Social media is a sea looking at the amount of content being generated by millions of users worldwide on various social networks as well as on forums & blogs. Apart from your own online properties it’s not possible to control the information being generated elsewhere and which is consistently being shared by the users on their networks with their friends or followers. It thus becomes imperative for the brands to continuously scrutinize the mentions about them on the web which can help them to amplify the positive mentions & mitigate the negative ones.
#1. Approach Positively
Always avoid any kind of provocation due to the negative feedback. As a brand, you have a much higher responsibility & by handling the negative feedback aggressively & negatively you are only going to damage yourself as happened recently in the case of Vodafone India when they slapped a notice on their distressed consumer for bashing them on facebook.
#2. Be Prompt
One of the best practices is to respond to any negative feedback immediately or within an hour. Even if you are not sure what exactly you should reply, at least leave a comment that “Thanks for your concern, we are looking into the problem faced by you. We’ll get back to your asap”. Then in the meanwhile you can find the solution to the problem faced by the user & reply him as early as you can but should not be very long.
You can also ask for the user’s phone number & solve his directly after the initial conversation on the platform. If the customer is very personal & harsh in his language, you should look into the problem. Possibly he is pissed off due to some serious flaw at your end. In that case he should be given replacement or refund as soon as possible which should be declared on the public platform too.
#3. Be Public
Another best practice is to solve the problems of your users publicly. This shows all your fans/users that you care for them & are responsible enough to handle the problems of your customers. According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, those customers who received a reply in response to their negative review, 33% turned around and posted a positive review & 34% deleted their original negative review!
From Flickr.com
#4. Appreciate Constructive Criticism
Usually constructive criticism is done by your loyal customers, so it is essential on the brand’s part to appreciate their suggestions which are usually based upon the product or service improvement. Even if you don’t have to take their suggestions or you know that you don’t want to bring any immediate changes still you can thank them for their valuable suggestions. At least they have a trust feeling with your brand when you respond to them.
5. Ignore the Spammers
There is only one category where you should ignore the negative feedback, i.e. the glorified spammers. In many cases the spammers are paid by some companies to bait you into unnecessary confrontation & thus spread negativity about your company. It is of no use arguing or even replying to such spammers. They should better be ignored. Let your loyal customers handle them on their own or you should delete such comments immediately if they are on the online properties owned by you.
Some Golden Rules to Remember
#1. Climb into your customers’ shoes to understand the reason for their negative feedback.
#2. Embrace negative comments, don’t shy off or get scared of them. It’s easier to manage negative comments on your own online properties rather than independent blogs or forums.
#3. Don’t delete the negative comments, rather reply to them in a constructive manner & let the discussion remain on the network for other users to see. It shows that you respect other people’s perspectives & opinions. They, in turn, will have more respect for yours.
#4. Be honest in your replies to the negative feedback as any wrong information can be detrimental and can actually escalate the problems.
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Harmanjit is currently working as a social media evangelist for ‘Digital Vidya’
