Social media users love to complain. Sometimes I think that the sole purpose of many is to complain. I have to admit, I too am guilty of throwing the negatives out there for the world to see in hopes that the company who “wronged” me will make things better. We all do it.
As a business owner a complaint can sting. Luckily we can handle it publicly and change the way the customer feels about us.
If you don’t know why you should respond, you should read this article that I wrote here.
4 Steps To Handling A Complaint Like A Saint
1. Come Up With A Clear Strategy Before Hand
This is something that you need to have a system for. When people say things online that can potentially hurt your reputation what will you do? You need to figure out what types of things you will respond publicly to, what types of things you’ll take offline, and what types of things you’ll ignore all together.
2. Come Up With A List Of Possible Scenarios & Responses
Think of every single question or complaint that has ever been brought up and store them in a document that you can come to later. Underneath each complaint have a response ready or a link ready to point the complainer in the right direction. This will help you monitor which complaints come up the most and if you are ever hiring or firing someone you know where to find the answers for quick response.
3. Define Who Will Deal With Customer Complaints Online
Will you be the one responding? Will it be an employee? Whoever will do the responding it needs to be clear so that nothing falls through the cracks. This is important. If you ignore the wrong person for too long a storm could brew and be potentially disastrous to your reputation online.
4. Respond Quickly
Most people expect a response within an hour. Yes, we social media folk are demanding aren’t we? Obviously complaints during the middle of the night can wait until morning, but if you are hearing things during business hours, it should be taken care of as soon as possible.
How do you respond to nay-sayers on social media?
