up a notch. For example, take Denver chef, Scott Parker, who lashed out at Yelp reviewers in a recent interview (sent in by visual77). After being asked what he’d like to see less of, he stated:
Amateur instant online restaurant critics — specifically those who write reviews for a website that rhymes with “kelp.” Think about it: They review a McDonald’s and then turn around and review Mizuna. I just imagine bored, jobless layabouts with not many friends who are convinced that they’re going to have a bad time before they even step through the door of a joint. The kicker is, you can’t respond to these inbreds and try to educate, or at least explain, why some things happen the way they happen. Have a little fun, for chrissakes. Loosen up when you go out, and let me be the stress ball in the kitchen busting my ass for twelve-plus hours trying to make you the best food I can. Fuck you!
This, of course, resulted in a fair amount of Yelp backlash.
Now, I was going to use this as a story to highlight how bitching about your critics could seriously backfire, but before I could finish that post folks started sending over the even more extreme story of a doctor in Chicago suing three patients after they wrote negative reviews. Dr. Jay Pensler apparently felt that these comments were defamatory, though the article seems to suggest that the people who complained appear to have somewhat legitimate gripes. Pensler is a plastic surgeon, and one woman apparently posted a picture showing uneven breasts with nipples that point in different directions — something I could see leading to a negative review.
