If your business has any sort of presence on social media, you’ve probably already experienced a wide variety of feedback from your clients. And by “feedback,” I mean public, instant, in-your-face (and everyone else’s face) feedback.
Gone are the days when a client’s praise or criticism was restricted only to the people they could reach by word of mouth. Oh, no. These days, anything your clients say about you can be posted online in seconds and read by anyone else in the entire world.
So how do you handle client comments? We have some tips.
Tip #1: Always Respond!
Whatever you do — whether the comment is positive or negative — it’s your company’s responsibility to respond to anyone who takes the time to leave you feedback. For positive feedback, replying with a short, personalized “thank you” is usually sufficient.
But for negative feedback… well, that’s a whole other beast. We’ll talk about negative comments from here on out.
Tip #2: Take a Breath
If someone has had a bad experience (or a perceived bad experience) with your company, they will probably try to get revenge by damaging your image on social media.
If you see a negative comment on one of your social media pages, take a minute to calm down before you do anything. An emotional response will probably be one that you regret later, and don’t forget that anything you write online will be visible for the whole world to see.
Take some time to process the feedback, think through how you want to respond, and then reply once you feel capable of doing so without adding fuel to the fire.
Tip #3: Respond Publicly, then Privately
To show the world that you are going to resolve the situation, leave a short note on the client’s comment asking if you can contact them via direct message. This is an important step because anyone who’s watching will see that you aren’t ignoring the comment.
If your client agrees to move the conversation to a private space, great! Do whatever you can do to straighten out the situation and get the relationship back on the good foot.
You can also ask the client to remove their original comment if you feel it would be appropriate to do so, especially if the comment is excessively emotional or confrontational. This shouldn’t be a problem if you’ve resolved the client’s issue and they are satisfied, but it could be a bit trickier if they just won’t work with you to come to a solution.
Tip #4: The Block Button Is There for a Reason
If you’ve done all you can to work out a solution with a client, but they continue to post negative, even abusive things on your social media pages, you should feel free to block or ban them from the page.
Unfortunately, some people just won’t be reasonable about problem solving, and you can’t control that. But you CAN control whether or not they can contact you, so if you find yourself needing to block someone, do it!
Looking for a Social Media Expert?
The world of social media can seem intimidating, but don’t worry — the experts at Uptick Marketing are here to help! Contact us today to find out how we can revolutionize your business’s social media presence, plus so much more!
