How I Turned a Bad Google Review into a Positive Outcome

I received my first bad review in twenty years and shared it with my 400K subscribers. The result? It was a major boon to my business.

I never thought that a bad review could change my business … for the better.

Back in October, I wrote an article about how I removed a member from a networking group due to poor attendance and for poaching our members for her competing BNI chapter where she was the president.

In the article, I explained how I was met with unexpected hostility and threats from this respective member.

I wasn't prepared for the level of backlash that ensued after this attorney member threatened litigation and the posting of unfavorable reviews.

In my article, I primarily focused on her bullying techniques and how I handled it:

Article

How Do You Handle a Bully in Your Network?

After the article posted, the feedback and support I received from my community was overwhelming.

I became determined to turn this negative experience into a valuable lesson, and pondered how I could learn and grow from it.

❤️ An Unexpected Surge of Support

I was deeply moved by the outpouring of support and encouragement.

To my surprise, people were reaching out to me in so many positive and different ways:

Direct Messages

Mike,

This is EXCELLENT advice. Thank you for addressing very important topics. I'm sharing this with my husband. He's not an attorney, nor is he in the legal industry; however, he's a business owner who works extremely hard to please everyone and inevitably has gotten stabbed in the back a number of times by people that just mouth off behind Google reviews. He doesn't make a lot of money for what he does. He runs a youth baseball business (non-profit organization), so it's really hard to see how people can be so vindictive behind a computer keyboard.

Any way, thank you for sharing your experience and the advice.

Email

Comments

This sharing experience resulted in significantly expanding my network, forging new friendships, strategic partnerships, and client relationships.

After receiving these messages of encouragement, I felt inspired and rejuvenated to help others.

I wanted to contribute positively to the conversation.

So, I focused on the negative Google review the former member had left for me.

🧲 Converting a Bad Review into a Lead Magnet

Have you ever dealt with a negative review on Google?

It's often an unexpected and unpleasant experience.

It's especially frustrating if you acted in good faith and genuinely tried to do the right thing.

I decided to post a response in the Google review.

In it, I included a link to my Substack article so Google users could get the complete picture.

I soon found Google users reaching out to me who read the review.

They sympathized with my plight and shared similar stories.

The result?

I was able to build valuable relationships and secure new business.

Have you ever experienced an undeserved negative review?

What was your reaction?

Consider flipping the script and reframing the situation.

You might be surprised by the show of support you receive.

Have a great weekend!

- Mike

👀 WHERE TO FIND ME

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-marcellus/

• X: https://twitter.com/TipclubInc

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tipclub

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tipclub.inc/

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tipclub.inc

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