Basic Guidelines for Your Responses to Negative Reviews on Social Media

In a world where online reviews and ratings influence heavily customer behaviour, positive comments from clients can reinforce a brand’s image.

Conversely, negative reviews can easily push away prospects and can even hurt a brand’s reputation. Handling online reviews has become a full time job for businesses that want to be leaders in their industry.

Swift Response

A timely response from the brand will often mitigate most of the negative effects of a negative mention. People post negative comments on social media because they think they are not listened to. When they think their issue isn’t being addressed, they want to vent their frustration. Their purpose is to warn off their peers or they aim to grab the brand’s attention by going public with their dissatisfaction.

A speedy response can solve most of the issues in these scenarios. By acknowledging the issue, you can stop the problem to escalate any further on social media. It’s not always necessary to have an immediate solution, but the customer has to know his voice was heard.

Balanced Response

Never get in a direct argument with the customer. Really, they aren’t complaining about you, but about their experience.

The best way to approach a negative review is by understanding their point of view as a customer. If you had a poor experience with a product, you would also try to be compensated in one way or another. Don’t adopt a defensive stance and agitate the situation any further. Moreover, never give an excuse for a poor customer experience even if that might be true. It can have an amplifying effect on customer’s frustration with your business. In the heat of the moment, the customer won’t care about any alleviating circumstances you might present.

The response should project that the customer is always right.

Always Respond

Always respond on social media. If you aren’t addressing it, someone else will start contributing and the issue can easily be blown out of proportions.

The internet enabled access to a wide range of products; hence the competition is stronger than ever. If consumers will get a better customer experience with your competitors, they can easily switch. Similarly, interaction on social media with your audience is vital in retaining and winning over prospects. The majority of businesses are active in the digital world, and the excuse “we don’t have time” to respond to a complaint is not a viable option anymore.

Whether you like it or not, according to a customer, your business was below standard, and you need to address their issue. Take the time and let them know that their issue is being acknowledged, respond with an apology and find a resolution.