5 Simple steps to manage customer complaints on social media.

Deny everything – admit nothing – blame someone else… not quite what we’d advocate when dealing with a customer complaint.

No business, brand or product gets everything right all the time and negative word of mouth happens. Customers are increasingly using  social media as a  tool to get their voice heard.

If someone does post a complaint in public about you on social media then don’t just ignore it and hope it goes away. Use it as an opportunity to show the person and other customers that you care and your business cares about the experiences of it’s customers.

Here are my 5 steps:

1) Respond quickly – many people feel that a same day response is acceptable so try and stick to this as a guide and reply to the customer quickly, even if it’s just a quick note to say that you are looking into it, this is much better than ’radio silence’! .

2) Treat it like a conversation – don’t be formal and use a set response, aim to customise your reply and let the person know you are listening to them directly.

3) If the complaint is angry – try not to take it personally and become defensive.  Apologise for any issues they are having and let them know that your there to help and to try and resolve any problems. Be open and honest in your reply and don’t try to fob them off with some kind of marketing spin.

4) Take the complaint from the public forum to a private space – offer to call the person, or ask them to direct message you with their details.

5) Once the problem is resolved, go back to them via the original social media network and thank them for bringing the problem to your attention and giving you the opportunity to sort the problem out. By doing this you’ll show your other followers that you can deal with complaints in a positive and effective manner.