If your business is eliciting either great praise or strong criticism, it's a sign you've struck a nerve
?????? Dan Cosgrove
Ex-P&G, Nike, & Berkshire Hathaway ?? Business Owner, Real Estate Investor, Financial Strategist and Consultant that Delivers Aha Moments??
This past week I had the chance to do something I used to do a lot before becoming a dad...GOLF!
Given that my golf game is a bit rusty now and will remain so for the next decade, I instead relish the chance to be outside with friends on a relaxing afternoon to walk the course.
So with the blessing from the wife that I could abandon her for the rest of the day with the kid, I set off to head to one of my local favorite golf courses, Marion Golf Club.
If you are an avid golfer or just a local reader in the Massachusetts area, then I suggest you check out this 9-hole track because it is one of the few golf courses designed by George Thomas outside of the state of California. For those who watched last year's US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, that was also a George Thomas course.
The course as always was in great shape and the staff there is always friendly, but what stuck out to me that day was a group on the course that was holding play up for everyone else.
The course does not take a long time to play. It's 9 holes with 3 par 3's, 1 par 5, and the rest par 4's. For those who understand the speed of golf, the average time to play the respective holes is:
If we just follow basic math that means to play 9 holes would equate to 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The ranger tried on 2 separate occasions to speed up the group that was slowing everybody else down, but that didn't work.
So 2 hours and 20 minutes later that group finished their front 9.
As they went to make the turn, to start the back 9 I witnessed from the tee something I hadn't seen before on a golf course.
The manager actually came out and refunded the slow group and told them to leave.
I wasn't close enough to hear the exact exchange of how things went, but I was incredibly grateful because guess what?
I got my back 9 done 30 minutes faster!
When I popped into their clubhouse after my round to enjoy a break at the "19th hole" I asked their manager what was going on with that group from earlier today.
All he could say was that he didn't want to have that one group ruin the experience for everyone else on the course, so he had to make that decision of running the risk of being viewed as the bad guy by that one group in exchange of helping all the other paying customers.
He seemed a bit annoyed because that same customer then promptly went on Google and gave the course a 1-star review.
That's when I as a fellow business owner felt his pain and was angry for him.
The pettiness and narcissism of some people is astounding to me.
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I would expect my toddler to have this type of whiny behavior because he doesn't know any better.
But for an adult to purposefully go out and try to destroy a business by writing a poor review simply because the business wouldn't allow them to continue to ruin the experience for other paying customers is ridiculous.
If the story ended here it would be pretty sad because a lot of people put weight on the opinions of others when looking at new places and restaurants to check out.
So when someone throws a 1-star review on you, it can be bad for your business.
But, what happened right after that 1-star review is that the other golfers, including myself, who witnessed this slow group decided to take action and counter this one bad apple with several 5-star reviews.
As of this writing, the course has had 11 5-star reviews since the writing of that 1-star review. That means on a blended rate they are getting 4.67 stars from that one day!
Not too bad when you think of that selfish individual trying to bring down the business with his 1-star review.
But what this story taught me is if your company is eliciting either great praise or strong criticism, it's a sign you've struck a nerve. The idea is that strong reactions, whether positive or negative, indicate that your product or service is impactful and resonates deeply with people. This can be a better sign than indifference, as it suggests you're addressing a significant need or problem.
You obviously don’t want a lot of 1 stars but a few is a sign people care enough to write it. You don’t want indifference which means you’re forgettable, like a lot of golf courses and companies.
The manager at Marion probably didn't know it at the time, but his decision to upset one customer to save the others took the indifferent golfers to highly passionate fans of the course.
As I close this out this Sunday blog, I want to emphasize that this story is not about golf, it's about business.
If you want to succeed you have to be willing to live on the edge and take some risk. Some people will love it and some will hate it, but that is a lot better than not being remembered.
Do what you have to do, to BE REMEMBERED.
About the Author:
Dan Cosgrove is the founder of Wellness for the Workforce, a business owner, and a financial strategist.
Dan is a native of Cincinnati and is based out of Boston with his wonderful wife, cute baby, and a dumb dog named Waffles.
He is a business owner and real estate investor who would love to connect to see how he can add value and joy to your life.