To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln:

You can please some of the people all of the time,

and all of the people some of the time,

but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Another quote you heard here first:

There are two types of businesses.  Those that have bad reviews, and those that will get them.

Online technology has opened somewhat of a Pandora’s box when it comes to business reviews.  It’s made it easy for people to write and read reviews. Great for consumers looking for information on what they can expect when working with a business.

Great–but nothing is perfect.

You Can’t Please Them

You’ve met them.  The whiner.  Nit-pickers.  Anal retentive.  The perpetual complainer.

When you deal with the general public, there are always going to be certain people that you just can’t please.  Often they come in with some kind of emotional baggage–the problem is not really with your service or product at all.

They may also have expectations that simply don’t align with what you do.  You can’t always know this before working with a client.

The problem is when you get these people leaving online reviews for all to see.

In addition, you may have competitors leaving outright false reviews.  Some review platforms, including Yelp!, have yet to contend with this issue fully.

Online reviews have an anonymity built in.  The person leaving the review has a user name, but to people reading the content, they are just another client.  The circumstances under which the review was written are unknown.

This can be bad news for the business.  When a few perpetual complainers hit your business name with reviews, you start to look incompetent.  It impacts your business.  Studies show people trust the views of online reviewer they don’t know as much a referrals from people they do.

Business Reputation Management Software

So what can you do?  In some cases, it may be a bitter pill you just have to swallow.

However, there are an increasing number of reputation management services available.  These services alert you about online reviews, and can give you the ability to control some of the comments made about your business online.

An occasional bad review is nothing to freak out about.  Most consumers understand that mistakes are made.  In fact, a review profile with some constructive criticism looks more legitimate.  Consumers are wary of businesses with too many eerily glowing reviews. They sense the positive reviews may be fake (a legitimate concern as this another way the review system is being gamed).

Still, when you can exercise control over your online reputation, do it.  You’ll never please all the people all the time.  But there is no reason to let unfair, petty attitudes or competitors cheating the system negatively affect your business.