Everyone who promotes their brand, services or products on the internet, social networks, comparison shopping engines, and the like must count on occasional negative comments from dissatisfied customers. The internet gives people enormous power in the form of numerous ways to share their experiences.
If you get a negative post, don’t panic and stay cool. Follow these tips and you’ll be able to handle any sign of a crisis, no problem.
Better to read it twice
Even though the urge to respond to not-so-happy comments is strong, don’t let it get the better of you. Take a deep breath and carefully read the comment to make sure you’re not taking it the wrong way. Do the same when you write your response. Check what you wrote and make sure your response is polite and professional. Once something is put online, it stays there forever – as can be seen by the links to two cases below.
ALWAYS respond
There’s nothing worse than ignoring comments you find unpleasant. Every comment, good or bad, deserves your appropriate response. This let’s your customers know their opinions matter to you.
Don’t wait too long
Yes, you should take the time to write a good response, but be careful not to take too long. It could be taken as a snub, and complaints could start to pile up. The problem needs to be nipped in the bud. Even if you can’t resolve the unpleasant situation right away, write to let them know you’re looking for a solution. This will give you some extra time, and when you find a solution you can go back to the negative comment any time.
Deal with it “in private”
Sometimes a problem is specific to one particular customer. Ask the customer to send you an email or their telephone number and try to help them. You could also move the conversation to messages, Facebook in particular offers plenty of related options in the Pages application. You can make notes for each customer about their previous complications, creating a sort of micro CRM system. You’ll only look better in the eyes of the person who made the complaint if you use this individual approach.
Admit your mistakes
If something really is your fault, don’t be afraid to admit it. Don’t make various excuses nobody is interested in. Sometimes a simple apology and a promise to right the wrong is enough. You don’t want to come across as arrogant, like here.
Do better
Don’t take negative comments as personal failure, but rather as useful feedback that will help you do better next time. Learn from every dissatisfied person and use their admonitions to change for the better, and those negative comments will dwindle.
These six simple tips will help you keep any complaints against you on the internet from growing into a big crisis. Use them in your communication and you’ll see how little it takes to improve your online image. Finally, try to take inspiration from the biggest flight search engine Skyscanner, whose social media manager Jen gained huge popularity in just a few days with her humorous response to a customer’s complaint.
