“I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain” – Jane Wagner
Complaining – we all do it. There’s no doubt that the reputation of complaints has worsened with the advent of the internet. However, just because someone has something negative to say doesn’t necessarily mean this is a bad thing.
If anything, if your business receives a complaint, you can use the complaint as a form of constructive criticism. It’s basically an opportunity to learn.
Complaints are common on social media, especially if they’re directed straight at a company or business. The important thing is to know how to resolve them correctly.
Here is a list of five things you must do when you receive complaints on social media.
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- Never delete negative comments
An absolute no-brainer, under no circumstances should you just simply delete any negative comments that you receive on social media.
There are four reasons for this:
1) If you silence the person and their feedback, they’ll comment again with the exact same response. They may even do this numerous times in an attempt to get a response from you.
2) The user will be angrier because of how you ignored them. Obviously, the last thing you want is an unhappy customer or user.
3) They’ll post their comment in a place where you can’t remove it. They may even mention how you’ve been ignoring them altogether.
4) It provides the overall assumption that you and your business aren’t good at taking criticism. This is the biggest problem out of these four reasons, and will undoubtedly give you a bad public image.
- Have a quick response
It’s essential that you respond to any complaints as soon as they’ve been posted. Granted, you may have quite a few comments that need a response, but it’s ideal that you reply to the user within an hour.
Obviously, you might not be able to resolve the problem instantly, but by responding to users, you’re acknowledging their concerns and showing that you’re looking into the problem. You could even go the next step and tell them how soon they could receive a follow-up response to your initial one if you can estimate how long it will take to resolve the issue.
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- Admit there’s a problem and apologise
You should always admit to a problem that’s on your end. By doing so, you’re taking ownership for it and not passing the blame onto someone else.
When you acknowledge that there’s an issue, you should also apologise for it as well. Your apology mustn’t be prewritten, i.e. from a script that you have prepared should this situation occur.
Scripted apologies appear emotionless and create an artificial, robot-like impression. You’ll want to appear human (because you are!) and sound as though you’re speaking naturally, as if the exchange was taking place in-person and not via typed words. A lot of people don’t like a response that lacks emotion, as it gives the impression of not just a chatbot, but a person who doesn’t care about their users or customers.
- Offer a solution
Regardless of whether or not the problem can be fixed, you should unquestionably provide a solution to the customer to satisfy their needs. They have not received the proper service or care that they were promised, so you’ll need to compensate for it.
There are a number of ways you can make up for the mistake you or your business has made. You could offer a discount on a particular item or product, or even offer something for free to show how sorry you are for causing the customer trouble. Even a simple gift can mean a lot.
- Follow things up
Just because you’ve responded to a complaint doesn’t mean the customer’s problem has been fixed. Allow a few days to pass before you send a follow-up message to the customer and ask if the issue has been resolved.
Doing so will help you keep track of the details of the problem itself, and also provides you with the opportunity to receive feedback on your customer’s experience with your business.
This was just a handful of ways for you and your business to resolve any complaints you might receive on your social media. If you’d like more help with online management, contact us today at Floodmaker.