The Berman Method
The Berman Method
Episode 164: Our "Negative" Google Reviews
What happens when a hurricane turns your work-life balance upside down, and your home becomes a playground with kids off school for an entire week? Let us take you through our whirlwind experience, from weathering the chaos of Hurricane Milton to preparing our home for the imminent arrival of our third child in December. With a sprinkling of humor, we put our online reviews under the spotlight, comparing my mixed Google reviews to Jenny's pristine record. Discover why these reviews matter so much and how they shape our everyday decisions.
Ever wondered what makes a one-star review unforgettable? Meet Piper Potter, who wasn't too thrilled about receiving a flurry of emails after a free book download. We share this amusing tale and more, exploring the impact of customer feedback with a touch of laughter. Hear how Kimberly Kuhn's critique on service costs and insurance policies taught us the value of clear communication. These stories highlight the trade-off of an email for free content, the art of unsubscribing, and how we handle critiques with grace.
Are pricey gym memberships the key to accountability and community spirit, or do they just lighten your wallet? We compare the dedication that comes with a $159 Burn Bootcamp membership to the casual commitment of a $10 Planet Fitness pass. Our insights into franchise opportunities underscore the importance of thoughtful reviews in health and wellness. Plus, we reflect on the recent hiccups caused by power outages and give thanks for your unwavering support of the Berman Method podcast. Stay connected and explore the world of physical therapy and health with us as we share valuable resources and tips.
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This is the Berman Method podcast, featuring Dr Jake Berman and physician assistant Jenny Berman. We are here to treat problems and not symptoms. Disclaimer this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and not to treat anyone or to give medical advice. If you are interested in any information that we are giving and would like to use this for yourself, we recommend that you contact your primary care physician or reach out to us and ask us questions about yourself specifically. Enjoy.
Speaker 2:And we are rolling baby. The Berman Method podcast focused on treating problems and not symptoms. Dr Jake Berman here with my beautiful co-host.
Speaker 1:Jenny Berman, physician assistant.
Speaker 2:Little discombobulated with our scheduled routine after Hurricane Milton blew through last week, so this was the first time we've actually missed a week being uploaded in three years.
Speaker 1:That's true. Never missed a podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But we did. We had kids home all week the whole entire week. We were trying to work in addition to the kids being home all week.
Speaker 2:The whole entire week.
Speaker 1:So it was crazy and busy and, yeah, we missed recording because of that. So here we are back.
Speaker 2:And we're back, baby, and we're ready to have some fun. We're going through the podcast and for some reason it looks like the previous two episodes are named very similar titles, and that's a mistake on my end. Neither nor there we will get it back. We're locking it up, we're getting back into the groove and we're gonna have a little fun. Today we're gonna talk about my not jenny's because she doesn't have any my bad reviews on google. But before we get all and get into all of that, we're in october now.
Speaker 1:It is October.
Speaker 2:And we've got another baby coming soon.
Speaker 1:We have a baby coming soon.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Next month, hopefully, hopefully not before next month.
Speaker 2:Jenny says hopefully, because the previous two had both or both been diagnosed with FOMO.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So they came early.
Speaker 1:The fear of missing out. For those of you who don't know, fomo FOMO stands for the fear of missing out.
Speaker 2:So they both were sick and tired of missing boat days. So they're like I want out of here now.
Speaker 1:And arrived early.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this third one. We'll see how early or not early on time, however, we're scheduling, or the official due date is December 3rd. I believe, and we're not telling anybody anything else other than that Get your guesses in on what you think the due date or the birth date will be, whether it's going to be a boy or a girl, how much you think it's going to weigh, how long it's going to be if it's going to have hair, what the hair color is going to be and what the name is going to be.
Speaker 1:Wow, they have to guess all of that.
Speaker 2:No, it's just something to have fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, now they know that. We had one at 36 weeks, one at 37 weeks. One was bald, one had red hair. Both were on the smaller side, but Vera was two pounds bigger than Stella.
Speaker 2:You know, Stella was four, six.
Speaker 1:Four seven.
Speaker 2:Vera was, or Stella was 4'7" and Vera was 6'9" 6'9".
Speaker 1:Both short. I think we had 17 and a half inches and I always I had to look back at Vera 19 inches. I think I had to look back at hers. But yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2:So we are getting excited yeah our house is in utter chaos right now now because we're trying to shove this third baby where we don't have room for it right now. So we're currently working on making room. Jenny's doing 99% of the work and she's not stressing out one bit at all. You'd be so proud of her.
Speaker 1:Is that a true statement?
Speaker 2:It's one of those things where if you just put it all out into the universe, maybe it'll be true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess I don't stress until I walk upstairs and see the chaos and then I'm like, how am I ever going to finish this in time? But we'll get it done, yes, yeah. See, everybody's like, well, the baby doesn't even need a room, and that's true in most cases. However, neither one of our girls slept in our room when they came home from the hospital, they went straight to their own room.
Speaker 2:So and we're pretty set on doing that again- yeah, we went straight from the hospital to the boat for their first boat ride and then to their own room. Get away from us.
Speaker 1:It's not the case. We just prefer not to have to transfer and adjust later. So it works for us. It doesn't work for everybody.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, let's have some fun. We need some lightheartedness, some good fun, and I thought that no better way than to get back into some normalcy after all that hurricane and storm chaos that we experienced was let's have some fun with some of the bad reviews that I have, because, again, jenny has zero reviews that are not five stars. I actually have a handful. I've got four or five or six of them that are not five stars. So at this current moment, I have 176 reviews for Berman Physical Therapy, and if you've not yet left me a review, please go on there, so maybe you could be included into this fund that we're going to have. And I think reviews are very, very important, because what is the first thing that anybody does nowadays or at least the majority of the population does nowadays when you're hearing about a new business?
Speaker 1:Look at the stars. Well, first thing you do is you Google it. Yeah, Google.
Speaker 2:Right, you Google it. Then the next thing you do is you google it. Yeah, google, right, you google it. Then the next thing you do is you look at the reviews. I mean, you do this everywhere. If you're not doing it on google, you're doing it on amazon, and it is a major, major contributor to how you make your decision right agree right.
Speaker 2:What do we do after looking at the reviews? We look at how many reviews there are, how many of them are five star, four star, three star, two star, one star. If there's a significant amount of one star reviews, then we say, okay, is there a significant amount of five star reviews to outweigh it or justify it? Because it's almost impossible. Right, you're never going to please everybody. There's always going to be that one person that is just pissed off at the world and they get empowerment or they get off on their ability to troll somebody on Facebook or Instagram and direct message and leave negative comments on social media. Why wouldn't they do it on Google reviews too?
Speaker 1:Right, right. And when we're looking at Google reviews then we're going to the ones and twos and reading why are they getting the ones and twos? Is it a legitimate reason for a one or a two, or is it something that we can look at and say, eh, that person's opinion doesn't really matter. That's not a good reason to be leaving a one or a two.
Speaker 2:Exactly so, as we were preparing for this podcast, I just figured let's go check out these reviews. And I'm reading my one star, two star, three star reviews and I'm cracking up Like I'm laughing out loud and Jenny's like have you lost your mind, what are you doing? And I'm like I've just I forgot about these. I forgot about getting these because it's been a while since I've gotten the really bad ones. So let's start off. I'm going to start out with the worst one. It's from Piper Potter, and I'm saying the name because it's explicitly on Google too.
Speaker 2:We've got a one-star review from Piper Potter four years ago, and this is probably my favorite one, because Piper says I downloaded Dr Jake Berman's book from his website a week ago when a friend told me to do it. Since then, I've received 11 spam emails of him wearing wigs and yelling at me through the screen. I did not sign up for this, I just wanted to read the book. Please stop sending me emails. I am begging. This is harassment. Maybe your patients like this, but it's too much for me. I will find an office who accepts Medicare and doesn't send me spam.
Speaker 1:Because of your videos with a mullet, a wig a wig mullet. Videos with a mullet, a wig, a wig mullet.
Speaker 2:Wow, oh my gosh. So those of you that don't know, I used to. For seven years straight, I made a video every single Monday and I put a wig on. It was a mullet wig, a mullet haircut, just to be explicitly clear. And I called it mullet Monday haircut, just to be explicitly clear. And I called it Mullet Monday. And I would get up there and I would scream and shout, acting all crazy, with some quality content in it. So it was always something quality in it. I wasn't just trying to act like a jackass, it was a very meaningful way of, I thought, a very meaningful way of communicating quality information, an entertaining way. Infotainment is what I called it.
Speaker 1:And people still talk about it. We had somebody this weekend come up to you at a restaurant and be like you're the Mola guy, mola Monday. So that's what he's known about in. Southwest Florida.
Speaker 2:So to get back to Piper, piper had an issue with something, so she went on my website and she downloaded something for free. However, nothing is free. This should be well known at this stage in life. In exchange for me giving somebody something free off my website, in return I want your email address. I think that's a fair trade. Nowadays, we generally price our email address at $10 minimum in value, if not $20 minimum in value, meaning that I'm not going to give somebody my email address if I don't believe I'm going to get a minimum of $10 in value in exchange.
Speaker 2:So I made this free report on simple tips on how to ease your back pain. Piper downloaded it and in exchange, I get her email address and it gives me the chance to send her more emails on how I can help her with her back pain. Right, send her more emails on how I can help her with her back pain, right. So she gets 11 of them over the course of a week. You know, yes, that is a lot. It is a lot. But on the other hand, devil's Advocate those of you that have been living with back pain. Would you rather me communicate too little or way too much if you're an excruciating back pain and you're looking for help.
Speaker 1:No, I totally agree with that. And the other again, devil's advocate that we have to look at is did she really get 11 in one week or was it like three weeks? That would be something to see. What's the date that she actually joined the online? Email system and what's the date that she actually wrote the review? That's what I would argue, anyway.
Speaker 2:So, anyways, I wrote a nice little response to it that included the information that Piper obviously did not understand that you can simply hit the unsubscribe button and stop getting spam emails.
Speaker 1:Right when you were reading that. That was my first thought is why couldn't she just reply to one of the emails and say can you please remove me? If she couldn't? Figure out how to unsubscribe Because we do read the emails. So if you reply to an email we send you, we do read them.
Speaker 2:So thank you, piper. Out of nine years, you are the only one-star review that we've ever gotten. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. You absolutely made my day when you wrote it and you're making my day again four years later.
Speaker 1:And that's the only one-star review you've had in nine years, and it's about emails, not even about the cost, the patient care, the quality of care.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she never spent a dime with me. No, that's a great point. Thank you very much for that.
Speaker 1:And she wants to go use our Medicare.
Speaker 2:The only one-star review my business has ever gotten in the history of being open was from somebody that never did business with us right that's, that's cold tells you a lot.
Speaker 2:Tells you a lot so moving on, the next worst one is from kimberly coon, a two-star review, star review. Kimberly wanted to come in. We offer a free 30 minute session for people to come in to make sure that you are a good fit for our business and that our business is a good fit for you. It's called a free discovery visit. It's 30 minutes. There's no high sales pitch or anything. Kimberly Kuhn was offered one of these sessions.
Speaker 2:She came in and she met with one of my PTs at the time, rafa, who's phenomenal. She made the decision that she could not afford to move forward with our prices. She was pissed off at the very end. She's pissed off that we do not take her insurance. At the very end, she's pissed off that we do not take her insurance and she left us a two-star review. So this is another good example of somebody that never spent a dime with us and left us a two-star review. So now let's put things into perspective. Kimberly is pissed off that we don't take insurance. I'm going to walk into what's a nice steakhouse True Lux. I'm going to walk into True Lux. This is how often we go out to nice places.
Speaker 1:I had three different places in my mind, like three different locations in Naples, and couldn't think of any of their names. We obviously don't go.
Speaker 2:So True Lux is a really nice steakhouse in my opinion, a really nice steakhouse on Fifth Avenue. This is an example where I'm going to walk into True Luck Steakhouse with my food stamps.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And I am going to walk out when they tell me that they're not going to accept my food stamps and I'm going to be pissed off and I'm going to leave them a two-star review because they don't accept my food stamps.
Speaker 1:Right, right.
Speaker 2:It's your choice on where you go and if you want to use your crappy insurance, don't come to the five-star PT clinic.
Speaker 1:Right and it's verbalized before you even schedule the discovery visit that we will not accept your insurance, even if we move forward and do business together. So if you're wanting to use your insurance, you should not schedule a discovery visit. However, if you want to come see what we can offer and why we charge the way we do and the quality of care and the experience, then definitely come to the discovery visit and see the experience and decide if you want to spend the money. But it's very upfront that we're not going to accept your insurance.
Speaker 2:It's explicitly in my script on the first phone call before I ever even offer you that free session, we don't take it, we're not going to take it Right. So there we go, another two-star review from somebody that did not ever spend a dime with us. Moving on, let me try to get through these next ones, because they're all similar. Darlene same situation Explicitly on the phone, she tells me she's looking for a quick fix. I remember Darlene clear as day, because it just cracks me up, literally cracks me up. When somebody calls me looking for a quick fix, I explicitly tell them I don't offer quick fixes. She gets pissed off and then tries to use insurance as a buffer to say, well, why don't you take my insurance? Well, I don't take your insurance and I don't offer quick fixes because quick fixes never last. So here's another example of somebody that never spent a dime with me and left me a two star review. So thank you, darlene. Moving on, that's it. That's it. One, two, three.
Speaker 2:We've got three negative reviews, that's it. And then the next one is a four star review from Ken, and it really should be a five star review. He I'm sure he just accidentally hit the four star button because he's. He's actually with us right now. He's been through with us through the summer. We've been trying to get over a back issue and he's doing phenomenal. So I'm going to actually go in today and when he gets in this afternoon I'm going to kick his ass and say, hey man, you need to go on there, because this was from four years ago and update your review to five stars. This is ridiculous because it's nothing but positive. Same thing with Sandra. Let's just assume that she never gives anybody a five star review and only gives four stars, because it's nothing but positive stuff and that's it. The rest are five stars.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So the moral of the story is the people who spend the least money or no money, are typically the people who are the most Pain in the ass Unhappy individuals, and we don't have any five or anything less than five star reviews as far as the health and wellness goes upstairs on Google.
Speaker 1:However, that doesn't mean that we haven't been threatened a bad review by a client, and most commonly again, it's the clients who are the least invested, whether it's they don't have their head in the game and they're noncompliant with the changes that we're recommending and trying to make, or they're the ones who have spent the least amount of money with us, so they don't have the skin in the game to make the lifestyle adjustments that we're recommending. The other thing is I am a stickler that if I am monitoring your blood work and checking your supplements and prescribing medications for you, you have to be seen in my office. I am not one of these clinics that you can walk in, get your semaglutide injection, walk out and not come back for the next six weeks until you're ready to come back again for your next semaglutide dose. That is not me.
Speaker 1:If I'm prescribing your medicine, I'm going to be checking in on you every three and four weeks and making sure that we're doing the right thing for your body and that you're tolerating it and that you're making progress and you're making the lifestyle changes that are associated with whatever prescriptions we're recommending, and if you're not compliant with sticking to your visits, I'm not going to prescribe the medication for you, and that is for your safety. And certainly, again, the clients who want the quick fix or the easy button. They don't appreciate that. They just want the medication. They don't want to come pay for their session once a month to be monitored and to talk about the lifestyle changes that they aren't making. That need to be done in association with the medications. So those are the people that are least happy.
Speaker 2:You hit the nail on the head those that spend the least amount of money with us are the biggest pain in the asses. They just are. Those that spend the most money with us are usually the best. The ones that are like money with us are usually the best. The ones that are like oh, please just come in, they're the best in the world. If I could just clone you 20 times, my whole life would be so much better Because you're spending so much of your own money.
Speaker 2:You are invested. You're actually going to do your homework. You're going to be compliant. You're not going to take advantage of Jenny and send her emails and text messages at nine o'clock on a Saturday because you know she's going to respond to them. You are usually the one that says okay, this is what Jenny asked me to do and I'm going to do it. This is what Stacey or anybody in the office said I'm going to do and I'm going to do it. And here's the crazy thing you get results. You get lasting results. You get what you signed up for. You get what your goal is.
Speaker 1:Right. And so, again, it has nothing to do with the fact that they've spent the most amount of money that they're giving us a profit. It has nothing to do with that. It's the fact that they spend the most amount of money. They're invested the profit it has nothing to do with that. It's the fact that they spend the most amount of money. They're invested the most they're going to do the recommendations that we're making. So they're gonna see progress, they're gonna have results from that and that's why they're so happy and why we appreciate them as the VIP clients because they see the results. They are happy, so they continue to talk about us.
Speaker 2:Love it. Let's use a gym membership real quick. What's the monthly membership for burn bootcamp?
Speaker 1:Ooh, I'm probably going to get kickbacks from this, but I think it's around $159. Okay, so over $100. Yeah, it's over $100. It's over $100.
Speaker 2:What's the monthly membership for Planet Fitness? $10. $10 a month. Who do you think has a higher compliance rate?
Speaker 1:BermBootCamp.
Speaker 2:How many of those ladies have not missed a workout class in months? I mean, it is borderline cultish in a good way.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In a good way, where there's so much accountability, these women it is absolutely amazing. It's so amazing that you and I actually looked into opening up a franchise location a year or two ago. I mean, it is just absolutely amazing. The camaraderie, the accountability, the progressions, the community, all of these women holding each other accountable, making progress because they're spending a significant amount of money. The more money you spend, the more accountable you're going to be. Then let go on the flip side. There may or may not be somebody in our family that may or may not live very close to us, that has a membership to planet fitness.
Speaker 1:Okay, how regular?
Speaker 2:How regular is this guy? Oh, I just said he was a guy.
Speaker 1:How regular does he go to the gym Not often enough, nicely.
Speaker 2:He might have a couple of streaks where he makes it there a few days in a row and then a couple of weeks get missed. It's only $10, though you don't even see it come out of your checking account.
Speaker 1:Right, right, less investment. Yeah, it's true, though it's with anything, and just the quality it changes.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I think that that's enough. Thank you for bearing with us. Sorry we missed last week. Hopefully everybody stayed. That that's enough. Thank you for bearing with us. Sorry we missed last week. Hopefully everybody stayed safe. For Hurricane Milton yeah, we had some annoying power outages and a couple of people got flooded. However, didn't even come close to comparing to Helene and the Panhandle and up in North Carolina, so we made it out very lucky. So thank you for bearing with us. Take reviews with a grain of salt, right, and if you haven't left us one, leave us one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, leave us a five-star review on Google health and wellness or physical therapy and you can leave one for each of us. We've learned that because we're two separate entities, you can leave two different reviews. But also, if you see the one and two stars, read them and figure out why are they leaving them and is it actually a reasonable response?
Speaker 2:Yes, and you can actually leave multiple reviews on the same place Did you know that We've had problems with that. Well, I think that it might have changed, because I just did it. With what place is it? I forget what it was. I know that Park Family Dentistry asked me for a review every single time that I have a visit.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I've done it for them multiple times. So I think it might be something to do. Obviously, keep it ethical. However, Ken, for example, Ken left a review four years ago and then he didn't come for a long time. So when he comes back again now, for a completely different scenario, why shouldn't he be able to leave a review for another positive experience?
Speaker 1:Okay, let's try it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We have learned that you can't leave a review if you're in the place that you're reviewing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the phones are too smart. Google knows that the IP address, so you can't be connected to the Wi-Fi of the facility.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've had clients try to do it while they're sitting in our waiting room and then they don't go through. Or they can see them on their end, we can't see them on our end, so we have learned that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, google does a really good job of making sure that it's as true as possible.
Speaker 1:Legitimate. Right right, all right. Have a great week everybody. Hope everybody fared well. Ciao for now.
Speaker 2:Like subscribe share.
Speaker 1:Thank you for subscribing on your social media and podcast platforms to the Berman Method Dr Jake Berman with Berman Physical Therapy and Jenny Berman, physician Assistant with Berman Health and Wellness. You can find more information on our website wwwbermanptcom for physical therapy. Wwwbermanptcom forward slash wellness for the health and wellness. You can also find us on social media, facebook, instagram, and on your podcast platform, so be sure to follow us, like us, subscribe to us and, if you would like any further information, definitely visit our website and reach out to us. You may also find our free reports on the websites as well, where you can download this free information for yourself. Have a great day.