If someone says something negative about your business online, what should you do?

Let’s face it, if you are a retail business or a company that gets a lot of traffic, you will probably get some bad reviews.  However, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, be sure to respond to those reviews or mentions.  A bad situation can actually be turned 180 degrees with offering a solution or offering to help.

Here are a few things to know about bad reviews online:

1. The writer may feel like they can hide behind a computer screen and when you publicly ask them how you can help make it better, they will back down and be sheepish.  You will also come across as looking good because your answer will be paired with their criticism.  For future onlookers, you will look like you tried to find a solution and that’s all most people want.
2. You may have legitimately done a very bad job and then you need to apologize and let them know that they are right.  Then be sure to list what you are going to do to make it better.
3. Go on the PR offensive.  Typically, there are plenty of people/clients out there thrilled with your service.  If the only person that has ever written about you online wrote something negative, appeal to your happy customers and clients, asking for their honest reviews.  Most of them will be glad to oblige and 5 positive reviews will quickly drown the negative.

In the very rare cases of libelous material, respond to the writer privately and ask them to take the material down.  If they don’t, figure out if you want to consult an attorney.  This happens very, very rarely so don’t lie awake thinking about it at night.

You might have heard mentions of our sibling company, OttoPilot Media, through the Twitter grapevine, but perhaps you’re wondering what OttoPilot Media is all about.  Make sure your tray tables are in the upright position– here’s the rundown:

In short, OttoPilot Media helps fly your business to a higher level through non-traditional marketing… but that’s more than just a catchy tag-line.  We work with companies to determine which social media platforms will be best for what they want to achieve.  Once that’s defined, we enhance and customize the necessary tools (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, and more) so each social media platform accurately reflects the brand or business.  We want our clients to look like the experienced pilots they are.

Plus, we take care of the hard part: effectively managing these platforms.  Signing up, refueling and applying a fresh coat of paint to these social media accounts isn’t enough– so we generate content, schedule posts and tweets, and make sure you’re always up-to-date, knowledgeable, and engaged with your online communities. You won’t have to worry about a thing– it’s like sitting in first class all the time!

Now, we all know that if a pilot got distracted while flying, the results wouldn’t be too favorable.  To avoid this, we stay focused and alert while your company runs on its familiar schedule (we know that can be a big distraction)– in order to deliver the best in-flight service and turbulence-free ride for you and your clients.

Moreover, we are specialists when it comes to helping our clients develop ideas and get people talking about their brand (and saying good things, of course).  We work with companies to define a manageable flight plan, and then implement our revolutionary tools  (i.e non-traditional marketing) to ensure our clients are visible across online platforms, and consistently sharing their unique brand with others.

Are the skies a little clearer now?  We hope you’ll get in touch to learn more about how OttoPilot Media can help your business fly to new heights!

Find us here:  and here:  

After contacting Unilight to get a back plate shipped, it took them ONE WEEK to ship us a plate that probably cost 50 cents.  The reason?  Our contact said that they had to meet about why a piece was not shipped (to figure out what went wrong in THEIR process) and she had to get a replacement plate approved.  From a business perspective, this does not fly.

In your business, you should empower your people to make something right for your clients.  What this requires from you is

1.  Trust in your team’s decision-making,

2.  The ability to not get mad if your people do something that you would not have done,

3.  Becoming comfortable enough to let your people solve a problem from start to finish without necessarily involving you.

In order to empower people to make things right, you have to trust their good judgment.  By punishing people for

making a decision, you are sending mixed messages.  If you feel more comfortable, set a limit of $100 or $200 cost before they have to check in with you or the team about the decision.  If it’s going to make a happier client to overnight the pillows that are already late so they will be there in time for a party, and it will cost you an extra $50, your team should feel like they can fulfill that without asking.  Furthermore, if you can get your team to a place where they do this without the client asking, you are exceeding expectations (but that’s for another post).

The last thing a client wants when she calls with a grievance that can be easily and quickly solved (such as a back plate shipped) is to hear that it will have to go before committee to make a decision.

Once the error on your part is made, and your client is made happy, then it is time to study your process and fix what went wrong.  That should never be your client’s problem or concern, and should never be a reason for delay on fixing her problem.

This is the BARE MINIMUM that your company should be doing.  We’ll talk more later about how further empowering your team can bring the WOW factor…think Zappos WOW.