Don't take it personally...but it still hurts!

[aieechihuahua]

Before I even read knkbnb's wonderful response, I was going to say that we get over it by reading the wonderful things people write in our guest book, and the other really fine online reviews we get. In fact - I do that whenever I am feeling low. It make you feel wonderful, and reminds you that other people are reading those good reviews too. Also - wine helps, and so does calling another innkeeper friend who will let you rant.

 

[Kailin]

So the question is, "How did we get over our first bad review" and move on. Here is how it went for us.
We had 5 star 5 star etc etc for a long while. Then, one of those, "I need to say something bad but still give it an overall 5" guys popped up. We were beside ourselves. We whirled and twirled and sent them an email and did this and did that. Mostly, we learned that this would eventually happen and we should prepare for the next one.
Then the first NOT 5 appears and it is the "three stars and would only recommend it for an overnight" review. It was a guest we did not connect with well and we could see some things we could have done to improve our effort, but the review included the suggestion that we didn't know how to run an inn. Ouch! We thought long and hard about whether to respond. Instead, we took it as a sign that we should curl the finger back and ask, "What simple thing could we have done that would have changed the dynamics in our favor?" We also did the needed research to for responding and all that stuff.
Then the BAD Review appears and we were better educated and more emotionally prepared to deal with it. Thank goodness we didn't get this one first. We were NOT emotionally prepared at all back then.
So what happened so that we could feel less crushed?
One thing that helped was that we totally went back and read many of the great reviews we have received over the last couple of years. It gave perspective.
Another thing we did was to go back and redo our perfect customer exercises that we used about a year earlier. This gave us a chance to remember that we are a business as well as a happy home. It gave us insight.
The last thing we did was we responded publicly to the review. There was a cathartic(?) feeling when we took an action for everyone to see and that we weren't a couple of milk toasts. That gave us comfort.
I tried to stick to the question. Hope it helps..

Thank you! These are wonderful words of advice.
And I actually do have the "Attracting Perfect Customers" book and we have done the exercises in it and I feel it is helpful. Time to rework those and refocus.
Ok, I'm letting that idiot go now...he doesn't even deserve a response, the picture of the room he describes staying in on our website SHOWS the blinds and curtains. So I don't think I need to refute that.

 

[JBloggs]

Good for you Kailin. That is what makes us most angry, worse than what was said, is that they steal your thunder. Don't give that moron another thought, you know you are great and your place is great!
I just sent guests off to a place to ride horses with a magnificant view and recalled the TA review written by visitors that the place smelled like maneur...they have over 100 horses in paddocks! DOH! So don't let the turkeys get you down!