It’s a reality that every company faces negative comments on social media, and while it’s not pleasant, you can be prepared to handle them effectively. In point of fact, one out of every three moguls says that negative reviews have caused damage to their business.
It’s on the businesses to deal with these comments smartly, as it can tarnish your company. Therefore, in this blog, we look at some of the best ways for responding to negative comments on social media.
12 Ways For Responding to Negative Comments on Social Media
Let’s discuss the ways to manage these negative comments on your company social media profile and efficiently answer to them without offending the customers.
Acknowledge the problem
In a place where the comments are more towards talking about the problem with rational explanations, hear them out. After that, take time to acknowledge the problem. In the present days, cancel culture is a new trend. If you foster accountability from your end, it need not be that bad. Ensure that the answer is presented gracefully and at the earliest.
Customer Comment – [Name of the place], from one of my colleagues, has the best coffee in town. I was sort of excited about it and took my husband with me for the experience. We ordered Latte and Bagels for starters. When the waiter brought our order, the coffee was not warm and it was such a disappointment.
Company Response – We are truly disheartened to know that the coffee was not up to the mark. We have discussed this with the team. We apologize for the inconvenience and can assure you that this will not be repeated as we have instructed our team to be more vigilant about such matters. Rest assured, we will not let this go unnoticed.
Respond Quickly
The ideal time for responding to negative comments on social media is within 24 hours. If you take your time to do so, the customers would feel ignored and consider you ignorant. For any discrepancies, replying quickly indicates that you are willing to go the extra mile and you understand your customers advertently.
The faster you comment, the better it is for you. There has been a recent research for the same below.
This statistics highlights that customers want the businesses to reply within a day or less.
Use the HEARD Technique
The HEARD technique is a customer service method that is used by companies to manage customer grievances in a structured and empathetic way. The acronym stands for
H – Hear refers to actively listening to the customer complaints or feedbacks.
E- Empathize is a way of showing that you feel for the customer’s problem.
A – Apologize is the third step of taking full accountability of the problem.
R – Resolve comes after this, which means mending the situation. It could be immediate, or if you cannot resolve it now, you can let the customer know and follow up later.
D – Diagnose is the last stage of the method which requires you to understand the root cause of the problem and ensure it does not happen again.
The HEARD technique is a useful way of turning negative experiences into positive ones if you can utilize it correctly.
Filter Out Trolls
It is absolutely fine to delete comments which spew hate and profanity. There is no room for comments that are irrelevant and offensive. There are about 28% of Americans who have claimed to be Internet trolls.
However, the comments that are genuinely talking about their mistake should not be deleted as that would be a grave mistake. If you delete all the comments, it would look like you are shady and are trying to conceal something.
In this case, to balance out the positive, negative and neutral, you can remove all the unnecessary bad comments.
Personalize your message
Customer Comment – Name of the place is so overrated. I’ve been to many better places. Would not recommend this.
Company Reply – Dear Username, we apologize that you found the place overrated. However, if you could be a little more precise about what exactly you did not like, it would provide valuable feedback on the areas we need to improve. Thank you for your cooperation.
Personalizing the replies indicates a polite and respectful demeanour. However, your messages must be tailored according to the customer’s context. There would be a plethora of complaints. Hence, it must align with the customer’s grievances, or it is futile.
Don’t get defensive
Avoid trying to put the ball in your court. When the customer has identified the problem, take your time to introspect how you can deal with it. The more you sound defensive, the more you portray your company as wrong. If the topic is oversensitive and critical, take this matter privately by asking them to contact you directly.
Avoid Over explaining
This is where the phrase “Less is more” comes into the picture. Try to keep it simple and concise. Address the issue, talk about the situation, and give a contact number to ensure they can connect with you if they wish to. We have sited an example of you taking a stand subtly but also showcasing how you are apologetic towards your customer’s grievances.
Customer Comment – Why does it take so long to get a table at this place? We wasted 1 hour of our time waiting for our chance to come. Food was okay but the service was not that great.
Company’s Response – We apologize for the wait and for any discrepancies in service. Given that the place was overflowing, our waiters were unable to provide you with the best experience at that time. We will ensure this does not happen again, as we take our customers’ feedback very seriously. Meanwhile, you can contact us at [Phone Number], and we will reserve a special seat for you.
Take the matter offline
If you do not want an immense impact, ask the customer straightway if you can take the entire process offline. It would also be beneficial for you as you get to hear their opinions one-on-one, maybe through a call.
Deal with negative comments
This research reveals the 44 % of companies responding to negative comments on social media, ignoring/deleting them, or never having to go through the problem.
An important point to note is that when you know that some of the comments are offensive and promotes hate speech, you have the full liberty to delete. Remember that all negative comments do not make sense. You can remove the comments if they are
- Personal Attacks
- Cuss words
- Malicious
- Hostile
Don’t fight with Empty Vessels
At times people comment as they want some sort of thrill in their lives. There is a possibility that they are not facing any issue but they will comment just for attention and spreading hate. It’s better to turn a blind eye in these situations as others in the comment section or general social media users would find it illogical and obnoxious. At the least, write them politely about the solution and that it would not be repeated. If they continue to reply and throw shade, just ignore it.
Offer to Help
Whenever the customers have stated a genuine problem, and you have acknowledged it, take it up a notch and offer assistance. The customer will realize that the company has accepted their mistake, and now they will look at it in a much better way. Ask them how they want to go about this process and how you can provide any support.
Use an Automated Review Tool
Using an automated review tool is pretty organized, and you can be notified of any timely feedback or comments. This enables you to respond to them and do damage control at the same time.
Here are some names of automated review tools that you can use to monitor your social media comments
- Hootsuite
- Talkwalker
- Brand24
- Meltwater
- Idiomatic
Be careful of the Streisand Effect
The Streisand Effect refers to the phenomenon where the attempt to hide or remove any information augments the information to be spread more widely and causes a negative impact. People tend to dig up scandalous information when they find it. In this case, it can a risk to address negative feedback all the time. It adds fuel to the entire scenario while you are trying to mediate the situation. You can refer to the correct way of approaching customers when comments like this pop up.
Customer Comments – “This food place is absolutely disastrous. What on earth were they thinking while creating this place? A S$%& place to be at.”
Company’s Response – We apologize that you did not like this place. We strive to create a better experience for our customers and take all feedback seriously. You can contact us at [Phone Number], and we can address this offline. We’d like to make it up to you.
Now that you have mastered on responding to negative comments on social media, let’s dive into the types of trolling that occurs on social media.
Types of Negative Comments on Social Media
Complaints –
These are the type of comments by the customer when they are disappointed or have complaints against your product or service. They are mostly rational and does not facilitate any kind of profanity. It is simply the customer expressing their point of view about the problem that they faced after purchasing the product.
Trolling –
Trolling is a form of virtual bullying, and it is started by a person who seeks attention and likes to provoke people. Their comments are abysmal and do not make sense. They try to fan the flames and are, at times, successful. Moreover, their comments are untrue and lies.
Malicious Comments –
Malicious comments go a little bit up the notch as they contain obscenity. It includes personally attacking the brand, the CEO, and the staff and causing emotional distress to the company. These days, Instagram and other social media platforms have strict guidelines that do not permit such language. They either do not let the comment be displayed or send a warning notice to the person who commented
Threaten –
These comments are directly charged to the staff, your social media team, and even your other followers in the comment section. It is violent in nature and mentally affects a person to the core.
In a Nutshell
Kindness wins over meanness. It can make you feel like you are on cloud nine if you have a solid comeback to give it to the troller. However, if you see the bigger picture, it is not worth cherishing.
You can deal with responding to negative comments on social media through the strategies that we provided. You can also create a crisis plan to turn these nasty comments into positive PR.
