Yelpiquette suggestions for customer reviews

Yelp is a great resource for customer reviews on everything from restaurants to dry cleaners. I often turn to Yelp for suggestions and sometimes post a review myself. It's a great tool but some of the reviews are just plain outrageous.

Some of these outrageous reviews include inflammatory insults, vulgar language, and reviewers that readily mix facts with fiction. Inc. recently ran a great article called You've Been Yelped that gave an inside look at how small business owners handle Yelp reviews. It profiled one business owner who found herself on the wrong side of assault charges after confronting a reviewer at his home.

My current social media experiment shows that rude and crude reviews aren't confined to Yelp. The exchanges on many companies' Facebook pages could peel paint and make babies cry. It's truly amazing what people will say in a public forum.

It's OK to be a critic, but I have a few Yelpiquette suggestions for making your reviews both useful and fair. There's also an old, but good, discussion on the Yelp website.

#1. Be constructive

A good review should help others make a decision about whether or not to visit the business. If you feel the urge to write something negative, make sure you explain why you are down on the establishment so others will know what to avoid. Some good Yelpers make it a personal policy to visit a place twice before giving a negative review just so they are level-headed when giving their take.  It's offensive to see someone describe a multinational organization as being "a group of Nazis" because one employee was having a bad day.

#2. Be civil

Dowsing a business in the flames of your profane prose may feel like sweet revenge for a bad experience, but other people will be reading your review. A vulgar reviewer generally looks worse than the business reviewed. Try to write as if you were sharing the feedback face to face with the business owner. This will soften your tone a bit and your reviews will become much more useful to others.

#3 Make friends with facts

Someone recently reviewed my local barbershop. They wrote about the convenient location, the good haircut, and the nice touch of having a brief shoulder massage at the end. Then they went on to complain about the $20 price and gave it one star. One small problem -- haircuts only cost $12 here. Get your facts straight if you are going to write a review, especially a negative one.

I hope you do Yelp or find other ways to share your feedback so others can benefit. In the meantime, here are a few of my recent reviews: http://jtoister.yelp.com

Recent reviews by Jeff T.

What's this?

Social media experiment: who has a clear purpose?

The social media experiment is getting interesting. I've gotten a few more responses, discovered something surprising about most of the 'participants', and added another company to the mix. Here are the updates. (Read a description of the experiment here.)

More Responses

I'm feeling a bit more encouraged today than I did on Friday. Last week, I posted a question to the Facebook pages of five of the companies in the study and only received one response. I posted a question to a sixth company over the weekend and have now received a response from three out of six companies. Even better, the answers I received were very helpful. There are still some companies that I haven't interacted with on Facebook, but I'll try to get them involved this week.

Surprising Twist

John Curran asked if any of the companies in this study had Service Level Agreements for their Facebook or Twitter pages (find John on Twitter @TrainingTsar). In other words, did they have a clear policy that described what type of service customers could expect through these outlets, such as how quickly they'd respond to inquiries. I couldn't find published service standards for any of the companies in the study, but John's question helped me realize I had overlooked something obvious:

Do these companies clearly identify their reason for being on Facebook and Twitter?  It is a best practice to set clear expectations when you interact with your customers. Companies should state on their Facebook page "Here's why we have a Facebook page". Their Twitter page should contain some statement that says "Here's why you should follow us on Twitter." I checked each of the companies in the study and found a big gap:

 One company's Twitter page described why you should be a fan on Facebook, but not why you should care about their Tweets (odd). Only one company had a statement of purpose on both Facebook and Twitter. 

New Company 

I added a 12th company to the study over the weekend. One of the unresponsive companies in the original group has a direct competitor that I also frequent. Their competitor didn't show up in my initial search on Facebook and Twitter, but I discovered over the weekend that they are in both places. Now things will get even more interesting with some head to head competition for my discretionary income!

What's ahead...

This week should prove interesting as I attempt to interact with the remaining companies in the mix. I've also decided to start revealing the companies as I reach some conclusions about their social media approach. Finally, your comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

Social media experiment starts with a fizzle

My social media experiment is off and walking. Not for any lack of trying on my part. Just a lack of social on the part of the companies I'm trying to interact with. (Read more about the experiment here.)

What happened in round 1?

I kicked things off by posting a question on the Facebook fan page of 5 of the 11 participants. I'll get to the other 6 later, but I want to keep it natural and I only had a legitimate reason to contact 5 of these companies so far.

One day later, I've received a response from only one company. A fellow 'fan' answered the question I posted to another company's page, so I suppose that's fair too. The other three companies are radio silent so far.

Demographics

My colleague, Grace Judson, offered a theory on how this will play out:

I suspect the level of engagement will depend heavily on the size of the company - which isn't something you've listed in the demographics. My guess is that the smaller the company, the more interactive they'll be.

I think Grace's theory is a good one, but the one company that's responded to me so far had over a million Facebook fans. Here's a snapshot of the fans and followers for my test subjects:

More predictions...

Angela Hill is one of my social media gurus. She offered an interesting perspective on what will determine whether a company succeeds or not in this arena:

The gaping chasm between followers and true engagement will grow deeper as we move towards a fully integrated online branding experience. Companies who do not quickly evolve and adapt will struggle with measuring and controlling the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Whereas companies who do embrace this new Marketing 3.0 methodology will develop stronger, more transparent, interactive relationships with their client base, which will in turn generate revenue, allow for predictable metrics and build brand loyalty.

Yeah - Angela can get a little deep, but I think her theory is essentially that companies interested in engagement (the 'social' aspect) will do well while companies following a more 'media' strategy may get left behind. You can hear more of what Angela has to say about branding and social media by following her on Twitter: @incitrio.

United Breaks Guitars song #3 released

In one of the ultimate cases of consumer revenge, Dave Carroll has just released his third in a series of three videos called United Breaks Guitars. The videos have collectively been viewed over 9 million times and United has looked very bad in the process. Best of all, Carroll comes across as a fair and kind person who only wants what is right.

The backstory

On March 31, 2008, musician Dave Carroll was traveling on United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha when baggage handlers were observed throwing his guitar on the tarmac. His guitar was damaged in this incident, but United Airlines gave Carroll the run-around for months. In response, Carroll vowed to write and record three songs about his experience and post videos of the songs on You Tube. What followed is a great lesson about the sometimes hidden cost of goodwill and why it may be a good idea to go against a strict corporate policy when that's the right thing to do.

You can read Carroll's complete story on his blog here.

Video 3

More info

Carroll provides a lot of information on his website. You can also view all three videos plus his video statement on his YouTube channel: sonsofmaxwell

Social Media experiment: more social or more media?

I have a little theory – they way businesses interact with customers via social media is generally much more about media than it is about the social aspect.  I know, it’s probably not a new theory, but I’d like to test it on a personal level with a small experiment throughout the month of March.

The experiment

I’m going to pick 11 businesses where I’m already a customer and take it to the next level by interacting with them via Facebook and Twitter.  At the end of the month, I’ll look at how my impressions of these businesses have changed.  My experiment will examine three specific areas:

• Engagement.  Does the business proactively try to engage me as a customer when I connect with them on Facebook and Twitter?
• Interaction.  Does the business respond when I reach out to them via Facebook and Twitter?
• Social, Media, or both: Does the business focus on the social element, the media element, or both?

The businesses I’ve chosen fit three criteria:

• They are actively using both Facebook and Twitter
• I’m already a customer
• I don’t have a personal relationship with any of the principals of the organization or a vested interest in the outcome (other than improved customer service!).

For now, I’ll keep the businesses confidential to maintain a level playing field.  Here are a few demographics:

• 7 local businesses and 4 national chains
• 5 restaurants, 4 stores, 2 entertainment providers
• 3 have a single location, 8 have multiple locations

Please check back for regular updates, weigh-ins from experts, and the eventual reveal of who I am interacting with. Or, you can follow me on Twitter if you want to observe the experiment in real-time. @Toister

Undercover Boss goes to White Castle

The latest episode of Undercover Boss features David Rife, one of the owners of White Castle, going undercover in the company's operations to view it from a fresh perspective. As always, there were some fantastic lessons for all of us and a few unbelievable moments. I don't want to spoil anything, so use the link below to watch the show first if you haven't already.

Watch the show here

"Do they look like they're happy?"

That's a quote from Geenie, a General Manager at one of White Castle's new stores. She says this to her new employee (David, the Undercover Boss) while complaining about corporate's practice of bringing in too many workers and managers to help with a new store opening. She's referring to her unhappy employees.

This is awesome on many levels. Geenie is the boss, yet she's somehow found a way to blame her employees' unhappiness on "corporate". She makes this complaint to a new employee, perhaps as part of the "soul and spirit crushing" initiative she's included in new employee orientation.  Best of all, those cameras aren't hidden. Geenie makes her complaint knowing full well she's being filmed. Awesome.

My take? We don't always like the direction from corporate, but it's not the boss's role to join the employees in being disgruntled. A good boss can complain up, but he or she had better put on a good face for the employees and help them accept whatever direction they must head.

Blame the trainer, not the trainee.

In another segment, David struggles to learn how to feed a box load of buns into a packaging machine. Time after time, he gets the buns misaligned and the machine destroys them. By the end of his shift he had destroyed 4800 buns.

The highlight was when David's trainer, Steve, blamed David. Uh, what about your lousy training, Steve? Steve knew how to correctly feed the buns into the packager, but he couldn't explain it clearly to his trainee. He also lacked the patience and ability to coach David through his errors. On-the-job training is often referred to as "showing them the ropes", but it takes some skill and preparation to avoid rope burn! The worst mistake a trainer can make is blaming a trainee who hasn't received any real instruction.

"We all need to try to be more like Joe."

Undercover Boss always features an inspirational story or two. My favorite in this episode was Joe. He showed David how to work the drive-thru window at a White Castle store. Unlike Steve the bun packager, Joe was patient and calm and showed David how to work the window efficiently. David marveled at Joe's enthusiasm and willingness to connect with his customers. It's great to see the business owner connecting with those employees that really are the heart and soul of the business.

Champs or Chumps? BusinessWeek's annual list of customer service standouts

BusinessWeek has just released their annual list of Top 25 Customer Service Champions.  Once again, there are some obvious choices along with a few head-scratchers.  A company like USAA with a legion of passionate, loyal customers seems like a great choice.  BusinessWeek gave them an A+ rating for quality of staff and 78% of customers surveyed would recommend the brand. No problems there.

But what about Enterprise Rent-a-Car, whose BusinessWeek report card includes a B for quality of staff and only 36% of customers surveyed would recommend the brand?  How did they get into the Top 25?! One obvious flaw in BusinessWeek's approach may explain why. J.D. Power's Customer Satisfaction ratings are the starting point for the BusinessWeek list. Enterprise Rent-a-Car won J.D. Power's 2009 Customer Satisfaction Award for the rental car category. Small problem: J.D. Power's 'Customer Satisfaction Award' never directly assessed customer service. Rather, it looked exclusively at six categories where customer perceptions may be influenced by customer service: costs and fees, pick-up process, rental car, return process, reservation process, shuttle bus/van.

What do you think? Who should be on the list and who shouldn't? Please leave your comments!

Click here to read the list.

Human interaction hurts service scores in 2009 Q4 ACSI report

The 2009 4th Quarter American Customer Satisfaction Index scores were released today and the big winners were internet retailers that required very little, if any, interaction with a human being. (Ouch!) The average score for online retailers was 83% compared to a 75% average customer satisfaction rating for 'Big Box' discount retailers and department stores. Clearly, U.S. companies as a whole are not doing a good job of person to person customer service.

Internet retailers do well

Source: American Customer Satisfaction Index

Netflix, the online video rental company, had the highest score among retailers included in the report with an 87% customer satisfaction rating.  I've been a loyal Netflix customer for several years and would rate their 'service' very highly, but I don't think I've ever interacted with a single Netflix employee. The many attributes I like include their convenient and speedy service, large library of video titles, and on-demand viewing capability.

Big box stores - not so much...

Source: American Customer Satisfaction Index

I have consistently been frustrated by poor service when I've tried to shop at many large retailers like Macy's. They have many opportunities to assist customers and increase sales, but most employees I encounter are content with ringing up purchases and handling stock. Of course, you can always count on someone at Macy's asking if you'd like to open up a Macy's card. They do do that.

What's the fix?

If the new CBS show, Undercover Boss is any indicator, corporate executives need to get out of their offices and manage from ground level. I suppose you can lead from behind a desk when all your service is delivered online, but you can't be completely hands-off with a retail store. Employees need training, coaching, and motivation. They also need to be held accountable. And, you need to make sure you are hiring the right employees in the first place. None of this can be managed via email or through a spreadsheet.