Handling negative online comments

If you have any measure of visibility online for your business, at some point you are going to get negative feedback.

This could be on a forum, a response to a blog post or even on Facebook and Twitter.

Retailers and restaurants are probably the most vulnerable industries where it happens quite frequently. Respond don’t React Rarely will this be a personal attack. Instinctively you want to shout back at how wrong they are, and how brilliant you are. This is not a great strategy. Whether the customer is right or wrong, take a measured tone in your response.

Is it valid? Could this person be right? Look at it from their point of view. Is there something that needs to change? In any business the service they receive may only be as good as the most inexperienced member of staff, because that is who they may get served by. Is there a training opportunity there? If the person is being offensive and flat out lying, you can respond more robustly, but still politely. Don’t delete it Most customers understand that not everything will be perfect 100 per cent of the time.

As long as negative responses are in the minority, they can actually enhance the perception of the business.

This is especially true if two things happen.

1) You are approachable, open to improvement and have responded quickly and politely.

2) Other fans of the business feel compelled to come to your defence with their own positive comments.

Unless there is profanity or serious slander, don’t delete the comments Proactively ask for feedback Whether this is Trip Advisor Reviews, Facebook review or comments for your website.

Put in a process for asking your customers for feedback.

The more positive ones you have render the occasional negative comment impotent. Here’s a few quick tips:

1) Apologise fast and fix it even faster

2 )Take the conversation offline as soon as possible. Don’t have a public argument

3) Make use of social listening tools such as Google alerts. Have a great weekend!

Lee Kenny

Lee Kenny is Managing Director at Halifax-based

Snowflake Media Facebook.com/Social

Snowflake Twitter.com/SocialSnow

flake SnowflakeMedia.co.uk