Negative? Positive? It's All In Perspective

How do you respond to a negative? Do your defenses rise up? Do you strike out in defense? I was confronted by that dilemma when I received a 1-star rating on Google from a disgruntled customer, whose first sentence was that she wished there was a zero star because she would have chosen that. Oh dear. Obviously we didn't connect well. 

Sometimes we just have a missed opportunity. I feel 
we dropped the ball with this customer, but it's never 
a single person's fault. If we're the right store for 
her, she might give us another chance. If not, we 
probably didn't miss out on much. The key was in 
meeting her words with something constructive, 
not anger. 

My first impulse was to strike out, because we had been wronged. I felt we were in the right and still feel that way, but negatives compounded upon each other never bring healing. I slept on it and decided on a different approach. Her original review was: 

I wish there was a no star button. They make you feel so uncomfortable there. Watch every move like your stealing from them. They are so rude with nasty smart attitudes. Make sure you dont show up close to closing time because they will make it even worst for you. I would never recommend bringing your children in here either.

There are certainly parts of this I can't argue with. Don't show up with children - we are adamant about keeping the store sanitary for our customers and we've always been firm on kids. But we have some really great kids who come in here too, so it's really behavior-dependent. I also can't argue with not showing up close to closing time. I'm quite sure she's at the door when her shift is over and we operate the same. Our hours are the same they've been for years and we stick to them firmly. 

It's all in the perspective. I could look at this as a missed 
opportunity, but instead I'm looking at it as an opportunity 
to leave a positive response that will, hopefully, tamp 
down the fires a bit and may ease hesitations in anyone 
reading through our reviews. I attempted to turn a negative 
into a positive. It was worth the shot. 

So, I read the review and I was upset, but decided to make my response a learning experience for anyone who might be reading through our reviews, as well as the original poster. Here's my response, and I hope she is comfortable with it (although her opinion really doesn't matter). I said what I needed to say in the best way I could. 

I am sorry you felt uncomfortable. With a huge inventory, we always try to make sure every customer finds what they are looking for, gets the help they need for a successful project, and gets instruction in how to use our supplies, if necessary. We're a very interactive store, and that can be uncomfortable for people who don't understand where we are coming from. I am glad you came into the store and hope you will give us another try in the future, but if not, thank you for coming in and for sharing your feelings with us.

So there I go, being all diplomatic. But I don't think it is helpful to throw gasoline onto the fire. We're a very unique store, we treat our customers in a very interactive way, and the words "just looking" are red flags to our bulls. There is no such thing as "just looking" in my store. It's a very specialized store, and people, generally, aren't going to be window shopping here. They're going to be crafty or be looking for a gift, but they're not going to exclaim about how wonderful the selection of yarns or t-shirts are, because we don't carry those products. We carry small packages of multi-colored, multi-styled beads, from small to large. We carry glass, stone, bone and metal beads. We carry manufactured and hand-made beads. We carry new and old beads. We carry beads. Lots and lots of them. ... Oh! And we also carry thread. Because beads without a needle and thread with which to use them are really rather useless. 

So, it's a new day. We'll try to improve on our end, 
and hopefully our disgruntled customer will have 
a better day on hers. Sending out calming thoughts 
into the universe. 

So there you go. That's how I started my morning. Now let's see if my day can't get better from here. Have an excellent Tuesday. Be kind, stay safe and please wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.