In today’s business world dealing with negative online comments and reviews is a given. This means that you must be prepared for how to effectively handle and deal with negative comments in ways that don’t make the problem worse! I’ve often taught that when you’re responding to a negative comment the REAL audience is not the person you’re responding to-it’s the thousands of people that will eventually read the negative comment and your response to the comment!
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After all-if a customer says that the office is staffed by “jerks” and then you go off on the customer in your response, well, you have “proven” the negative customer’s point to the people on the Interwebs. How many times have you read about an employee shaming, criticizing or “calling out” a customer on social media, only to have it boomerang around and cost them their jobs?
When you see a negative comment or review, here are some strategies to follow:
One: Remember your real audience! I mentioned this above, but it is well worth repeating. If you have a doubt, don’t hit “send.” If you’re not sure, have someone else proof your response before submitting it.
Two: Engage: I am always so surprised when I see negative comments and reviews with no response from companies. Letting a negative review linger out there without a response can be perceived by your customer as your “agreeing” with it, or simply not caring enough to respond. So, be sure to engage to negative reviews and comments!
I recommend something like this, “Hi Debbie, My name is Rommel and I am the manager of The Relationship Difference apartments. I had a chance to read your comments and I wanted to be sure to respond.”
Three: Apologize: This may be hard for some of you, but apologizing is huge. I know you know this, yet I can’t stress it enough because many people in customer service roles just don’t say “I’m sorry.” Saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t mean that you’re guilty, it just means that you are sorry that one of your customers had a bad experience.
“I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience with our office team last week.”
Four: Acknowledge: “If I were you, I would probably feel frustrated too-and I appreciate your letting us know about this.”
Five: Steer Offline: Your goal should be to then steer the conversation offline, so you can get more of the details from the customer (if needed) and provide solutions (if applicable) away from public view.
“I would love to talk to you about this in greater detail. I am in the office Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm. Please call me at 555-1234 or email me at _________________ so we can discuss.”
Six: Close: “Debbie, we really do strive to provide great customer service and I am so sorry that in your case, we have fallen short….”
If someone wants to keep fighting with you online, I would respond one more time with an invitation to engage you offline (as we did in Step Five). If the person persists in trolling you online, then ignore it after your second response. That person is probably not interested in solutions and would rather just stir up problems for you. As long as you’ve handled it well in the beginning, you’ll come out looking great!
