Happy Tuesday Delmarva... well, good morning! Get yourself a cup of Joe! I have a big Tuesday Tip for you both business owners and for the consumers too: It is called compassion. Defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
Saturday, I highlighted several things that can be done to support small businesses without having to spend money or even going into the business at all. You can use the search feature at the top of our group to find that or any other post here on the group. I have also posted the information on my website here: https://bit.ly/2QVSFmw for you as well. But one major thing that I forgot to mention...what should you do if you had a "not" so good experience? Or if you are a business owner and you get a bad review?
Before we dive into that. The recent announcement regarding the stay at home order has once again started to cause a good amount of panic all over Delmarva. Please be kind to one another and show some "compassion" both here and in public. It may be easy to be a keyboard warrior and spout off online. I see it on so many of the groups and pages I am a member of, maybe that is just how some people are. But our group isn't the place for it and it will not become a place for it either. We are all in this together. So if you are here you are here to help make our community on Delmarva a better place. Negativity will not do that, and it certainly will not fill our feeds or notifications! At least from this group.
One of the biggest things I said that you can do to help local businesses is to leave great reviews. But what if you didn't have a great experience? What if your food was bad, or the receptionist at the business you walked into was anything but welcoming. Before you turn to the keyboard or your phone to let the world know...maybe show some compassion? I love the saying "Kill them with kindness" I take it as a personal challenge when I meet someone having a bad day. I have to try to cheer them up. You never know what that person may have going on or what they are being faced with. Now more than ever, another old saying that I like "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" can certainly be good advice. Or better yet, ask to speak to the manager or the owner. Make them aware of the situation. Now if that doesn't work then just keep in mind my last old saying for today "What goes around, comes around"
So business owners/managers you walk in the door after getting off and turn the TV on and sit down to relax, talk with your wife, kids or pet Fido and bing! You just get a notification that you got a 1 star review from Mr. Jones and he blast your business. What do you do? Do you hope no one sees it? NOPE...that is absolutely the worst thing you can do. Respond with an offer to try to resolve the issue publically. Don't get into a big debate online...It is silly and isn't going to win you any new fans if they see you lashing out at someone. Be respectful and just simply apologize they were unhappy and offer to fix it. It is all you can do online.
I am really proud of our businesses ratings. But one time out of nowhere I got a 1 start review and no comment. I was dumbfounded...didn't know the person and most problems that come up I am aware of. I reached out and as it turns out a child was using her mom's phone. Somehow they got on a google page that the mother had us pulled up on and hit the 1 star. She apologized and immediately corrected it. Had I responded differently she could have ignored me. Had I ignored it and hoped no one noticed...I am pretty sure it would still be up right now.
I know I am not going to please everyone all of the time. Being in business is hard, trying to juggle the many things that get tossed into your lap as a business owner is sometimes not much fun at all. There are some tough decisions and sometimes even when you think you are making the right one it still feels wrong. So maybe your pizza took a bit long to get there or maybe the person on the other end of the phone wasn't as pleasant as they could have been to you. What is going on right now in this country and here on Delmarva has shown us the very best in people. Our community is coming together to help one another.
So before you leave a bad review try showing just a little compassion. Try and give the business a chance to make things right first.
David
