Dealing with Negative Reviews No Room for The Ultra Sensitive

When I first started speaking to small business groups I used to worry about “offending” members of the audience.

Truthfully, it has really been a while since I worried about offending any sensitive souls. Naturally, I don’t tell “off-color” jokes and make political or religious commentary. There’s no room for that on my business agenda. But the fact is even without trying to be an Andrew Dice Clay impersonator you’ll still offend others and it’s OK.

When speaking to a group my objective is to make a strong case for taking action on the topic at hand. After all, why sit in an audience if you have no intention of implementing anything? The fact is something the speaker is saying “applies” to you. Even if you are really convinced 99% of it doesn’t.

Another way I offend groups when speaking is by telling them and showing them the reality of what did work for me and my clients and why it worked. This offends anyone who feels “their way should have worked better than my way.” After all, if they are learning about Facebook Ads or Mobile Marketing they should do something with the information.

This whole ultra-sensitive thing cuts a few different ways for everyone…

First…

In the days of reviews and social media everyone really has a voice. And they will use their voice how they want. In fact, it’s usually the person on the receiving end of the voice who knows a voice can be used “for good or for evil.”

I have five books for sale on Amazon. I am fortunate that most of the reviews those books have received have been “positive.” So if the positive ones are correct – great! But that means the negative ones must also be correct. I have to be less sensitive to both!

You have to desensitize yourself. You will offend and you will be offended. 

Second…

You really have to say what you want about your business to your best ideal prospect. If saying what you want repels a prospect who is not a good fit, then so be it. Of course saying what you want means you must also follow proven principles for creating a marketing message.

Third…

Negative reviews are not that bad…

A negative review will make all those positive reviews more realistic and believable. A good prospect understands there’s a good chance you can’t please everyone! They may be willing to give you a try just to see for themselves. A negative review also gives you the chance to make some tweaks to how you do things.

Desensitize yourself. Have a game plan for leveraging good reviews. Get permission to use them on your website.  Be ready to learn from and handle bad reviews.