Despite all efforts to provide the best possible service, there may be times when you need to deal with negative comments on social media. Once you receive a negative comment, you may be wondering how to proceed; while timeliness is important, it’s even more important to keep your cool and respond in a personable, professional way. Below are 6 simple steps for managing negative social media comments.
6 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Review comment: Read the message carefully to fully understand your client’s complaint. Start to brainstorm solutions to resolve the issue.
Step 2 – Document comment: Take a screenshot of the message to document the comment in case you need to refer back to it. Be sure to capture the date and time for reference.
Step 3 – Keep comment (don’t delete it): If you’re considering deleting the negative comment, don’t do it. Deleting comments conveys that you don’t care about unhappy customers or may have something to hide. Responding to the situation is not only the right thing to do from a customer service standpoint, but it shows the public that you’re transparent, value your customers, and want to make things right.
NOTE: Unfortunately, there may be times when inappropriate comments should be deleted. If you feel that a comment is hateful or derogatory, use your best judgment and take it down. You may also notice comments from obvious trolls (people trying to hijack the conversation by making irrelevant comments based on the original post); these types of posts can be ignored or deleted if they’re inappropriate.
Step 4 – Respond quickly: Time is of the essence. We live in a world of immediacy, and people have grown accustomed to short wait times—or no wait times at all. Monitor your comments daily and whatever you’re doing, switch gears to address the negative comment as soon as you see it. Your quick response time will be appreciated and won’t go unnoticed.
Step 5 – Respond respectfully: Compose your response with the basics of good customer service in mind. Let the customer know you apologize for their unsatisfactory experience, and that you value their business; offer a solution to make things right with the understanding that your response will be public, and that other followers / potential customers may judge it.
TIP: Proof read your response before submitting it, and ask yourself if you’d feel comfortable saying it in a face-to-face interaction with the customer.
Step 6 – Confirm satisfaction: Keep a close eye on your comments in case the same person follows-up, and track activity from other followers that may arise as a result of your response.
It helps to view negative comments as an opportunity rather than a problem; it gives your business an opportunity to shine, show your depth of commitment to reach a resolution, and strive for complete satisfaction from your customers. If done well, you can turn a negative comment or unhappy customer into a loyal fan of your company / products all by how you handle the situation. It’s not the problem that they’ll remember — it’s the way you handled it!
If you need a hand staying on top of your social media comments, we can help. Learn more about our full range of social media services here.
— Amy
