Should Freelancers Worry About Bad Reviews?
Credit: Lifeonwhite on Photodune
A bad review, whether it’s posted on a portfolio site, or just shared by word of mouth, can ruin your whole day. It’s easy to dwell on it, turning everything over and over again in your mind. But as a freelancer, how concerned should you really be about bad reviews?
For a hotel or a restaurant, one bad review can decimate the number of customers that come in. People routinely look at reviews for where they’re going to stay or eat, making reviews crucial to business.
Freelancers don’t have quite the same situation, but it is necessary to pay attention to reviews of your services.
The Habit of Reading Reviews
The big question is how do businesses look at reviews and information about a freelancer before signing a contract. While many companies will seek out references for individuals or organizations they’re interested in working with, most don’t have a habit of reading every last little review listed online about your freelance business.
…it’s likely that more and more businesses are going to pay attention to reviews beyond what they get through word of mouth.
It may not stay that way, of course: more and more businesses are doing at least a little online research about the freelancers they want to work with — they don’t go much beyond what a search engine turns up, but if there’s anything from a disgruntled client in that first page of search results for your name, it’s worth noting.
Based on the number of platforms many of us maintain presences on and the ease of adding a recommendation or review on a site like LinkedIn, it’s likely that more and more businesses are going to pay attention to reviews beyond what they get through word of mouth.
That means that simply ignoring reviews, especially bad ones, isn’t a long-term strategy that you can rely on. You don’t need to obsess over what’s out there, but you do need to check up on those sorts of things regularly.
If you do find a bad review about yourself and your freelancing services somewhere, make the effort to address it. It can be a matter of contacting the client in question and revisiting the situation so that they’re satisfied. You can’t simply demand that a site or an individual take down reviews (that almost always leads to more problems), making it necessary to be as civil as possible. You may not be able to fix every problem, especially if there’s something that you can’t simply give in on, but make a good faith effort to try.
Businesses Do Get Bad Reviews
No matter the type of business that a person is running, however, bad reviews are a possibility. It might just be an off day or a client entirely beyond reason, but it’s possible. It’s important to take note, see if you can address the issue, and move on. Dwelling on a bad review doesn’t actually make you any better — it may just distract you enough to cause more problems.
One of the biggest reasons we can’t shake bad feelings when a negative review comes along is because, for most freelancers, it’s personal. While a client may just think that they’re commenting on a business that they worked with and didn’t get particularly excited about, our work is our livelihood. There’s just one person in the office, just one person responsible for every last little thing that could go wrong.
At the end of the day, you have to find a way to separate yourself from any reviews that come in. You have to be able to believe that a review is about your work, not you as a person, so that you can get on with your freelancing.
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Lifeonwhite.
As emotionally attached as I am with all of my work, I bite my tongue at a bad review and confront it head on. Bad reviews help me become a better freelancer and without them I wouldn’t know if I was ever doing anything wrong.
I’ve been “lucky” in that the only bad review I’m aware of has been word-of-mouth from one completely unreasonable client, and as far as I know there’s nothing bad about me online. However, that one bad review did leave a very bad taste in my mouth because the client was ridiculous about it. I know he badmouthed me to at least one other potential client because he went out of his way to let me know. No idea if he’s done it again, but thankfully it’s had no impact on my business. I’ve got four positive reviews on my LinkedIn profile, but that one bad review is the one that gets under skin. Funny how one negative comment can be more powerful than several positive ones, isn’t it?
I would think that a bad review should make a freelancer a little concerned if they care about what they are doing and their reputation.
I think bad review is an eye opener and keeps you down to earth….
Bad reviews can be reasonably authentic, but many times they come from clients that have been a complete nightmare to deal with. Instead of accepting responsibility for totally unrealistic expectations or miscommunication, even after receiving specific information in the contract and verbally, sometimes they’ll choose to voice their negative opinion on a web review simply to smear the reputation of someone. We all get our fair share of crazies.
Agreed. The only bad comments I’ve received from clients have been from those who were a nightmare to begin with. In my limited experience as a freelancer good clients will try to clear up a misunderstanding instead of letting a snow flake turn into a snow ball.
I’ve been a freelance designer for almost 20 years, and I can certainly related to Audiomind’s remark about the crazies. They are indeed out there.
In short, don’t let the crazies make you crazy.
Very seldom do I get a bad review, and I’m not saying that to pat myself on the back. It’s just that for an online editing and proofreading business like mine, customers are hesitant to offer their real name or even a pen name. Getting a review is like pulling teeth. Like the other comments state, the only time bad reviews come the way of freelancers is when the customer is completely unrealistic. Sure some customers might have a different style preference or some qualm about an aspect of the service, but it’s not often that this will diminish the overall service that was performed. And to be honest, if a potential customer reads a review like that and is turned off by it, then it’s probably for the best.
I know a contractor (IE, home repair) who became neurotic when he found out that a really awful past client had posted a very disparaging review of his work on “Angie’s List”. In his case it was really not a problem because he had many, many consistently positive reviews, so it showed as a fluke.
LinkedIn allows you to verify every recommendation that is made to you before it is posted, and you can deny posting any that you don’t like.
The only other avenue I can think of for a negative online review is a person’s own blog or Facebook account – then they open themselves to libel charges.
Here’s exactly what grownups and real businesses with their livelihood at stake do: if the comments are bad enough and if the individual is in the same country, you pay an attorney to draft a cease and desist letter to the individual – period!!! – you don’t cower in vague submission. If the person has enough of a problem with your work they should file suit, not snipe. I sure as hell am not going to write public broadside attacks on, say, the dentist I fired this year, for the world to see. I would expect legal action if it were visible enough.
But, what about the *visibility* of such comments on the web at large? I have had one hell of a time improving my *own* search engine results pages (SERPs). I can’t see someone looking to tear down my business having the discipline to create pages of content that boost the visibility of their slam of me. So it’s probable that you (and almost everyone else) will never see it.
Lastly I don’t think there is that much risk of bad reviews on the internet being associated with you in a substantial way – *unless* you work through one of the outsourcing sites like ODesk or Elance and you accumulate negative reviews. There, your record (good or bad) is attached to your identity. You then can have a problem like my contractor friend – your “directory listing” becomes tainted.
Just some thoughts on the issue.
Freelancers worried about the bad reviews are often those providing good level of service. So for these freelancers the bad reviews only occur due to the doucheness of the clients.
However, each bad review should be taken as a wake up call. That call could either be about improving service standard or avoiding the trouble-maker kind of clients.
You can usually tell if you will get a good or bad review by your experience with the client. I have also implemented a testimonial and referral program on my website. As soon as I finish a project I shoot them the link and ask for a testimonial. At this moment if there is an issue they usually speak up. If not they leave a good testimonial that you can use. Also they can leave a referral which can lead to more work.
I agree bad reviews does happen to every one at some point but these bad reviews will ultimately lead to good points after working on the bad ones.
Thanks for sharing:)
Earlier people used to write reviews about “X service scam” or “X service review” or “read before you buy X service”. I guess now google is more mature to filter such pages as they’re manipulating the web rather than offering better insight. So somehow only clear and better reviews are coming to the first page. Even today people rely more on forum members advice for the good and bad services on the web. Google alerts for your own service keywords can help you find and better serve your customer on such forums or blogs.
I like that you suggest addressing the bad review. I always recommend to my clients that they address all their reviews (good and bad).
If the bad review appears on a comment section or a public forum, it may be enough to thank the reviewer for their feedback and ensure them that you will take their comments into account to improve in the future.That way, you’re not taking them on, just letting the other readers know that you care about your reviews and want to offer excellent work and service. It also shows that you can take the high road if they have been a challenging client.