Social media has cracked open the communication possibilities and realities between businesses and customers. It has added a new dimension to marketing, to PR, to community outreach, to volunteering, to customer service, and it has revolutionized “word-of-mouth.” Social media also creates a unique space for instant and honest feedback.
A resulting highlight, for review platforms like Yelp (especially for consumers), is this idea of transparency. But what happens when what is supposed to be transparent turns out to actually be opaque?
Since the boom of social media, our clients have experienced the gamut of its business realities: the fuzzy good feeling of a glowing review and the punch-in-the-gut frustration that comes with a vicious attack on your business.
For those who have experienced the latter, Mustang can now say: we’re with you. After 28 years of creating successful marketing solutions for our clients (and ourselves), we received our very first Yelp review. Not from a current or former client, nor a current or former employee, but from someone we chose not to work. Does this Yelp review represent Mustang Marketing’s 28 years as a company?
Yes and no. Yes, because we can’t manipulate or deny this person’s experience, because it is theirs. And no, because we do excellent work and deeply care about our clients. So where does that leave us?
In this Yelp review, we can look to their tone and use of acronyms and questionably open discourse of business finances and thank our lucky stars we dodged a bullet (there’s a benefit in transparency for the business side, too). But, to try to erase—or even hide—this one person’s experience is to deny the way business is done in 2015. So, we embrace it.
The fact is that Mustang Marketing simply cannot work with every prospective client that comes to us—in spite of being listed as the largest marketing company in Ventura County, we don’t have the physical capabilities. We have to choose, and some decisions are more difficult than others. We are very proud to say that each client we have has been carefully considered, which is why we have such strong relationships with them. We understand the frustration that can come from choosing—we feel it every time we pitch our services to a business that doesn’t hire us. Does their dismissal, at any stage of the process, represent who they are as a company? Putting our bruised feelings aside, we have to recognize that no, it doesn’t.
So what happens when a negative review like this stares you in the face? Some may roll their eyes, some may want to hop on their keyboard to punch out a defensive response, some may want to laugh at its absurdity; and maybe all of those things took place within our team at one time or another upon reading this particular Yelp review.
But, as with all criticism, it’s best to look inward to see what’s really there: is their truth to this statement? Could we have done better? What can we do to improve so this situation doesn’t happen again?
Even upon mature and careful examination, our team didn’t see the situation ending any differently with this particular individual. However, it nevertheless serves as an important reminder in today’s business world: the customer may not always be right, but the customer does always have a platform for their voice. All we can do right now is continue to do our best, take comfort in the fact that our actual clients are happy and ready for another successful year!
If you would like to provide an authentic voice to Mustang’s Yelp account, we would love to hear from you. And—let this be a lesson to everyone—keep an eye on your reviews!