A Negative Review on Google
According to Matt McGee from Small Business Search Marketing, getting a negative review posted about your business is not the end of the world. He states “We don’t live in a 5-star world. Think about it: Even your favorite restaurant messes up sometimes”. I would have to agree. Here are a few ways that negative reviews can actually help your business:
1. It can make the reviews look more realistic - Sometimes, if your business has ALL 5-star reviews, it can almost look fake. It wouldn’t hurt to have the odd 3-star, or 4-star rating in there.
2. It can give you good feedback to help you improve - Good business owners always strive to be better. If you get a negative review, it enables you to humble yourself, apologize to the offended person and possibly even turn them into a happy customer.
3. They can create buzz about your business - sometimes 1 negative review can spark something in a business owner that will make him want to recruit his best customers and encourage them to post positive things about him online. This can only end well.
To sum it up, if you get a negative review, don’t cry, scream at the directory webmaster to take it down, or threaten to sue. Use it as an opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good one. My next post will cover how a Small Business should respond to a negative review.