We all love great reviews. They can really help a small business grow and for future clients/customers to trust the product or service. This is especially true when the business is fairly new and they rely not only on their own marketing, but on their client's review. As a wedding cake business owner, I love reaching out to my clients after the wedding to get some feedback. I know the wedding day and days to follow can be so overwhelming so I do give it some time, maybe a week or two, depending on the situation. Some couples may be going on a honeymoon right away, some couples are back to business in their every day life after the wedding and will honeymoon at a later date when they can get time off from work. However, I always check in.
While as business owners we strive for giving our clients stellar services and a five star experience, occasionally things go wrong whether its the business owner's fault or just the perception of the client. If a client is not happy with the service or product, it is so, so important to speak with them about it. Find out what went wrong and how things can be fixed. Sometimes, the business owner did everything right but the client was not happy through the entire process for some reason or another. Maybe they are upset they had to pay a certain dollar amount for the service, so from the beginning they were not going to be happy no matter what. No matter what reason, it needs to be acknowledged whether it's fixable or not.
As business owners, we are sometimes faced with a bad review, justified or not. Let me explain a situation that recently happened to me. Besides my wedding cake business, I also own an Etsy shop. I sell my handmade sugar flowers, cake toppers, fondant cake decorations and more edibles. My shop has been open for four years to date and has earned a five star review status. I have a strict policy in my Etsy shop that I do not accept refunds or cancellations due to the nature of the product and the products being made to order. Now of course, if a product was damaged in shipping I will work with the customer. What I'm talking about are the customers who place an order, I start working on it and then they send me a message saying they changed their mind and don't need it anymore and would like a refund. I get this ALL THE TIME. It's very frustrating not only because I already started their custom made product, but I would also have to take the money back out of my account. A recent customer ordered a cake decoration from me then changed her mind a day later. I explained my policy of no refunds and it is clearly stated in my shop. After I made the item and shipped it to her, she then gave me a one star review saying only "it was not what was shown. I emailed her to find out more details. She then emailed me back with three very general and irrelevant reasons, which were unjustified for a one star review, and were basically petty remarks. She obviously gave me a one star review because I would not give her a refund. I responded to each of her reasons and tried to find out how we can get past this. I felt a refund was not justified. She did not respond back. The only thing I could do at this point was to publicly respond to her review to defend my product. I felt like I was being extorted into providing her a refund in order to take down that one star review.
It's very upsetting when things like this happen, especially when you know your product or service was on point and the customer just didn't like it that you did not do something that goes against your policy. I know some will say give her the money back because it's not worth a bad review. However, I feel differently because customers do this a lot on Etsy. I have several friends who own Etsy shops and they are dealing with the same issue. I do not participate in extortion for good reviews.
With that being said, I stand by my products and have to continue with my business even though my perfect five star rating has been marred, unjustifiably so. So you see, reviews are ever so important to a small business. If you are on the customer side and are dissatisfied with a business, please, please, please contact them and explain your dissatisfaction before considering placing a public bad review. Most businesses will work with you within reason. If you are on the business side, acknowledge your customer's feelings and issue with you, your product or service, and do your best to resolve the issue. Acknowledging and sharing your insights will help your customer understand and possibly come to a mutual agreement.
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