Chances are, you missed this round-up of helpful links that I posted on Facebook last month. So I’m repeating it here, in hopes that more consignment, resale, and thrift shop owners, managers, and PR people can take advantage of it.
First read this, How to Work with Online Reviews, from a Yelp guy.
Then, retaildoc talks about monitoring and responding to online reviews.
T
empted to forgo this added duty? Think bad online reviews are just a mosquito bite in an alligator-infested swamp? Think again. “Over half say a single negative review, even from a stranger, puts them off.” See the video.
And yet more on responding to reviews online. “Write for the future, not the reviewer.” Great advice from my hero, Andy Sernovitz.
Alligators can run as fast as a deer. Bad reviews? Fast as electrons.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Hi Jewel,
I agree with you so much Yelp hurts the small business owners more than anything that has ever been invented in the world.
Yelp rewards people for posting frequently by having their reviews show while people who post once their review is filtered, like our true customers that give us a positive review; they don’t post on Yelp frequently therefore their review gets filtered. Yelp is a platform to rag and nag on business’ that in the reviewer’s opinion didn’t live up to their expectations; and these opinions are so subjective. While it is a free country and you are entitled to your opinion, however that one opinion can hurt the small business owner immensely.
We say hello to everyone that walks through our front door and one reviewer didn’t get said hello to the day she came in therefore she feels we targeted her personally to be rude and in her opinion we are a rude store. She posted that on Yelp. In reality I was in the bathroom when she walked in and didn’t see her arrival to say hello. Another reviewer said my husband b*t*h slapped her. This couldn’t be further from the truth but it is out there on Yelp for all to see. She has admitted to us she was drunk when she posted that but she keeps forgetting to take it down off Yelp. Another reviewer posted on Yelp 5 times about us and is a regular shopper at our store if she dislikes us so much according to her reviews why does she continue to shop at our store so much. Yet another review is the son of a regular customer who is mentally challenged. He just doesn’t understand what he has done with all these negative reviews he just gets a kick out of his name appearing on the Internet. However, the reader that is reading those reviews to decide if they want to consign their clothing with us just doesn’t know the details behind these reviews. They just think we’re a bad business.
In contacting Yelp to have these review removed their response to me was “…these reviews are your customer’s opinion you should listen to what they have to say and make those changes in your business.” If these reviews actually had some constructive criticism yes I would seriously consider making changes. But we have NEVER slapped anyone nor would we even consider such a dreadful act. How is this constructive criticism?
To all those negative reviewers on Yelp I say this….
When you buy from a small business, you are not helping a CEO buy a third vacation home.
You are helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey a Mom or Pop put food on the table, a family pay a mortgage, or a student pay for college.
When you buy from a consignment or thrift store you are helping raise money for those in need. Those who can’t afford to feed themselves, afford clothing or animals that have no home that are euthanized everyday in animal shelters. Your purchase helps the quality of life for people and animals in our local area.
Our customers are our shareholders and they are the ones we strive to make happy.
We small business owners have bad days like everyone else; if we didn’t live up to your expectations that particular day please have the backbone to come talk to us and not hurt the backbone of our business by posting your very personal rag and nag for all to see on Yelp.
So please don’t hurt all these people and animals we raise money for because you are bored or drunk and want to see your name appear on Yelp.
:::jumping down of my soapbox::: Thanks for listening
My, Kim, you certainly seem to have reason to be raving. But this post is about counteracting bad reviews. Have you done that? Could you add some techniques you have used to address your bad reviews here that might help your fellow resalers? That would be awesome.
Auntie Katie,
Thank you for listening and after yesterday’s ranting and raving I feel better. I can’t begin to tell you how many sleepless nights my husband and I have had over those bad Yelp reviews. But it also got me to think a bit harder yesterday and how have I been handling these bad reviews and how should I handle them in the future. Up to this point I’ve been doing nothing but crying so today I’m going to start doing something different.
Every time I read one I quickly wipe away the tears from my eyes, sit up straight and remember we’ve been open less than 3 years, we have over 2,100 consignors and just a few are upset with us. We doubled our sales figures in our second year and are on track to double last year’s sales figures this year. We’re doing something right to keep doubling our sales that says people like us. The donated clothing we send to a local thrift store helps mentally and physically challenged people that live in our county, gives me more satisfaction then these bad reviewers will ever know.
I spend my days in our store laughing with consignors and shoppers and of course keeping up with the local small town gossip. Life is good! I read on Face book from a restaurant owner this morning that is having the same problem I am having with Yelp. She posted on Yelp to all her bad reviewers a statement that came from her heart. So today I’m doing the same thing, this will be there owner’s response to the bad reviews we’ve received… here is what I’m going to post.
I want to take a moment to openly and candidly talk about what I love. Every day we make people smile by selling their gently used clothing and household items. It is so much fun to share a laugh or two, keep up with the small town gossip and generally just have a good time with our consignors and customers. Seeing a mother mouthing the words “thank you” when her daughter found a prom dress, shoes and jewelry for under $100 that she really likes; or seeing a consignor open their consignment check smile and say “summer v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n money” not only made my day it is something I’ll never forget. It’s for reasons like these that I love this business.
Like every business we have our ups and downs, we’re human. But I can promise you that we always try our hardest. We think of everyone that steps through the door as a friend or a family member. So with that in mind I’d like to mention the reviews we’ve received on Yelp. I personally read ALL online reviews from sites like Google, Super Pages and Yelp and try to learn and improve our store from what I read. Many suggestions I’ve read I have taken to heart and implemented them in our store. What strikes me about Yelp though, is that good reviews seem to disappear because of their “Filter system” while bad ones remain; even if they’re incorrect or misleading. On Google and Super Pages we retain a 4 out of 5 star rating while our Yelp is just 2 ½. Reviews are a great tool for feedback, and I learn allot from them and that is why our store is popular and successful. I’m truly proud of our staff and love our consignors and customers. Thank you!
I’m hoping those few potential consignors that have read the bad review and make a quick decision not to consign with us; will take another minute to click on the “owner’s response” and read this. I know they will believe me that our store has good intentions and is successful and not some reviewer that doesn’t understand consignment or just wanted to get their name on the Internet by saying something bad.
Now THAT, Kim, gets FIVE STARS in my book! Excellent “owner’s statement”, that will make good sense to the logical and rational folks (the ones you want, anyway… we all have enough crazies! 😉 )
Good on ya!
I mean really, why quote someone from the lion’s den, Yelp!
Kevin Lee has obviously never owned a small business and probably never will (his Yelp stock options will take care of him). His suggestion that “fake reviews just don’t work” is humorous. He’s saying that only because he knows that Yelp is spammed to death every day with fake reviews. And yes, they do stick if you know how to game the system. I have a confession…I’ve left fake reviews for other small business owners in my community to help counter those fake reviews posted by their competitors. Yes Mr. Lee, fake reviews do work you just don’t want to admit it!
Here’s another problem with Yelp. Yelper’s like to hide behind their Yelp accounts and simply don’t have the nerve to actually TALK with the owner or manager of the business they slam on Yelp. They make their cute little anonymous ratings without ever thinking of the consequences. It’s sad, but our young people today are becoming nothing more than drones with their heads endlessly stuck in their smart phones! The Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, told a graduating class last week to take the radical step — at least for their generation — of tearing their eyes away from their smartphones and computer screens. “Take one hour a day and turn that thing off,” Schmidt told graduates at Boston University. Very sound advice for sure!
My husband saw an all too common thing last night at dinner. There were four people at the table next to us…yes, you guessed it. All of them had their eyes glued to their cell phones. I don’t think any of them said anything to the people they were with (the people that they were NOT with were obviously more important). They were probably posting Yelp reviews about their dinner even though their meals had not been served yet :-).
Sorry for the rant…I fell better now!
Hi Jewel, I’m glad you feel like your rant has made you feel better. But:
* I wasn’t quoting the Yelp article, just providing it to my resale shopkeeper followers for their edification. I included it on purpose.
* Yes, I agree, there’s lots to be concerned with re Yelp and other review sites. That’s not the issue; I think we can all agree with that. The issue is, how do retailers manage these problems.
* Eyeballs glued to electronic devices is distasteful to many of us, but living life online again is not the issue here. It’s how we, as resalers, deal with it.
Thanks for your comments… And I do hope your “fake” reviews weren’t really fake, that you do, indeed, patronize and appreciate your small business owners in your community.