When Bad Feedback Happens To Good Performers
I’m often amazed at how frequently I find myself at an event or function with some type of live entertainment. Even as recently as the last two weeks, this has included a friend’s mother’s 80th birthday luncheon featuring a harpist and another friend’s 40th birthday party featuring a DJ and a strolling magician. While I like to consider myself ‘off-duty’ at these events, I will inevitably get a nudge from whoever I’m with (usually my wife) saying “That {band} / {DJ} / {insert performer type} is REALLY good. You should definitely go up and give them your card!”. The times this has been said to me are too numerous to count.
If the performer is really good, and I’m feeling social (think red wine), I might walk over and strike up a conversion. More often than not, the conversion will end up on GigMasters. If the performer is interested in what I have to say, I might get the ‘Do you have a card?’ I’ll reach into the wallet, and hopefully have at least one if not wrinkled business card on me. More than a few times that performer has ended up registering with GigMasters a few days later. So far so good…
Assuming they’ve spent the time putting together a decent press kit, the performer I recommended GigMasters to will likely start getting leads right away and with a little luck, their first GigMasters booking is not far off. Again, so far so good…
Since they have my business card with my phone number and email address, its not unusual that they contact me directly with questions. I must admit I enjoy the opportunity to interact directly with the performers.
That is, until they get their first bad client feedback.
Without a doubt one of the hardest things for a new GigMasters performer to get used to is the idea that they can’t have bad client feedback removed our site. This is a such a point of contention that its literally become one of the first things I tell a performer who is considering signing up. And I can tell you -- it’s really been a difficult balancing act for us as a company, because on the one hand the performers are paying us to be listed on the website, so they expect to have control over what appears with their listing. On the other hand, the integrity and authenticity of our feedback system depends on the fact that we post the bad as well as the good comments.
For those unfamiliar with the whole GigMasters Client Feedback system, here’s a quick rundown. When a client books a performers through our website, they then can provide feedback on that performer – after the event takes place. The client rates the performer on 5 criteria:
1. Satisfaction - the client’s overall level of satisfaction
2. Professionalism - the performer’s level of professionalism
3. Accommodating - How accommodating was this performer?
4. Overall Talent - The performer’s overall talent
5. Recommend - How strongly the client would recommend this performer
They rate each of these on a scale of 1 to 5 (with ½ increments). In addition, the client can write a one paragraph review of their experience with that performer.
** BTW, a little GigMasters trivia -- way back when, before we developed this eBay-like client feedback system, we used to let the performers add their own client testimonials. Not surprisingly, all the testimonials were absolutely glowing and it didn’t prove too insightful for prospective party planners. It was fairly useless in my opinion. We gradually migrated away from the performer-added testimonials in favor of this more authentic client feedback system ala epinions.com.
For our performers, the client feedback system has proven to be a double edged sword. When they get a positive review, things are great. No complaints. But when they get that first ‘not so great’ review, it stings, especially if that entertainer is convinced they performed well.
There’s absolutely no question why a performer would be upset with a negative comment appearing on their GigMasters press kit. But the truth of the matter is, if all the client feedbacks were positive, it would completely lose its believability. The reality of the situation is - if a performer does enough bookings through GigMasters, there will inevitable be that one squeaky wheel client where no matter what you do for them, they are never happy. Sound familiar?
So what I try to tell performers who get their first bad feedback is this. First, if you already have a lot of positive feedbacks, and you get one bad one, clients will recognize that the vast majority of your feedbacks are good and they will put it into perspective. Because so many websites have customer reviews/ratings these days, web surfers understand that even the best will occasional get a complaint. The idea is to get as many good ones as possible so they will offset the occasional bad one. In fact, GigMasters as a company deals with the same thing – we occasionally get a negative comment posted about us on some website or message board. It definitely hurts to read. But with enough good comments to offset it, we can get by. Of course, if we started getting all negative comments, then that could indicate a problem!
The second thing I tell performers who receive a bad feedback is – post a rebuttal, and do it soon. This rebuttal will appear right below the client’s feedback. There’s always two sides to every story, and this is your chance to tell yours. If you can put together a coherent, professional response, it will go a long way in offsetting any potential negative impact of that client’s review.
Lastly, there are times when despite my best efforts to justify the merits of our feedback system, the performer still isn’t buying my explanation, and basically demands that I take down the bad feedback. This is where things get choppy. The truth is we just don’t take down client feedback for any reason (short of a court order proving libel). I can’t say it enough – the authenticity of our feedback system depends on us staying out of it – not picking and choosing what feedback we allow and what feedback we don’t.
And that’s where it’s most challenging for me on a personal level. Its likely that over time I’ve establish a rapport with that performer I gave my business card to way back when at that party or wedding. But when they get that first negative review and I have to explain that it can’t be taken down, all bets are off. I must say however I’ve been most fortunate to this point – all the performers I’ve dealt with have been very understanding once I explain why the system is the way it is.
So to the performers out there who I met at that party or wedding, I’d say three things: 1) Great performance! 2) Sorry for the wrinkled business card and 3) Thank you in advance for your understanding on this whole client feedback topic.
If the performer is really good, and I’m feeling social (think red wine), I might walk over and strike up a conversion. More often than not, the conversion will end up on GigMasters. If the performer is interested in what I have to say, I might get the ‘Do you have a card?’ I’ll reach into the wallet, and hopefully have at least one if not wrinkled business card on me. More than a few times that performer has ended up registering with GigMasters a few days later. So far so good…
Assuming they’ve spent the time putting together a decent press kit, the performer I recommended GigMasters to will likely start getting leads right away and with a little luck, their first GigMasters booking is not far off. Again, so far so good…
Since they have my business card with my phone number and email address, its not unusual that they contact me directly with questions. I must admit I enjoy the opportunity to interact directly with the performers.
That is, until they get their first bad client feedback.
Without a doubt one of the hardest things for a new GigMasters performer to get used to is the idea that they can’t have bad client feedback removed our site. This is a such a point of contention that its literally become one of the first things I tell a performer who is considering signing up. And I can tell you -- it’s really been a difficult balancing act for us as a company, because on the one hand the performers are paying us to be listed on the website, so they expect to have control over what appears with their listing. On the other hand, the integrity and authenticity of our feedback system depends on the fact that we post the bad as well as the good comments.
For those unfamiliar with the whole GigMasters Client Feedback system, here’s a quick rundown. When a client books a performers through our website, they then can provide feedback on that performer – after the event takes place. The client rates the performer on 5 criteria:
1. Satisfaction - the client’s overall level of satisfaction
2. Professionalism - the performer’s level of professionalism
3. Accommodating - How accommodating was this performer?
4. Overall Talent - The performer’s overall talent
5. Recommend - How strongly the client would recommend this performer
They rate each of these on a scale of 1 to 5 (with ½ increments). In addition, the client can write a one paragraph review of their experience with that performer.
** BTW, a little GigMasters trivia -- way back when, before we developed this eBay-like client feedback system, we used to let the performers add their own client testimonials. Not surprisingly, all the testimonials were absolutely glowing and it didn’t prove too insightful for prospective party planners. It was fairly useless in my opinion. We gradually migrated away from the performer-added testimonials in favor of this more authentic client feedback system ala epinions.com.
For our performers, the client feedback system has proven to be a double edged sword. When they get a positive review, things are great. No complaints. But when they get that first ‘not so great’ review, it stings, especially if that entertainer is convinced they performed well.
There’s absolutely no question why a performer would be upset with a negative comment appearing on their GigMasters press kit. But the truth of the matter is, if all the client feedbacks were positive, it would completely lose its believability. The reality of the situation is - if a performer does enough bookings through GigMasters, there will inevitable be that one squeaky wheel client where no matter what you do for them, they are never happy. Sound familiar?
So what I try to tell performers who get their first bad feedback is this. First, if you already have a lot of positive feedbacks, and you get one bad one, clients will recognize that the vast majority of your feedbacks are good and they will put it into perspective. Because so many websites have customer reviews/ratings these days, web surfers understand that even the best will occasional get a complaint. The idea is to get as many good ones as possible so they will offset the occasional bad one. In fact, GigMasters as a company deals with the same thing – we occasionally get a negative comment posted about us on some website or message board. It definitely hurts to read. But with enough good comments to offset it, we can get by. Of course, if we started getting all negative comments, then that could indicate a problem!
The second thing I tell performers who receive a bad feedback is – post a rebuttal, and do it soon. This rebuttal will appear right below the client’s feedback. There’s always two sides to every story, and this is your chance to tell yours. If you can put together a coherent, professional response, it will go a long way in offsetting any potential negative impact of that client’s review.
Lastly, there are times when despite my best efforts to justify the merits of our feedback system, the performer still isn’t buying my explanation, and basically demands that I take down the bad feedback. This is where things get choppy. The truth is we just don’t take down client feedback for any reason (short of a court order proving libel). I can’t say it enough – the authenticity of our feedback system depends on us staying out of it – not picking and choosing what feedback we allow and what feedback we don’t.
And that’s where it’s most challenging for me on a personal level. Its likely that over time I’ve establish a rapport with that performer I gave my business card to way back when at that party or wedding. But when they get that first negative review and I have to explain that it can’t be taken down, all bets are off. I must say however I’ve been most fortunate to this point – all the performers I’ve dealt with have been very understanding once I explain why the system is the way it is.
So to the performers out there who I met at that party or wedding, I’d say three things: 1) Great performance! 2) Sorry for the wrinkled business card and 3) Thank you in advance for your understanding on this whole client feedback topic.
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