Who we work with is important to us

For about 10 seconds, I was tempted.

My wife and oldest daughter were spending a bit of time on Lake Michigan recently when they texted me asking for help finding a restaurant for them to visit for lunch. Finding a good meal while on the road was a talent I perfected as a baseball beat writer for five years, so I took the case.

One restaurant I checked out turned out to be the worst I have ever seen at dealing with bad reviews. They were argumentative, sarcastic and unapologetic. They never acknowledged that a complaint might be legitimate much less offered a solution. They were absolutely dreadful at online reputation management, which is one of my favorite tasks.

Every review – positive and negative – gives a business an opportunity to its best foot forward. Responding positively, politely and professionally to a negative review often results in increased loyalty from both the initial reviewer and others who read the review and the response. Every review is like a choose-your-own-adventure book where the customer has written the first page and it’s entirely up to you, the business owner, whether or not the story has a happy ending.

“This restaurant could really use some help,” I thought. “I should reach out to them.”

Then I quickly snapped back to reality.

You see, Social Sound isn’t in business to help provide cover for businesses that provide terrible customer service. (Being confrontational with customers online IS an example of terrible customer service.) Our favorite clients are small businesses that care about their employees and their customers and just need some help getting that message across online. We plug that hole so our client’s reputation online matches its reputation in the real world.

Are you one of those businesses? If so, please send us an email at info@social-sound.com. We’d love to help you manage your online reputation.