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A review bomb is from an entity who did not interact with the business in the way they claim. These can be from actual people, online avatars, ex-employees, bots, and even competitors. When ILCA posted on Facebook about this to our closed member group, members reached out directly. The stories are gross. Past employees, spouses of rivals, someone going by the name Anon Ymous, made-up profiles using stock images of smiling upper middle-class women, and so on. There were stories of fraudulent “Reputation Management Firms” who helped companies get rid of the negative review the Reputation Managers posted themselves. All of these member stories had three things in common: the reviews were blistering, erroneous, and the review sites will do nothing about them.

Contractors, through no fault of their own, see their overall rating drop in light of these review bombs. When the companies reached out to Google to report the review, they are all told the same thing — the review did not use racism or sexism or profanity and therefore did not violate their terms of service. I guess the fact the reviewer had never used the actual product is immaterial.

Until the review sites change (and they won’t) businesses have to accept that review bombs will occur. It may feel good to do some detective work and fire off a nastygram to Google, but it won’t help. The bomb has been seared into your Google Reviews like a brand onto a bull. Businesses have to remember why the review was posted — to hurt your business by creating doubt in the mind of future customers. It is the job of the business to inject enough doubt of its own to balance the teetertotter.

To be effective, respond to legitimate reviews with legitimate empathy, but go after review bombs with a snarky, internet-appropriate style. Be a little glib, provide the receipts that you have no record of the exchange, demonstrate how you handle legitimate negative reviews, and poke a little fun at them. Use specific information and imply you know the real story. The response is performative. It is not intended to fix the negative review. The review bomber wants to hurt you. You are writing a response for the next customer. It is the job of the business to inject doubt into the exchange to nullify the bomb. You are diffusing the bomb in real time. Cut the red wire!

Boycotts and bombs are by-products of today’s social media age. Everyone wants to be more famous than they are. Everyone wants to be entertained. Everyone wants to feel a little rush of power by making something go boom. Hating the game is not the answer. Maybe the end result is that businesses get so many positive and negative reviews that we all end up with 3.6 stars and nothing means anything. Until that happens, businesses should ditch the rules of engagement they learned in the past. This is war with live ammo. When that grenade falls in your trench, toss it right back.

Boycotts are scary in the moment, but harmless over time. Reviews are harmless in the moment with a cumulative effect over time. Charles Boycott eventually returned to life as a rent collector and lived a happy life. He even came to the United States. He returned to England, where he died at the age of 65. He gave his steamship journey home 2.3 stars –would not go again.

Sincerely,

Scott Grams, Executive Director June 15, 2023

President

Ashley Marrin

Bret-Mar Landscape Management Group, Inc. (708) 301-2225 ashley@bretmarlandscape.com

Vice-President

Jim Cirrincione Hinsdale Nurseries, Inc. (630) 323-1411 jcirrincione@hinsdalenurseries .com

Secretary-Treasurer

Kim Hartmann

Rosborough Partners 847-404-7669 hartmannkim@comcast.net

Immediate Past President

Jeff Kramer Kramer Tree Specialists, Inc, (630) 293-5444 jwkramer@kramertree.com

Directors

Eric Adams Russo Power Equipment (847) 233-7811 eadams@russopower.com

Kim Hartmann Rosborough Partners 847-404-7669 hartmannkim@comcast.net

Ryan Heitman

The Fisher Burton Company (847) 566-9200 ryanheitman@fisherburton.com

Tom Klitzkie Nature’s Perspective Landscaping (847) 475-7917 tklitzkie@naturesperspective.com

Dean MacMorris Night Light, Inc. (630) 627-1111 dean@nightlightinc.net

Kevin Manning K & D Enterprise Landscape Management, Inc. (815) 725-0758 kmanning@kdlandscapeinc.com

Kevin McGowen Kaknes/SiteOne 31W245 Diehl Road Naperville, IL 60563

Mark Utendorf Emerald Lawn Care, Inc. (847) 392-7097 marku@emeraldlawncare.com