post by Stephanie Nelson
A couple weeks ago, one of my clients received a poor review. As part of my duties as their social media manager, it was my job to respond. I politely gave our side of the story, but apologized that she’d not enjoyed her experience. That received a snarky response. A few days later, we got more information about the situation. I responded again with the new information, but again apologized that she’d not enjoyed her experience. This time, her response was borderline b!+chy.
During all this, I noticed the lady had a rare first name – one I’d seen before, but not so common that you see it every day.
Fast forward to last week. In one of the Facebook groups I’m in, there was a post asking for donations for a raffle a lady was having during an event she was putting on. I could immediately name four of my clients that fit in the categories of prizes she was looking for. So I did a little digging on the event. If my clients participated, it would have been a nice gesture, but it certainly would not have been a marketing coup to have them included. The first name of the lady doing the asking also struck me – it was the same as the rude reviewer. Again, I did a little digging. Lo and behold, it was the same person. Knowing how rude she’d been and judging how little my clients had to gain from her event, I opted not to contact her or help her.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you shouldn’t post reviews. I’m not even saying you shouldn’t post bad reviews. I am suggesting you maybe consider other routes first (like a direct message or email before publicly blasting a business), or even just choosing your words carefully and/or re-reading your review to see if a nasty attitude comes across. In this day and age, even if a message comes from a business or business owner, it very well may be their social media person acting on their behalf. And getting nasty may just mean you’re biting the hand that could help feed you.
Image courtesy of kibsri at FreeDigitalPhotos.net