Handling Negative Comments on Social Media

It may sound difficult, but it's not impossible- we can turn negatives into positives! 

On a daily basis, we receive several comments and reactions from people on social media.  People would say hello or happy birthday, share an anecdote, send a GIF, and even explain how they connected well with what you posted.  However, the truth is we can't please everyone.  Somehow, someway someone will not like what you said, what you wore, or how you did things.  No one likes to be bad-mouthed, that's a fact. Especially now that everything is online, everyone else can easily blow a small issue out of proportion.

And when it comes to your business, these negative comments could reflect poorly on your brand and, ultimately, cost you sales — yikes! We don't want that!
 

Here's what you should do: 

1. Acknowledge and listen carefully
Stopping a problem in its tracks (and building lasting relationships) starts with social listening. Unfortunately, an angry customer won’t always speak directly to you. To make sure you don’t miss important feedback, use technology that allows you to track all mentions of your brand, branded hashtags, and branded URLs shared on social whether they include an @ mention or not.

2. Be quick to respond
Speed is of the essence. According to the Salesforce State of the Connected Customer report, consumers and business buyers are 4.5x and 5x as likely, respectively, to rate real-time messaging an important feature after purchasing a product. And it makes sense - there is nothing more frustrating than investing in a new product, only to be left in the dust while you try and figure it out how it works.

3. Focus on resolving the issue at hand
Acknowledge the customer’s issue as quickly as possible before it snowballs and picks up other customers and prospects on the way.

You do not necessarily need to have an immediate solution – an open, non-judgemental inquiry about exactly what happened will be enough to start the process of constructive engagement and open up an opportunity to turn a negative experience into a positive one.