The price of unfettered access to online mass communication? The reality of customers, employees or the media saying things about your company you’d rather they didn’t. From a blurt on your social page, to a rip on Yelp, to a blogger eager to turn your misfortune into his click bait, the “oh, crap!” potential is always there.
Shifting from traditional external communication to damage control takes an eye for public relations, a genuine concern about customer satisfaction, and a way with words that lets you say your piece without coming off as defensive, denying or deflecting the problem away from your company.
Complaints to Your Sites: How to Do it Right
One school of thought says that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But really, do you want to be known as the company that “unleashed an insane rant” following a negative review?
When negative comments appear on media you control – primarily your websites and social pages, but also your email – you're in a good position to respond to them quickly and conclusively.
Ironically, a negative review can even be a benefit to your business. Handled right, it demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Watch What You Post
A Reputation Management expert gave Forbes some suggestions:
- “You don’t have to tweet every day—doing it a few times a month is a good idea, especially if it is relevant to what you do.”
- “Also, don’t post a lot of photos to social media, in general, about your families.”
- “Basically, don’t over-share. If you don’t know who the joker is on your social media page, it’s you.”
Get on It
The longer a negative Facebook or Twitter comment sits there unaddressed, the more motivation others have to pile on. Ideally, you or your inbound marketing partners should have a Google Alerts account in place to monitor incoming posts on all your pages.
Do Not Delete
Unless the post is obviously over-the-top profane, offensive, threatening or slanderous, you’ll get much more out of addressing the problem than masking it.
Check Your Ego
Unhappy customers are part of every business. The web’s ability to broadcast complaints can cause headaches, but don’t turn them into migraines by engaging in an online spat. People are watching to see how you respond and, frankly, they love catching someone being caught in the act of being a jerk.
Be Yourself
Let the poster know that an actual human is addressing her complaint. Whenever possible, use the first person (“I”) instead of the corporate “we.”
Use the “S” Word
“I’m sorry.” That’s really the gist of your response, and a sincere “sorry” evokes emotional response in a way that “mistakes were made” cannot match.
Detail the Next Steps
An apology goes much further when you follow it up with the steps you’ll take to remedy the problem. That means more detail than “we’ll look into it,” but not so far-fetched as “starting today, we’re changing this product forever.”
Follow Up
Did your company use a complaint to put things right? Follow up on the original posting: “Just wanted to let you know we have investigated the widget that’s been giving customers problems, and we adjusted the Johnson Rod so that it provides better service.”
Share!
If you’re fortunate enough to have satisfied people with your response (as measured in “likes,” comments or shares) why not highlight it on your website or via email?
Complaints on Third-Party Sites: How to Do it Wrong
Not all complaints start and end directly with your website or social page, of course. A few years ago, third-party websites with catchy monikers like [Company Name Here] Sucks were all the rage. Of course, now you’ll find these sites on Facebook, so even more disgruntled consumers can share their grievances.
One of these – a man who actually bills himself as Disgruntled Consumer – posted in 2011 about American Airlines when a stroller he owned was damaged in transit and AA denied his claim.
An American Airlines Customer Relations rep replied to the "Sucks" Facebook page, in a lengthy post that fairly boils over with boilerplate verbiage.
- It doesn’t start well. His first paragraph brands AA as slow-moving: I know you emailed us some time ago and have been waiting for a reply. Thank you for your patience. (No, thank you for finally responding.)
- The rep then spends some paragraphs spelling out the airline’s baggage liability policy, which automatically releases American Airlines from responsibility for fragile items. (In other words, Disgruntled Consumer, this is your problem, not ours.)
- Later on, he bids farewell: Thanks for this opportunity to expound upon some of our policies and procedures ... .We look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon, and thank you for flying American. (If there's one thing consumers keep clamoring for, it's those expounding opportunities.)
And do you think the airline sounded a tad presumptuous in “looking forward” to having this guy as a passenger again? If online venting taught us one thing, it’s that the angriest experience a public epiphany. In other words, it’s not likely Disgruntled Consumer would say, “By golly, American has a point. Was I wrong!”— to the world.
Instead, Disgruntled Consumer took American up on its invitation: I will NEVER fly your airlines again... I have already started my own Facebook page in anticipation of you rejecting my claim … I will be posting your pathetic response on the page, as well as my retort.
So there.
A Word about Those User-Generated Review Sites (*Cough* Yelp *Cough*)
A huge go-to for consumers, user-generated review sites have nonetheless come under fire for fake reviews. Last September, a sting operation caught businesses paying for positive Yelp ratings; at the same time, ax-grinders, trollers and competitive companies post highly negative stuff. People are starting to get that: In April 2013, a Maritz survey found that just 53 percent of consumers called Yelp information accurate (compared to 59 percent for TripAdvisor and Zagat.)
So take your user-generated reviews with a grain of salt. When you see something nasty, “don’t freak out,” advises Imavex. Instead, assess the posting for things like over-written text, lack of detail, phrases like “worst ever” and !!! punctuation – typical signifiers of a fake negative review. If a complaint looks legit, use your account access to reach out to the poster privately. If you wish to respond publicly, use your most professional, courteous tone and clearly state how you will handle the problem.
