The sentiment sorter (positive vs. negative routing)
The most powerful workflow pattern in reputation management is the sentiment sorter: ask the customer first whether their experience was good or bad, and only route happy customers to public review sites. Unhappy customers get an internal recovery path before they go public.
Why this works
Most negative public reviews come from preventable issues that customer service could have resolved
Customers prefer to be heard — if you give them an internal channel, most use it instead of going public
You preserve their goodwill, often turning a near-miss into a glowing review later
Your public review stream is more representative of your actual delivery quality
The sorting workflow
Step 1: Send SMS — "How was your experience? Reply 1–5 (5 = great)"
Step 2: Listen for reply
Step 3a: If 4–5 → "Glad to hear it! Mind sharing on Google? [link]"
Step 3b: If 1–3 → "We're sorry it didn't go well. Can you tell us what happened? Your feedback goes directly to the owner." Internal alert is sent to your manager.
WARNING — Don't outright suppress negative reviews
Asking unhappy customers to share private feedback FIRST is widely accepted and ethical. Actively suppressing them — "please don't post a review" — violates terms of service for Google and Yelp and can get your listings flagged or suspended. The sorter doesn't suppress; it routes. Negative reviewers can still post if they want — they just usually don't, when they feel heard.
Recovery follow-up
When the workflow flags a 1–3 rating:
Manager receives internal alert via Slack/SMS/email within minutes
Manager personally calls or messages the customer within 1 business hour
Resolution is logged on the contact record
Once resolved, customer is invited (gently) to update their feedback
Most recovery cycles end with a 4-5 star public review or no review at all
