Women entrepreneurs face several challenges today when it comes to managing their businesses. Running a business can be a rollercoaster ride of sorts with several ups and downs involved. Regardless of how good your product may be or how well you think your team operates, there are bound to be some customers who just won’t come to like your service.
Disgruntled customers often turn to social media to leave negative comments. It is common, it is unavoidable, and it is something you need to handle well; why? Because social media is where people come and review your interactions with customers. If you’ve been bickering and fighting with every negative commenter, the chances are that you’ll scare potential customers away.
If you don’t want angry tweets and comments on Facebook to ruin your leads and scare your customers away, you should learn how to respond to negative comments on your business’s social media. Stay with us as we take you through the process to do so.
Don’t Ignore Negative Comments.
What’s worse than an angry customer? An angry customer who has not been heard! If you have a negative review or comment by an angry customer on your social media, you should make sure that you at least respond to them and try to find out more about the negative experience they had. Not responding to an angry client will give the customer and other social media users a reason to dislike your brand even more.
Brand building is only possible if you are maintaining public relationships and are communicating accordingly with customers. Try to reply to all comments on your social media, regardless of whether they are positive, neutral, or negative. This eventually allows you to connect better with customers and gives you a chance to find out more about them.
If you run your own business and put your heart and soul into it, you must talk to customers, especially those who aren’t satisfied. Dealing with negativity might be a challenge, but you have to overcome it to succeed strategically.
Apologize If You Can
There is an adage that says ‘the customer is always right. Go by this principle, even if you disagree with the point of view your customer has to offer. You should take the high road and apologize because this is the first step to conflict resolution.
The apology should be as loud as the problem is. If you’re dealing with a negative review from a single customer on your social media, a single public apology in the comments will do. But if you are dealing with a media scandal that has spread across local newspapers, an apology should be prepared by you to make sure that things don’t escalate. There are multiple examples of CEOs and entrepreneurs who have apologized in the face of significant problems.
Don’t Give False Hopes.
Most entrepreneurs and social media managers are tempted into making false promises and giving false hopes to customers just to calm down the situation at hand. Do not promise to return money or replace a product without analyzing the situation. The promise of a replacement or return might make the customer happy, but will you be able to live up to it and consistently promise the same to all negative reviewers?
Negative situations can further ease if you make false promises and don’t live up to them. No one likes a brand that initiates false hopes and does not live up to them.
Be Polite
It is hard to remain polite and calm when you’re dealing with negative and inadequate comments, but there are times you have to be this way. You can save the reputation and integrity of your brand by remaining polite and maintaining composure in the face of challenges.
Remember not to use swear words in comments when talking to customers and not blaming customers. If your loyal customers and new leads see you degrading other negative reviewers in the comment section, they’re bound to turn their backs on you. Don’t push new and repeat customers away through this behavior.
Take It Away from the Public Eye
If you have a negative commenter looking to initiate a war of words, your first course of action should be to take the argument away from the public eye. Comments are easily viewable to everyone; hence you should try to bring the commenter to their messages or some other personal space. Once there, you can hear them out and even present your opinion, if any. Discuss the problem one-to-one with them, away from the scrutinizing eyes of other social media users around you.
Personalize Responses
If you’re personally responding to customers who aren’t happy with your services, you should send a personalized message to the customer rather than a copied message by a bot. The letter should look like it is written by a natural person and should sound personalized. Most customers don’t like communicating with a bot, based on the inactivity within the interaction.
Explain Yourself
More often than not, brands on social media do not put in the effort to explain their perspective and clear their viewpoint. The inability to present your perspective can make customers feel even more frustrated, as they do not appreciate the lack of response. Apologize to negative reviewers and let them know what led to the disappointment in their experience. Please give them your perspective and reach an understanding.
Negative comments on social media are not a big problem if managed appropriately in the manner suggested above. However, inappropriate or delayed responses to negative comments can trigger negative feedback and even lead to losing loyal and new customers.
