It’s no secret, the Internet has given individuals a voice.  Bloggers are splashed across the canvas of social media ranting about their encounters with restaurants and basically every industry on the planet.  Everyone is subject to reviews, and guess what?

People Listen.

This is the basis behind word of mouth marketing.  We all value each others opinions to some degree, almost more than we value critics.  Critics seem untouchable as humans, and it becomes hard to relate in our mundane lives.

This is nothing new.  We’ve been recommending and trashing restaurants for years.  Think about the office, how many times a day do you hear people talking about different restaurants?  Are they all good?  Of course not, people have bad experiences.  Not only that, we have been programmed by society to think complaining is rude.  So we hold complaints until we leave.  Maybe restaurants are to blame, maybe people are to blame.  The bottom line:  It happens.

I’ve always been a big advocate of acceptance.  By accepting and realizing these norms, we can all move forward.  People are going to blog about your restaurant, they are going to speak out over social media, and they are going to complain.  Not every customer will have a positive experience.  Maybe their dog died, or the food was off that day, or the sun wasn’t in-line with Pluto…whatever the case, customers will complain.  The way these complaints are handled is the deal breaker.

Let’s look at a scenario:

A young couple visits your restaurant and has a bad experience.  Trying not to cause a scene, they don’t address the situation (trust me, this is common).  They pay for the meal, tip their server, and head home.  It so happens, the couple runs a foodie blog that reviews local restaurants.  The next day, a negative review of your restaurant is published on the Internet.  Not good for business, right?  Your restaurant has two options:

You can ignore the review, and possibly spout your anger through social media…

OR

You can leave this comment on their blog:

“Hello, my name is ___________, and I manage/own (restaurant name).  I am deeply sorry you had a negative experience.  Next time please feel free to tell our wait staff, they want to help make things right.  To show we appreciate your business, stop in next time and have a meal on us.  We want you guys to come back and visit us.”

As a business, which do you think is the better response?  You have the opportunity to immediately turn a negative into a positive.  Other readers will see your reaction and appreciate your honesty and willingness to fix the situation.  That is ROCKSTAR customer service.  Your customers are talking, whether it’s online or offline, are you listening?