No business wants a bad review. But they can be an early warning that something is going very wrong in a local market. Check out these reviews for La-Z-Boy’s Austin dealers. It takes extraordinarily bad work to get reviews this bad, for this long. This is great news for the national brand — if they […]
How to get really NEGATIVE feedback
August 21, 2013
If you don’t allow anonymous feedback, you’ll never get the feedback you need to hear. Most people are not comfortable being critical, and we’re taught “not to say anything if you can’t say something nice.” Example: A local restaurant chain here has great food, but the tables are always dirty. This is something that the […]
5 real-life examples of how to convert almost any situation into positive word of mouth
June 18, 2013
Here’s a guest post Jeff Frank, owner of Simplicity Sofas — a company that designs and manufactures furniture for small rooms and narrow entranceways, wrote for our WordofMouth.org project. Check it out for more great word of mouth marketing tips like this every day. Simplicity Sofas is a furniture manufacturer who sells products direct to […]
The gas pump didn’t have the anti-fume flap
June 15, 2013
No biggie. But it was smelly. So I’ll go somewhere else next time. What “no biggie” is sending your customer to a competitor?
How to screw up a Groupon
December 10, 2012
Research shows that companies that do a Groupon often get worse reviews after the offer. My theory is that most small businesses aren’t prepared to provide a word-of-mouth-worthy experience for a flood of new customers (and they often blame Groupon unfairly). If you’re going to do a daily deal coupon, remember that the purpose is […]
How to turn a bad review into a better review
May 21, 2012
We all get bad reviews. No matter how hard you try, you’re going to screw up a job every so often. So what do you do? Respond to the review. Don’t just let the bad review sit there. Most review sites now let you comment on the review. Stay cool. Just explain what happened and […]
Why do so many dry cleaners get bad reviews?
April 3, 2012
Because we never think to post a review until they screw up. Dry cleaning is such an everyday activity that reviewing doesn’t seem worth the trouble — until we’re angry and want to shout. This is a problem for every small business owner. They obsess about the bad reviews, and miss the real point: Why don’t […]
How to get really BAD feedback
March 20, 2012
If you don’t allow anonymous feedback, you’ll never get the feedback you need to hear. Most people are not comfortable being critical, and we’re taught “not to say anything if you can’t say something nice.” Example: A local restaurant chain here has great food, but the tables are always dirty. This is something that the […]
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