Interacting with your customers on social media is a great way to build your business and maintain a strong online presence, but inevitably, not all of the comments you receive will be positive. To protect the reputation of your brand, it's important to know what to do when your social media outlets receive negative comments.
Put a Positive Spin on Negative Comments
The way that you respond to negative feedback on social media will make all the difference in protecting your reputation.
If someone has an in-depth complaint, ask for their contact details and explain that somebody from your company will contact them to resolve the matter. This is a good option because any further complaint details will be dealt with privately and it will show on your social media account that, as a business, you actively work to resolve complaints.
For simpler negative comments, like somebody commenting that you never have the product they want in stock, a good response would be to apologize and offer to make a special order of the item.
Trying to appease the customer who has had a bad experience is always a good idea. It will keep that customer coming back to you and it will put your company in a good light on social media. However, you should refrain from publicly appeasing customers with gift vouchers or coupons. If other people spot that your company gives 20% off coupons to people who complain, that will only serve to encourage more negative comments. When responding to negative comments, you should be:
- Polite
- Sincere
- Working towards a resolution
Balance the Bad with the Good
You can't please everyone and other people reading your negative comments will understand this. Don't delete negative comments because people will notice this and it will make your company look dishonest and as if you have something to hide. Customers appreciate transparency and having negative comments on your social media sites will show them that you are an honest business.
Having negative comments on your social media page isn't necessarily a bad thing if you have handled them well and you can work to counteract the negative comments with posts from happy customers.
- Encourage happy customers to post on your social media site
- Publish positive reviews online
- Retweet or share any good feedback you receive
Don't Engage with Haters
Always respond to negative comments in a calm and professional manner. You can block someone from posting on your social media accounts if they persistently post comments that are:
- Offensive
- Rude
- Abusive
- Have no truth
To ensure that the reputation of your business does not get damaged, you should always maintain the higher ground.
Closing with one final piece of advice - Do not engage with Internet trolls because no one wins!