It is important for businesses to embrace the fact that in this digital age, platform members will utilise social media as a customer service tool for the purpose of interacting with a brand directly.
Not only is this a great opportunity for a business to nurture and grow a dedicated following, it is a great tool to digitally support the growth of your business too.
Online platforms also lend themselves to the dissatisfied customers, so understanding how to respond to unhappy or profanity-riddled comments, is an important aspect of customer management. The important rule when facing this situation is, to not let anger control you.
Rules and Regulations:
Setting platform guidelines for members to adhere too, sets acceptable standards from the word go. Introducing these in a tab will support the removal of any profanities or any ‘law breaking’ comments left, which do not fall in line with your policy. In these cases, it is okay to remove comments which are are offensive to your platform members. Protocol dictates that you will need to leave a reply explaining why this has been removed but that you will be addressing the points, which have been raised immediately in a private message
Manners:
Always be polite – Your followers and the commenters’ followers will see platform interaction so remember you are representing your business’ reputation. Don’t tarnish your brand.
Stick to the facts:
Made a mistake? Always hold your hands up and rectify the situation. You may have made an error, so accept this.If you find someone has made a judgement on incorrect facts, your response should correct their mistake.
Be punctual:
Some of the time, users find their way to social media with a negative comment due to feeling ignored in the first place. It is vital to respond in a timely manner.
Ignore the trolls:
Some people are just out to cause trouble, it happens! However, you must not bite, no matter how much they may antagonise. It is recommended that you professionally respond once to their comment and give them the correct information. Most platform members are able to spot a troublemaker. Your reputation will not be tarnished by dealing with the situation calmly and factually.
Private message:
Taking the conversation away from the public’s eye is a good idea. Acknowledge all negative posts left so public can see you are taking the situation seriously and request for the user to send you their direct contact details to you are able to address the case in depth.
Address the masses:
If you find there may be a reoccurring pattern of complaints around one main issue, it is beneficial to respond to all members at the same time by adding a message in the form of a letter or video, acknowledging the issues raised, but the voice of many and how you intend to respond to their requests/complaints.
Here at StrategiQ Marketing, we take our responsibility of social media management very seriously. To find out more about our services please click here.