Impact Over Praise.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is a reminder to focus on the positive impact you have on others, even when criticism comes your way.

My wife, Moonie Garcia, runs a premium, artisanal, handmade wrapping paper and greeting card business. Her customers absolutely love everything she creates. One year for Christmas, I ordered a large poster frame and decided to surprise her by compiling her 5-star reviews into a giant poster to hang on the wall of her workshop.

Well, as I started gathering the reviews, I hadn’t anticipated that they would be so wordy. I thought people might say, “It’s great. I love it,” or something quick like that. But no. These people were writing a couple of paragraphs describing their brother’s birthday party, who attended, what he wore, the food they ate, and how the wrapping paper had changed his world and made him a better man. I quickly realized that this was going to be a bigger project than I thought.

To fit as many reviews on the poster as possible, I reduced the font size down to 18, then 14, then 12, then 10, and there were still too many reviews remaining. So, I decided to make a couple of posters and ordered another frame. She has a really big wall in her workshop, so that’ll work out. Using only the 5-star reviews, I filled both posters, and there were still many more reviews to go.

If you’re going to do a thing, you have to go all the way, right? Besides, it just didn’t feel right to disregard any of her best reviews. So, I kept ordering more frames and making more posters. By the time I had included every 5-star review, I had filled two dozen giant poster frames. When I hung them up in her workshop, every square inch of that wall was covered in posters. It was a lovely surprise!

One day, she received her first and only 1-star review. It was from a guy named Danny who simply said, “Not enough paper.” I remember her mentioning that she got a bad review. Even with an entire wall filled with over 2,300 5-star reviews, there was this one person somewhere out there who hadn’t been completely thrilled out of their mind with the product, and it bothered her. 

I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t the one bad review making her doubt herself or her products, but rather how deeply she genuinely cares about every customer. That single review from Danny bothered her because her motivation doesn’t come from the positive reviews she receives, but from the positive experiences she creates. This reminds us that our focus should be on how we impact others and strive to make a meaningful difference, and most of the time, it will be just as today’s fortune says, "Someone is speaking well of you."