Not all opinions should be aired $1 reserve sees business clean up
Last week, Escape to Picton restaurant owner Juliearna Kavanagh gained notoriety (well in Marlborough at least) for taking on a Trip Advisor detractor who rubbished the service in her restaurant and took to the internet site to vent.
The fact Ms Kavanagh fought back was worthy of coverage, as the weight of tradition (the customer is always right) and brand management (you won’t win any friends when you slang it out in public with a customer) stack up to make most people in service industries believe it’s better to eat humble pie than take the stoush public.
With the rise of social media the ability for consumers to make their views known ‘‘one-to-many’’ is something all organisations now have to deal with on a daily basis.
Without checks and balances, these kinds of comments can leave hotel, restaurant and cafe owners helpless and open to criticism that’s unfair and damages their business.
Let’s face it, we all know there are some unusual people out there with over-blown expectations or those who just get totally frustrated and vent. For them, it’s a moment of high dudgeon meted out and probably forgotten.
For the business owner, it can mean long-term damage.
Hardly surprising then, that there have been court cases against TripAdvisor and ones where business owners have sued complainers for reputation damage and loss of business.
An industry of ‘‘reputation management’’ companies has grown up to fix businesses’ reputations through creating fake reviews and sabotaging competitors.
I know it’s unconventional, but I’d back Ms Kavanagh for refusing to take things lying down. I don’t know the ins and outs of that exchange, but the other views of Escape to Picton are glowing.
As consumers, we all have the right - and now the opportunity - to make our views known through internet reviews but it has to be fair comment, not a frustrated rant, or we should all expect a comeback and increasingly that’s what is happening.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been tempted to take to review sites myself and have a go. I recently stayed in my first Air BnB rental in Barcelona in a nice, modern clean flat, all much as it was described (minus 20 per cent for puffery and good camera angles).
But the visitor reviews didn’t once mention the noise levels - the lift shaft vent in my bedroom, the tile floors amplifying every sound and slamming doors from dawn to 3am and the kid upstairs who started yelling at 7am.
But when I left I just chose to say nothing.
Why? Because Air BnB is one of a growing number of businesses which has its own customer rankback system and I didn’t want to make my first review of an Air BnB rental to be critical.
I felt I should have a few brownie points on the score board before bagging one of their properties.
These rank-back systems are getting more common.
Trade Me, Uber and Book a Bach all use variations of it and we all have to get used to dealing with them.
These days businesses have many more options to make sure we behave fairly and reasonably or it will be us that carry the reputation damage well after the meal is eaten and bill paid.
Whether this ends up with the right outcome for both sides - an honest appraisal of services and users where we can all do business - the jury is still out.
Sue Allen has worked in journalism, communications, marketing and brand management for 15 years in the UK and New Zealand. A Feilding couple has come up with a unique exit strategy for their cleaning product business by listing it on Trade Me with a $1 reserve.
Last week Chris Scott and his fiance Hayley Jacobs listed their business iClean along with its assets in a 10 day auction on the classifieds website.
But rather than setting their own price they decided to let the market determine what the business is worth.
Since listing with a $1 reserve the business has attracted 65 bids and is now sitting at $36,700.
Scott said iClean owns multipurpose cleaner brand The Green Stuff, used by customers in sectors including food, hospitality, automotive, fuel and logistics.
The auction closes on Friday and has so far attracted just under 1000 page views.
The company’s assets include The Green Stuff trademarks, a patent pending for packaging design, an 0800 number, the domain name www.thegreenstuff.co.nz, and advice in running the business and cleaning product stock valued at about $27,000.
‘‘I’m going to assist the new owner, whoever that may be, to pass on all the knowledge that I’ve picked up over the years in the industry,’’ Scott said.
Scott originally worked as a door-to-door sales representative for The Green Stuff after it was incorporated in 2005 but left the business to work for a competitor.
The Green Stuff went into liquidation in 2013, at which point Scott spotted an opportunity.
‘‘I went back to Wellington and looked into this Green Stuff business to see what had happened, what was available and to see if I could kick it back off.’’
While carrying out due diligence in 2014 he discovered the failed business did not own key
We all know there are some unusual people out there with over-blown expectations or those who just get totally frustrated and vent. "It's more about moving the responsibility off me and Hayley. We've bitten off more than we can chew." Chris Scott
assets, allowing Scott to establish intellectual property rights relating to The Green Stuff.
He re-branded The Green Stuff name, struck a formula deal with a cleaning product manufacturer and reconnected with past customers who were still calling the original 0800 number he had acquired.
The company is now trading under iClean.
‘‘It’s basically a company that has been formed as a fresh start for the new party,’’ Scott said.
Scott had advertised the business for sale on The Green Stuff website for $225,000 but found no takers.
He said he would need to sell the business for $62,000 to make a profit.
‘‘It’s more about moving the responsibility off me and Hayley. We’ve bitten off more than we can chew.’’
Scott had not taken a salary from the business since it was started.