Skaalen Google Reviews & Reputation Management

Overview

This article documents the approach used with Skaalen Retirement Services for managing Google reviews, responding to negative feedback, and selecting testimonials for website integration. The practices here reflect decisions made during the October 2025 monthly marketing call.

Related: ^[1], ^[2]

Negative Review Response Strategy

The Situation

Skaalen had a one-star Google review from 2024 — a notable drop from a previously five-star reviewer. The context: the reviewer had taken a family member home, had a difficult experience, then attempted to return the resident to Skaalen's care. When Skaalen declined readmission, the reviewer left a negative review.

What Was Done

• The Skaalen team responded directly to the review through Google.
• The reviewer never followed up (no call, no message) after the response.
• The team considered flagging the review under Google's policy categories (conflict of interest, harassment, etc.) but determined the review was too old to pursue removal effectively.

Key Takeaway

"You did everything you needed to do." — Melissa Cusumano

Once a professional response has been posted and the reviewer does not escalate, the matter is effectively closed. Google reviews are not purged automatically; the response itself serves as the public record of how the organization handled the concern.

Guidance for similar situations:
1. Respond promptly and professionally — acknowledge the concern without admitting fault.
2. Invite the reviewer to contact the organization directly (phone/email).
3. If no follow-up occurs, the response stands as sufficient.
4. Flagging for removal is worth attempting for reviews that contain provably false claims, harassment, or conflict of interest — but success is not guaranteed and older reviews are harder to act on.

Testimonial Selection for Website

Current State (as of October 2025)

• The Skaalen homepage had only a single testimonial displayed, with no rotation.
• A testimonial from "Patty D." had been sent to the Asymmetric team in July 2025 but had not yet been added to the site.
• The goal is a rotating carousel of 3–4 testimonials on the homepage.

Source: Google Reviews

The team identified pulling testimonials directly from existing five-star Google reviews as the most efficient path. Melissa Cusumano agreed to:

1. Review Skaalen's Google review history.
2. Select a set of strong candidates.
3. Send selections to Dawn Zaemisch for internal review and approval before publishing.

Approval Workflow

"As long as we would just take a quick look at them before you posted them." — Kris Krentz

All testimonials sourced from Google should go through a client-side approval step before being added to the website. This protects against inadvertently surfacing reviews that reference sensitive situations or individuals.

Recommended workflow:
1. Agency selects 4–6 candidate reviews from Google.
2. Selections sent to client contact (Dawn) via email.
3. Client reviews and approves a final set (typically 3–4).
4. Agency adds approved testimonials to the rotating homepage widget.

Action Items (from October 2025 call)

• [ ] Melissa — Select candidate testimonials from Skaalen's Google reviews and send to Dawn for approval.
• [ ] Dawn — Distribute candidates internally and collect feedback for final selection.
• [ ] Asymmetric team — Add approved testimonials to homepage rotating carousel once selections are confirmed.
• [ ] Asymmetric team — Locate and confirm whether the Patty D. testimonial (sent July 21, 2025) was previously added anywhere on the site.

Related Notes

• The negative review discussed is from 2024 and has already been responded to — no further action required unless the reviewer re-engages.
• Website testimonial widget implementation is tracked alongside other homepage updates: ^[3]
• For broader context on this call's marketing performance discussion, see ^[4]