Linda Baldwin, associate publisher of Isthmus, the alternative weekly in Madison, Wisconsin, wrote to tell me she liked the advice I gave to restaurants that get bad reviews.
In short, don’t complain to the newspaper that the reviewer visited on the night two people called in sick. And don’t threaten to pull your advertising because it can backfire. Instead, work at making improvements, and invite the reviewer to return.
Linda passes along two great tips of her own:
Tip 1:
“Usually the reviews are not totally negative, but contain negative parts…play up the good stuff. We almost always provide a good reformated color copy of the good reviews for framing. Restaurants could ask for “only the good” parts, and some papers might do it.”Tip 2:
“If the review appeared in a newspaper or magazine, it may in the publication’s online version. Make sure that the bad reviews don’t stay up on the paper’s website forever. If that happens, the restaurant should call the paper to tell them that the old review isn’t valid anymore and ask for its removal. That’s not unreasonable. Most will do it.”
The Isthmus, of course, prints restaurant reviews. Restaurateurs everywhere thank you, Linda.
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