Page A10 MAY 2022 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A 5 Strategies for Dealing with Negative Comments & Reviews By Jason Troyer, PhD 5. Hide the “Reviews” Section of Your Facebook Page In very rare situations, youmay have someone or a family targeting your Facebook page and leaving multiple negative reviews. Another rare situation is when an ex-employee decides to target your page with negative reviews. Unfortunately, you cannot hide or remove individual negative reviews (unless you successfully report the review for not adhering to Facebook standards). But the “nuclear option” is to simply hide all reviews from your Facebook page. This will also remove any 5-star or positive reviews, so it really should be done as a last resort. To hide the “Reviews” tab from your business Facebook page, go to “Settings” and the “Templates &Tabs” option. Simply unselect the “Reviews” option and it will no longer be visible on your Facebook page. These are several easy strategies for dealing with the occasional negative comment or review. But the most important thing I would like you to remember is that Facebook is a positive contribution to your community engagement and marketing strategy because it helps you to build relationships with local families. To work best, you must have an active Facebook page and a strategy to request positive reviews and comments. Don’t let the fear of a few negative comments or reviews cause you to miss out on all the benefits that Facebook can provide for your business. you want to have banned from your page. For example, let’s say someone continues to try to post about a “sale on Ray-bans” on your page. You can use the Content Moderation feature to block all instances of the word “Rayban,” “Rayban,” or other spellings of the words. Be sure not to block a word that might be used legitimately in a comment. 3. Respond to Negative Reviews You should respond to every negative review that is posted on your Facebook or other social media account. When you do not respond, the viewer generally takes the reviewer’s comments at face value. People understand that not everyone is going to be satisfied with every interaction with a business. So your standard response should be a genuine apology that they were not satisfied with the services they received. But you should also ask them to contact you about learning more about the situation. Take this discussion off of Facebook by asking them to call you. In very limited situations, you might use another strategy. Occasionally you may get a disgruntled employee or someone else who provides a vague negative review. You might even say, “We do not have any record of serving this family.” These situations should be used sparingly. But if that doesn’t work, we have 2 more options. 4. Block Comments and People from Your Facebook Page One of these easiest strategies is to “hide” or “delete” a comment on a post by clicking the three dots (…) next to the comment. Facebook also gives businesses the ability to block people entirely from their Facebook page. Simply note the exact spelling of the person’s Facebook name and their profile picture. Go to “Settings” and then find the “People and Other Pages” option. Change the pull-down menu from “People Who Like This Page” to “Banned People and Pages” and it will give you an option to “Ban a person.” Type or copy the person’s exact Facebook profile name in to the box and make sure the profile picture matches. More than one funeral home owner has told me that they will not use Facebook because of the fear of someone leaving a negative comment or review. I completely understand. The last thing you want is for someone to post a rant for your entire community to see. But I would strongly urge you to reconsider this stance. Using just a few simple strategies, you can minimize the impact of a negative review or comment. Here are my 5 simple strategies for dealing with negative comments and reviews. 1. Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater The first strategy is a small shift in mindset: Facebook will provide far more benefits to your business than a few stray negative reviews or comments. Most of my clients have over 1,000 Facebook followers. I have a few customers with over 10,000 followers! Imagine having a free way to stay connected and share positive messages with that many families in your community. Every funeral home will have someone who (whether it is justified or not) is not satisfied. Occasionally those people will share a less than 5-star review or make a negative comment. But when you have an active Facebook page, these rare situations will be lost among all the positive comments and posts. For funeral homes, the benefits of Facebook far outweigh the negatives. 2. Turn on the Profanity Filter Facebook provides you with a way to block profanity and specific words. It’s called the “Profanity Filter”. It is very easy to turn on this feature. If you are an “Admin” on your funeral home’s Facebook page, simply go to your “Settings” for the business page. Under the “General” settings, you will see the “Profanity Filter” option. Simply click the “edit” button to turn the filter on. Just above the Profanity Filter option is the “Content Moderation” option. This option is useful if someone is continually spamming your page or making the same negative comment over and over using different Facebook accounts. You can simply type in words that Dr. Troyer’s free library of Facebook tutorial videos can be found at www.JasonTroyer.com. Dr. Jason Troyer is a grief expert, author, former psychology professor, and therapist. He helps funeral homes and cemeteries connect with their communities through Facebook content and grief support materials. He frequently provides community presentations, professional workshops, and trainings across the country. In addition to providing his Facebook content service and presentations, he also works at Smith Funeral & Cremation Service & Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, TN. Dr. Troyer can be reached at DrJasonTroyer@gmail.com. You can view all of his video tutorials and learn more at www.JasonTroyer.com. F U N E R A L H O M E & C E M E T E R Y N E W S w w w . N o m i s P u b l i c a t i o n s . c o m Monthly Columnsonline at Landau Bars, Vehicle Nameplates, Bier Pins, and more www.GBURNSLLC.com Order online and use code NOMIS10 to save 10%* *Offer expires 8/31/2022. Valid for online purchases only. Not valid on past purchases or redeemable for cash. Cannot be combined with other offers. Funeral Vehicle Accessories THOMASVILLE,GA— Funeral director, Ben Hatcher was recently honored as the MLK Jr. Walk and Festival Humanitarian of the Year. Mr. Hatcher has operated the Hatcher-Peoples Funeral Home for over 50 years serving families of Thomasville, Thomas County and the surrounding areas of South Georgia and Northern Florida. In addition to serving families in their time of need at the funeral home, Mr. Hatcher was recognized for his selfless efforts at helping area families needing aid, ranging from college tuition to feeding families. “I tried to do what I can for my community,” Hatcher was quoted as saying. “I’m just about helping and serving in the community.” Ben Hatcher of Hatcher-Peoples Funeral Home honored as Humanitarian of the Year Ben Hatcher StoneMor Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results B E N S A L E M , P A — StoneMor Inc. (NYSE: STON) reported operating and financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $79.3 million compared to $74.9 million in in the fourth quarter in the prior year. Full year revenues were $322.8 million compared to $279.5 million in the prior year period. Joe Redling, StoneMor’s President and Chief Executive Officer said, “2021 was a remarkable year for our team, as we continued to weather the impacts of COVID-19, while executing at a high-level in the continued implementation of our strategies and initiatives. We continued to grow our sales and revenues, with top-line revenue growth of 15.5% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 and we have driven a $30.3 million improvement in our adjusted EBITDA year-over-year.” StoneMor Inc. is an owner and operator of cemeteries and funeral homes in the United States, with 304 cemeteries and 72 funeral homes in 24 states and Puerto Rico. For full results and additional information, please visit StoneMor’s website, and the investors section, at http://www.stonemor.com. DIGITAL DIRECTORY Available Download instantly at www.NomisPublications.com Save on Shipping! 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