One of the biggest challenges in social event management is understanding how to optimise your…
How To Respond On Social Media and Avoid Those PR Disasters
How to respond on social media presents a challenge for many businesses.
Some businesses do not think they need to listen to your customers and react to negative comments. Some of these comments might not actually be a customer.
Either way, you need to be able to deal with a range of responses that arise.
Chances are if you think that your company is one of the lucky few that has yet to receive any, it only means you haven’t seen it. (Most likely, your customers simply didn’t tag you in their posts, leaving you blissfully unaware of any problems.)
So what do you do when you receive (or find) negative feedback on social, for all to see? Don’t despair – all is not lost.
The first rule you need to do is learn to be patient and do your homework. Before you fire off any messages or respond to any posts consider the following guidelines to help you monitor and manage negative comments and complaints.
This simple rules will stop things escalating and becoming a major PR disaster.
The first and most important step is to monitor your brand online – understand your brand reputation.
Customers will often make this easy by sending you negative feedback directly, or they’ll tag your business/service or product in a post.
However, sometimes you won’t know if you aren’t tagged.
Only 3% of people who complain about a company on-line will actually tag that company in their posts.
Social listening can help you stay on top of your brand reputation by alerting you to any negative online mentions of your brand.
Is someone a troll? Or are they a legitimate customer with a complaint? (There’s a difference between a complaint and an insult, especially in terms of how they should be handled.)
So many people want to know how to respond on social media.
First of all, let’s look at the two types of negative comments that you need to respond to.
The first are those complaints that are valid Real complaints are problems that customers are having that you need to address.
It is your chance to demonstrate that customers are important, that you care about the quality of service and want to be helpful and fix any issues in your business.
Genuine Complaints
When a customer complaint is genuine it will probably arise through one of your social media channels – the key is to take action quickly.
Many people now expect a quick response on channels like Twitter. Respondents to The Social Habit who have ever attempted to contact a brand, product, or company through social media for customer support, 32% expect a response within 30 minutes. Remarkably, 42% expect a response within 60 minutes.
Is your company prepared to handle social media inquiries within the hour?
If you take this approach you will most likely gain your customer’s trust and continued loyalty and they will become a raving fan.
What are trolls? Well, Trolls are members of the public are not customers and unrelated to your business.
The worst part though is that they use very emotive language to get you to react, and if do indeed react then they have won.
Trolls are attention seekers and thrive on gaining public responses.
Typically they themselves have small networks but rely on your span of influence to get attention.
To take the wind out of their sail you need to not let them use your social media channels.
The tone you use to respond determines how you will be perceived.
So be keep the mood light and friendly. If there is a genuine problem, admit it.
Use your customer service policy here: the customer is always right (unless it is a completely unfounded complaint).
If you need to find out which social media tools then check out the startup tools section.
For the same reasons that the police will document and photograph a crime scene, you should too, because:
Documenting negative feedback will also give you something concrete to use for training purposes later. Both current and future team members can learn from this exchange, so keep it on file. It’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll refer back to it later.
Keep in mind that an impersonal response like the one above only goes for situations that cannot be immediately addressed. If it’s something that can be taken care of right away, then:
The point is, you need to do everything you can to decrease customer dissatisfaction. And visibly, for all to see. This way, audiences who may have seen the original piece of negative feedback also have a chance to see the professional way that your company handles it.
Things happen. If you haven’t run into negative on-line feedback yet, it’s just a matter of time.
This is a fact that both companies and customers are aware of, so while your customers won’t be completely surprised by a malfunction (not to say that they won’t still be disappointed), they will be eagerly awaiting your response.
How you handle the situation is of utmost importance. A small token of your appreciation for their support can go a long way in maintaining it. Need I remind you?
It costs 5X more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one.
So, you’re on top of things and have followed through with the first 5 steps of your action plan for handling negative on-line feedback: you’ve found the feedback, acknowledged the problem, documented it, apologized and made up for any inconveniences, and followed-up with the customers as necessary. Phew.
You’ve been busy, but it doesn’t really stop there. An integral part of your success depends on your relationship with your customers, and this is definitely worth investing in.
Continue to track what your customers say about your brand on-line and handle any new negative feedback that comes up.
Monitor mentions of your brand with a social listening tool like Brand24 to receive real-time alerts of any negative on-line feedback about your company.
Keep in mind: customers don’t always tag businesses in their posts, negative or positive. But this doesn’t mean that they don’t expect a response.
Dealing with or preparing to deal with negative feedback? Refer to the infographic up top. Use it and respond to your customers.
When your customers feel like they’ve been prioritized (can you really afford not to?), and you’ve done all that you possibly can to make it up to them, this won’t go unnoticed.
Even though it might have started with negative feedback, the way you handle it (and the key is to respond) can actually help you build trust for your brand among your audience – including dissatisfied customers.
Monitor your brand on a regular basis to ensure you react quickly to customers and to manage your brand reputation.