To paraphrase John Lydgate, you can’t please everyone all the time. As more people begin to utilize the internet and social-media to communicate with businesses and one-another, there are bound to be miscommunications. As anyone who’s ever received negative feedback through Yelp or on their own pages can attest, it can be a frustrating, anxiety-inducing experience. In the best circumstances, when you have control over the page, you can simply delete the offending comment, but if deletion is not an option, there are other methods to manage online criticism and complaints. Listed below are a few tips that will help you or your business in handling negative social media feedback in a professional and productive way.
1. Plan for a negative comment – It is nearly inevitable that you will displease someone at some point. Plan a strategy in advance to address any complaints or unhappy customers. Handled correctly you can increase communication with the customer, improve your ability to communicate, gain trust from other customers, and ultimately make the customer satisfied. By already having an effective strategy in place to aid in dealing with negative social-media posts, you will be prepared and able to fix promptly whatever the issue or miscommunication may be. Remember that your handling of the situation will be on view for the internet to see. You can’t afford to drive off prospective business by being indignant.
2. Respond quickly – A timely response is important to show customers that you genuinely care about their concerns. Monitor all of your social-media sites daily in order to keep up with your comments, both positive and hopefully only occasionally, negative. (For more information of the importance of monitoring all of your social-media platforms click here.) Try to be in the habit of responding to comments once each day, more if time allows. A delayed reply may communicate that your customers or readership are just not that important. Having a mobile device linked to all of your social-media sites can be very helpful, allowing you to ameliorate potential problems very quickly. (Click on the link to learn How Going Mobile Can Better Your Marketing Campaign.)
3. Own up to your mistake – If you or your business make a mistake, don’t try to hide it, instead take full responsibility. Deleting the comment or ignoring it may only cause the situation to worsen. Most people understand that there are humans behind each business and mistakes and miscommunication happens. If necessary, make a public apology and resolve the issue.
4. Explain – If your customer is unhappy, they are only voicing their unhappiness to receive an explanation and have the problem fixed. A simple “sorry we will try to fix that” or “we plan to address that issue in the future” will not suffice if you want to maintain a good relationship with your clients. Explain the situation to the customer, why there was a mistake, and assure them it will be fixed as soon as possible. Also thank them for their comments, and for bringing the problem to your attention. Ask them to please let you know if they have any future problems.
5. Offer an incentive – When it comes to handling complaints from your clients you may need to offer an incentive to help them feel better, retract or amend their comment and move on. Offering a free or discounted product, service, or upgrade may resuscitate the relationship. In the best instances, that unhappy customer may be so pleased with your handling of the situation that they refer new business to you.
6. Keep in mind that people are watching you – Be aware that your followers and customers are watching how you respond and will judge you based on your reply. Offering a timely and professional solution will only serve to bolster your reputation among customers, colleagues and others in the industry. (For more tips on how to handle a social-media crisis click here.)
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