Hey Square Readers,
We hope you had a great time reading Hug Your Haters by Jay Baer with us. We had some really great discussion threads, and a wonderful live video chat discussion! Thank you all for participating and making this book club a welcoming and helpful place.
So we’re here now to bring it all together with a full book and discussion summary, with the parts that you all found to be the most important.
Let’s dive in!
Book Summary
Hug Your Haters by Jay Baer focuses on the idea that by taking the time to respond and care about the folks that complain about your business, you can actually turn them from haters into some of your biggest fans and most loyal customers. He backs this up with research and case studies from big and small companies who’ve tried and tested it.
Discussion Summary
We used our Book Club discussion threads to take the theories from the book and see how you all put them into practice in your businesses. Here are some great quotes from the book that really dive into the heart of what the book is about.
We kicked things off with a baseline conversation about when you all respond to negative reviews and complaints, and what your initial thoughts were about the premise of the book. We had a wide range of viewpoints and suggestions there and hopefully inspired some folks to start!
Next we jumped over to talking about where your complaints come in, privately or publicly, along with the differences in how you respond to each.
After that, we dove into the author’s strategy for how to best respond to customer complaints. We dove into why bad reviews hit so hard, and shared the anagram FEARS as a guideline on how to respond.
And we finished off our discussion threads by talking about how you’ll use the strategies from the book moving forward. Some folks shared how they’re changing their views towards negative reviews and complaints, and how they’ve already used the book to better respond to customers.
We also shared some other content written and created by the author if you want to keep the knowledge flowing!
We wrapped up the book with a more general discussion, talking about how you put your plan into action with practical things you’ve done in your business based on the book.
We also started a new thread where you can share your bad reviews and your responses.
Live Discussion
We held our Live Discussion on Tuesday September 26th, with 4 of our Readers hopping into a Google Meet to talk about the book. Thanks so much to all of you who joined!
We started off with some hot takes about the book, with some folks having issues with the repetitive nature of the book, but overall each appreciating some parts and lessons from it.
One of the biggest takeaways we discussed was how technology has changed the way customers interact with businesses. Social media and review sites make it a lot easier for customers to complain to businesses, so they’re more likely to do so as a result. But the benefit there is that some customers would have otherwise not said anything and just disappeared, and the technology enables you as business owners to reach out and retain them.
One seller said that since reading the book, they realize that they should respond to all of the reviews they receive, even if they think that someone is trolling. Another now sees the importance of actively looking for reviews and complaints out on the internet.
We also talked about the benefits of responding to each and every review, even if it’s just to acknowledge and thank them for a good review. We spoke about how customers often just want to connect and want attention, so giving a quick response accomplishes that. The point was brought up that your responses aren’t just for the person leaving the comment, but for everyone else who is looking and may read it. By responding to the good reviews too, you’re actually encouraging more people to leave positive comments.
We wrapped up with one of our sellers sharing a bad review that their business recently received, along with how they approached responding. They brought their whole team together to read it and craft a response together. Their comment was positive and courteous, but also set the record straight and told their business’ side of the story, while remaining extremely professional.
Overall, it was a wonderful call, and we hope to see even more folks in the next one!
We just started our next book, Fix this Next by Mike Michalowicz, with the next Live Discussion on Tuesday November 28th. Hope to see you there!
Your Thoughts
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on this book and overall the experience of our first Square Readers Book Club book!
- What discussions were your favorite?
- What are you looking forward to with the next book?
It’s never too late to jump into any of our discussion threads and join in on the conversation!
Paying it Forward
If you’re all done with the book and are looking for something to do with a copy you bought, I highly recommend paying it forward. Give it to another local business owner, or donate it to a local used bookstore, community center, library, Little Free Library, or anywhere else, so someone else can benefit from it.
Thank you so much for all of your participation and discussion throughout the last two months! A big shoutout to some of our most active members: @CareyJo, @Doran, @bonny, @JUYBoutique20, @Smellthis1919, @716mmn, @PartyManiaMD, @AustinCarter, @scastrotattoo, @VeganKolache, @mpmpmp22, @Stacelyn24, @Greenmonkey65, @DiscCrazy, @chickie, @batreride, @JAP21, @Bronze_Palms, @MudFire_Dex, @DinaLRosenberg, @pigsnoseinn, @Purple_HS, @BMFinance, @notarizerllc, and so many more!
We hope you read the next book with us, Fix this Next by Mike Michalowicz!
Can’t wait to read more with you,
Pesso
