Tutorial on Responding Professionally to Social Media Complaints

There’s no doubting that social networking is a potent tool that can help your company’s reputation and bottom line. There are 4.15 billion active social media users. It amounts to more than 90 percent of all internet users. An organization’s bottom line might go up or down depending on the feedback it receives via social media. Since that no company is faultless, customers will inevitably have something to complain about.

Consumers may reach out to your business whenever it is most convenient for them. It means they may choose a high-definition phone conversation one day, and an email the next. If they can’t contact you personally, their patience will wear thin and they’ll start complaining in public.

Some people think that the best way to get your attention is to leave a critical remark on your most recent Instagram post. It’s an issue since everything you say on social media is public. Nevertheless there is yet hope! If you follow the steps in this article, you’ll start to see how companies can provide first-rate social media customer care even in the face of bad comments posted by their clientele.

How to Respond to Critical Comments on Social Media?

Sincerely apologise

When anything goes wrong on social media, the first step is to apologise. The traditional adage, “The customer is always right,” should be kept in mind, even when the consumer is clearly wrong. If a consumer has a complaint, no matter how big or little, it is always best to start with apologising. An apology is a kind of online reputation management from a business’s point of view.

Be honest and don’t offer any empty promises

Saying you’re sorry is good first start, but don’t rush into making major changes right thereafter. Be cautious of guaranteeing a consumer a free pair of $200 shoes without first doing a thorough investigation into their complaints. While you should certainly make amends for whatever has gone wrong, you shouldn’t do it by making a promise that you’ll later have to break. As a result, patrons will be more incensed than ever before and may even feel duped.

Don’t draw attention to it until absolutely necessary

If you own a tourist restaurant and a client who doesn’t enjoy your meal complains, it can be a good idea to publicly address their concern. Seeing as how they are only visitors, they probably won’t return anytime soon. Hence, emphasise that what they went through was an isolated incident.

It’s best to handle sensitive matters behind closed doors, such as a quality complaint. Because a refund or a new product is almost guaranteed in the event of a quality complaint. As was previously noted, other people who come across what you’re giving may elect to write unfavourable remarks of their own.

Always publicly acknowledge a client complaint before sending a private communication. By doing so, the public will know that you understand the problem and are working openly to fix it. Customers will feel more at ease knowing their feedback will be considered.

These two strategies both include making use of the limelight. It’s a technique to turn client complaints into opportunities to shine a positive light on your company’s customer service practises.

Make your message more specific

Show your concern when replying to a complaint by making your communication sound like it was written just for the complainant. This entails, at the very least, using a customer’s name. One other way to demonstrate your appreciation is to find out how long they have been a customer.

You might start your message with “I’m sorry to hear you weren’t completely happy with our service. We’re sorry for disappointing you, a loyal client of many years. Just satisfying one consumer isn’t enough. The key to expanding your business is building trustworthy relationships with new customers.

Please respond as soon as you can

Maybe most importantly, this is a must-do both online and off when interacting with others in social settings. Using chatbots on your website may speed up the resolution of many customer service issues. Customers are less likely to feel ignored and resort to venting their frustration in public thanks to chatbots. Since chatbots keep customers interested in completing their orders, they also lower the likelihood of customers abandoning their digital shopping carts.

Although some companies have a social media response staff, others may not have the resources to do so. So, the first person to view the remark should reply to it.

It might be challenging to determine who is responsible for responding to unfavourable comments when working with teams spread across many time zones. To stay on top of replies, it’s a good idea to enable push notifications. On the majority of social media networks, this is possible.

Encourage positive feedback

It’s true that online reviews, both favourable and bad, may have an impact on a company’s reputation, but it’s also true that positive reviews can really help A whopping 94% of consumers in 2020 said they were more inclined to use a company after reading favourable reviews, while 92% said they were less likely to use the company after reading negative ones. It’s more effective to encourage others than to criticise them, so look on the bright side of life.

One effective strategy for dealing with criticism is to counter it with a flood of supportive feedback. Customers are more likely to remark again if you respond to their feedback, both favourable and negative.

There are a plethora of Instagram e-commerce enhancement tools and other methods to promote social media engagement. Getting more likes, shares, and comments on your social media posts may also be accomplished by posting hilarious content that is likely to elicit laughter.