Also, when you do screw up, and you own it, you gain customers. I’ve had so many people come in saying they chose our shop because of the way we responded to a bad review. Legit bad reviews, where we really did screw up. Sometimes you have to throw yourself under the bus and promise to do better.

If you’re a Trek dealer, get signed up for Listen360. You’ll get a real feeling for what your customers like (and don’t) and your game will improve dramatically if you stay on top of it.

Don’t think you can hide from the on-line community. You can’t. Embrace it.

One last thing. For those of us who take this stuff really personally (raising my hand on this), don’t read reviews in the evening. Ever. Shoot for a quiet time in the morning, with the mindset of fixing issues and making the world a bit better place. Much better than losing sleep over something at night.