Bad comments and reviews can be discouraging for all business owners. But if you think twice, they can be your best way to know what is not working inside your company, and what practices you can change to satisfy the needs of your clients.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are excellent customer service platforms, and obviously, your business will receive positive reviews as well as complaints about quality of service, products, storefront or employees.
Delete vs. Response
Some companies think that deleting comments or blocking users are the only effective strategies to deal against bad reviews or complaints , but the smartest thing you can do as a small business owner is to give to your users a quick and concise answer, all based on their feeling towards your service/product and taking proactive action against their problem.
According to The Retail Consumer Report, commissioned by RightNow, of those customers who received a reply in response to their negative review 33% turned around and posted a positive review, and 34% deleted their original negative review. So, if a situation like this occurs, you will have the opportunity to improve your brand and at the same time, build connections with your audience.
Paying attention and responding sincerely to consumer’s negative comments on social media can make a big difference to your business. Here is advice to keep in mind:
- Before making an statement, get to know well the situation and speak with the personnel involved.
- Ask for advice from your social media team. If you don’t have one calm down… there are communities of small businesses that can help you.
- Google Small Business Community.
- Or…. we can help. We are social media experts!
- Research the user who posted the negative comment.
- Acknowledge problem, apologize and find solution.
- If the conversation turns into a delicate term, offer a number or email to speak privately with your customer.
- Don’t be rude or attack your customer, never.
- Avoid going back-and-forth. Clear and concise answers work very well.
- Be proactive. Example: If a customer is having an issue with their order, don’t just apologize, go beyond that, find a solution to their problem.
Good news
You can always avoid this type of situations on your social media channels. Things like carefully managing access to your social media accounts, maintaining your website with up to date and correct information, hiring an experienced community manager, like us!, being clear about your brand’s voice and finally the most important aspect of all by focusing on customer service & customer experience at your point of service / product. If your customers are leaving happy there is no room for bad reviews or complaints.
In social media, users can be fans or haters, friends or enemies of brands and a digital marketing team knows how to deal with them, applying professional knowledge and best practices to promoting your business is part of being a serious and valued company.
