Out of the Mouths of Babes
Sharon Koehler
Stone Industry Consultant
The topic of this article is something that I have written about before. However, something happened recently that drove home how important this topic is and the fact that the issue isn’t going away. So, if you’ve ignored it before, you might as well just get on board, accept it, deal with it and do it.
Recently, my whole family gathered together for a celebration and there were six or eight of us sitting out on the deck. My youngest granddaughter walked outside and said, “I want to play salon. Who wants a tattoo?” (She had several sheets of those temporary tattoos that go on with water.) Since we all love and adore my youngest granddaughter, we all said “Sure!”
In an effort to be as realistic as possible, she brought out a piece of paper and a pen so we could all “sign in.” Again, in an effort to be realistic, she had us look over the tattoo designs, pick the ones we wanted and show her where we wanted them. Once we were all signed in and designs selected, she proceeded to give us all multiple tattoos.
As will happen in real life, she made a mistake. She put the wrong tattoo on the arm of my oldest grandson. He pointed it out to her. She excused herself, saying she needed to talk to her boss and went inside. When she came back out, she told my oldest grandson that she talked to her boss, and they decided he could have another design of his choice for free. He agreed, and in this fantasy salon, in the mind of a child, everything was right in the world.
When she was done giving everyone their “tattoos,” she announced that it was closing time at the salon, but please don’t leave just yet. She went inside and came back with a notebook and pen and announced (and this is what floored me): “I would like it if y’all would each be nice enough to give me a 5-star Google review. Please review my politeness and service. Good reviews will help my business get bigger.”
Now, my youngest granddaughter isn’t 37, or 27 or even 17. She is 7. My youngest granddaughter is 7 years old and already understands the importance of reviews! What the heck?! (Heck was not my first choice of words, but it is a printable one.)
The point here is that she is the next generation of money spenders and decision makers. If she already understands the impact and importance of reviews on business, it is safe to say that the need for reviews isn’t going away anytime soon.
Don’t groan. It doesn’t have to be hard work. It is easier now more than ever to collect reviews from your clients and customers, and there are so many ways to collect them, you just need to select the one that is right for your company or business.
Please send your thoughts and comments on this article to Sharon Koehler at Sharonk.SRG@gmail.com .