So this just happened…
And we could have gone on there and tried to substantiate our price and argue with her about this, but instead some of our fabulous customers went to bat for us. That, in my opinion, is the kind of advertising you can’t put a value on.
And because of this, I’d like to give you a revealing peek into a deceptive business strategy that you may have never noticed.
Facebook is a huge marketing avenue for most businesses these days. Nearly every legitimate business uses Facebook in some way or another. And the beautiful thing about FB (for consumers) is that unlike a website where the company has complete control over what their audience is exposed to (testimonials, etc…), when a Facebook Page is created the admin. has the option of allowing for Ratings and Reviews to be added to their page. All Pages have this option, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Accepting this feature allows for people to Rate your business on a scale of 1-5 Stars, as well as give voluntary Reviews with their experience and/or opinion of your company. Kind of like Yelp.
As a Page, these Ratings and Reviews cannot be edited, deleted or hidden. This allows for credible (and not-so-credible) people to voice their opinion of your company in a platform directly attached to your FB Page. By allowing this option you obviously open your company up to the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s an extremely revealing look at how others view your business and/or the experiences they’ve had, including (I’m sure) the occasional malicious competitor, or in our case those that are offended by the price tag. Literally the only 1 star reviews we’ve ever received are from people that are upset about the price we sell our items for. And that’s o.k. I’m shocked at the price of a Bugatti. But I still want one.
As a business owner, I think it’s an invaluable tool that helps us keep our finger on the pulse of how we are operating. We read the reviews, each and every one of them. (Check out our 367 public Facebook Ratings and Reviews here: https://www.facebook.com/heritagebrandco?sk=reviews)
But the question of the day is this: Why would a business NOT allow for this option on their Page?
Well, there’s only two viable answers to this in my opinion.
1. FEAR. They aren’t confident they will receive positive feedback.
2. BAD REVIEWS. They disabled this option because they received negative feedback and they don’t want you to see it.
Both of which should be giant red flags to you as a consumer and cause pause before dealing with these companies. I’m being too kind. If a company won’t allow for public reviews of their product, customer service, etc… they aren’t a company that anyone should be doing business with. They are protecting themselves and their bad business practices by not being transparent.
So, please, do a little research before you buy. Anyone can toot their own horn, Photoshop the crud out of their pictures, get all their friends to collaborate on a few good Reviews. But the truly legitimate companies… the ones that have worked hard to build a solid reputation immune to public criticism… they aren’t hiding.
Until next time ~ Jess