Dear Business Owner who delivered a one star service experience,

Yes, a bad Google review will hurt your business, but delivering the kind of service you’re not proud of and having to keep covering your back will crush your soul.

How To Avoid A One Star Review

1. Care twice as much about how your customers feel as you do about what they might say.

2. Make promises you will keep—the kind you’d want people to make to you.

3. Think beyond the sale you’ll make today.

4. Allow your customers to create the hype you have lived up to.

5. Make sure reality exceeds expectations.

6. Check that your definition of ‘amazing’ matches the customer’s definition.

7. Treat your customers like your grandfather would have treated his.

8. Remember your reputation is more than what people say, it’s what your actions lead them to believe, which often goes unsaid.

9. Never deliver the kind of experience that enables a customer to write a one star review.

10.Write the five star review you’re hoping for—make this your manifesto and share it with your team. Now design every touchpoint in your business to make that review a reality.

Double-walled latte glasses are nice, but they are no substitute for excelling at the things the customer senses, but can’t see. Your most meaningful work often happens when the tools are not in your hands.

Image by Vincente Alfonso.