I grew up on a hobby farm and my family liked to try raising different kinds of animals. Over the years we had horses, calves, turkeys, pigs, ducks, and one year, we had chickens. Which brings me to the topic of online bullies.
Ever heard the phrase, "hen pecked" or "pecking order?" I knew at the time that "hen pecked" meant someone who had a nagging wife that would complain about everything her husband did or said and would, in effect, beat him down in every way. The source of that phrase, became apparent as our batch of chicks grew.
As chicks grow, they seek out one chick and all of the flock peck at that individual keeping him or her away from the food, causing injury, and even killing it. Before the hen pecking, you would be hard pressed to know which of the chicks would fall prey - they all look to be in similar health and if you watch the group interactions, it is not apparent that any behavior sets off the group assault, but once it starts, the whole flock joins in. You can spot the poor recipient easily afterwards as he or she is missing feathers, looks bedraggled, and is likely weakened from the experience.
Online bullies behave similarly and leave behind similarly bedraggled business owners.
One individual decides that he or she doesn't like a business. Sometimes for a valid reason, but sometimes not and very often times the dislike is based on a minor error or something that was completely misunderstood.
The person posts his or her dissatisfaction on a review website like Yelp, Google, Foursquare, or any of a host of others, or maybe a social media site like Facebook or Reddit. Other reviewers or the person's family, friends, co-workers, or long-lost relatives decide to take a stand and go on the attack.
I have seen businesses with solid online review ratings - 4-5 stars on Yelp and Google - fall to 1.5 star ratings overnight because a host of people not directly involved and with no background with the business go to the websites and start posting one-star reviews while ranting about the situation their friend, relative, or complete stranger may or may not have been treated. It gets ugly fast.
Internet review websites like Yelp, Google+, Foursquare and a host of others have given consumers a voice and another way to seek out better customer service. This is all great news for the consumer and oftentimes
works to the benefit of the business too as they have a new source of feedback and, if they are
monitoring their client posts, they can offer a higher level of service resulting in a loyal and growing customer base.
But what should you do if you run into an online bully? Every situation is unique and it is often a good idea to seek outside help. Some very general guidelines:
- DON'T respond in kind. Whether or not you carry any of the blame, do not attack the person's character or respond with any anger or defensiveness. This will just fuel the fire.
- If the incident involves just one individual or a handful of people, try to reach out to the person(s) involved by phone to resolve matters. If you do not have contact information, post a public response apologizing for the situation and requesting he or she call you to discuss things further. Emphasize that you want to mend bridges and work towards a resolution.
- If your situation threatens to go viral, DO reach out to a public relations specialist in your area. The ideal person will have the training and experience in crisis management as well as experience in your business field.
- Again, if your situation threatens to go viral, consider carefully whether or not to shut down your social media sites. This can come across as appearance of guilt, but it may also be necessary until you can compose an appropriate response. If you do shut the sites down, do so for as short a time as possible and put up your carefully worded response as soon as you re-open the site.
- Work to generate new positive reviews from your happy clients. New reviews will help to push the older negative reviews off of the front page of your review sites and it will help to stabilize your ratings.
As online reviews become more popular, we are learning that regulation of reviews needs to take place to keep the ratings valid and helpful to everyone. Negative reviews can be helpful when constructive criticism leads to improved business practices, but hen picking and online bullying helps no-one.
