There is no denying that getting a bad review can be a bit scary. Especially when you’re just getting started with your business. But it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. And it doesn’t have to be a reason to give up. Bad reviews can actually be a great opportunity to grow and improve. And they can be a great source of feedback to help you improve your business.
Just like all of us, people can have different opinions about your business. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong. Sometimes they don’t like your service or feel like it could have been better. Sometimes they are just the type of people that like to complain about something. Whatever the case, we have to take them seriously and look at the situation from their point of view.
So, don’t let bad reviews get you down. They’re feedback to help you improve your business. They don’t mean that your business is bad or that you should give up. They’re just one more way for you to learn about what’s working for your customers and what’s not.
And, as long as you remember that a bad review isn’t personal, you can learn a lot from them!
My bad review
I got a bad review the other day, (and by the way, I consider anything less than perfect a bad review) so I reached out to the guest afterwards to politely ask for feedback on what we could improve to make it a perfect review. The feedback I received was helpful.
They explained that the construction going on around us was unpleasant and that the back yard could be shaded better. Obviously the construction in the area was out of my control but I was able to gain some valuable information about the shade in the back yard. I thanked them for their feedback and for staying and used the gained information to better the property. I call that a win!
This information was not hard to get from the guest and it didn’t leave any hard feelings between us. By simply reaching out and asking what could be improved for future guests, I was able to solve that problem that others might experience. This can only improve my rating going forward. The more I do this, the less future guests have to complain about and the better my ratings will be.
So next time you have a guest or customer that isn’t 100% satisfied, politely ask them why and try to solve the problem for your guests in the future, it really is a learning experience!