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Do you regularly read customer comments on your company’s social media sites or other service rating sites? Do negative comments feel like a punch in your gut? And do negative comments by your customers catch you by total surprise?
Real World Story: Social media is prevalent. And for many of your customers, it’s simply a way of normal life—as normal as waking up in the morning. And in no other time in human history have people had a stronger voice than now through social media platforms. And customers waste no time in posting how they feel when they think they are wronged—from anything as minor as a mispronounced name to major affronts like late or missed scheduled appointments, to rude service agents, to being taken for granted or taken advantage of—all of which leave customers feeling as though they don’t matter. And let’s not forget, social media comments are as public as a hanging in the local town square in the old West and open for all to see—and judge you.
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Reply to Social Media Comments Quickly. From the public’s perspective, not seeing a reply from an offending company is worse than an actual customer’s negative comments. Complaints should be responded to within a couple of hours.
- Listen to Learn. If you keep seeing the same negative comment again and again, like long wait times on the phone during certain hours of operation, then listen to your customers to learn everything you can on how you are consistently failing them.
- Review and Fix. Keep your social media sites updated with progress reports on how you are fixing a problem when you are handling customer complaints that originate there. While you certainly won’t share private or specific information, you can leave general comments to ensure readers get the sense that you care about your customers and their needs.
- Ask Happy Customers for Endorsements. Whenever possible, ask happy customers for endorsements on your social media sites and other rating services. Also, it is especially helpful to get comments from customers who have previously complained online, so they can post a new comment about how you effectively fixed their problem. Always ensure that such solicitations do not break any of the terms of service of any social media or rating site. For example, Yelp greatly discourages companies from soliciting reviews.
- Be Transparent About Problems. It’s always best to get ahead of foreseeable issues like a website shut down for maintenance, or you discover a problem with a product or service and already know it and are already working on a fix. In such cases, always be upfront and transparent. Informing customers ahead of time will go a long way to avoiding the bulk of negative comments on social media.
Remember: Social media is prevalent—and very public. For many of your customers, social media is a part of their everyday life. And such online platforms give everyone a level playing field that gives them a louder voice than ever before, especially when they feel mistreated and want to voice a complaint. How you handle comments on social media platforms can and may make or break your customer service reputation. How will you handle your next customer complaint via social media?
How do YOU handle negative social media comments and complaints? Please share your comments and stories.