You have embraced the social media world, you are running you own online business. You are ready to make some money, you want customers and traffic flooding through your doors, but you are not quite prepared for dealing with the negative customer feedback.
Don’t be naive, it doesn’t matter how good your product, service or system is, there will always be people ready to complain. So how do we deal with complaints in the most effective way? 
Before I get into some specific social media tactics and methods of response. I suggest you program your mind to think think the following.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, how hard you have worked or how fantastic your prices, products and services are, you are never going to be able to please everyone”
The very fact that you are conducting your business online is already suggesting that you want others to connect with you through commenting, so please don’t get hung up on any possible negative publicity.
In my experience, fans, followers, tribe and customers past and present will stop at nothing to share your good nature, authenticity and trust worthiness anyway, so if one customer shares something less than complimentary you will find your community rallying around you offering a more genuine version of events and we all know that there is power in numbers.
You have probably heard the saying bad news travels faster than good news and whilst this is more likely to be true in your offline world with family and friends, if you are doing business with the right Go-Giver attitude, nothing could be further from the truth online.
If you are part of a tribe, good news will go viral online, so don’t worry to much about what Mr Nasty Pants is thinking about your business.
Finally here are some ideas about how you can deal with negative customer feedback and comments in social media:
1.) Start by re-assessing the situation. If the comment is on your blog, you will have some time to think about the comment before publishing so don’t be tempted to just delete it. That will only annoy Mrs Knickers in a Twist!
2.) If you do choose to enter conversation with Mr ‘Thown his Dummy/Pacifier out of the Pram’, make sure you do it in a positive way. The last thing you want is an all out war on your blog or twitter stream.
3.) Consider reaching out to Mrs ‘Taken her Bat and Ball Home’ in a private environment, away from the hustle and bustle of the online world. Just acknowledging a customer, saying sorry and asking them how they want the problem rectifying , will go a long way to making thing better. What is more it can be done in a number of different ways with social media.
- Send them a Facebook Message
- Send them a Direct Message on Twitter
- Send them a Video Email
- Give them a call on skype.
Whilst you could just send them a boring old e-mail, since your business is online, resolving through social media will make a lasting impression.
Hope these little pointers help, I would love to know how you have dealt with negative comments and how things worked out for you.
Yours in Success,
Would you like to use the power of video technology to build your personal brand, build lasting relationships and build your primary business by captivating prospects? Work with Beth to find out how.
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
October 4th, 2010 at 12:52 am
Hey Beth
These are some great simple strategies. I love the idea of pondering on whether to allow a comment through or not. Sometimes it’s just within our nature to want to respond and defend but I think that it doesn’t so much reflect on your blog or post but more on that person for the way they have handled themselves.
There is a time and place for handling such things, and in my own opinion, you got it right here in your post!
cheers
Nat
Nat @Online Business Tutorials´s last [type] ..Quick Tip – Editing And Customising Your Friends Box On Facebook
[Reply]
October 4th, 2010 at 2:51 am
This is a great way to handle this situation. I agree with 100% it’s better to address the situation and keep a positive attitude rather than ignoring it.
Rob Franta´s last [type] ..How to Retire Early
[Reply]
October 4th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Hey Beth,
You’ve made some good points here. I especially like no.2 because mr or mrs not-so-happy will most probably be expecting the blogger to get all defensive, so taking the time to think about your response and answer positively means there’s more chance to defuse the situation and stop it getting out of hand.
Denise
Denise´s last [type] ..Your Power
[Reply]
October 4th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
When something negative comes up you can turn it into a postive like this by saying the words “I felt that way…” But “I found out that…”
if they do not respond towards that leave them alone, otherwise they are going to reject you.
Lawrence Bergfeld
[Reply]
October 4th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I find the best way is to address the negative comment in a very calm, professional manner. One technique is to re-phrase the concern back to the person in a positive manner and then respond to the concern with a possible solution.
Richard´s last [type] ..Themes- Plugins- and Widgets Oh My!
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
October 18th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Hey Richard,
Thanks for your comment, paraphrasing is a useful tool to deal with customers. It also shoes that you have listened to exactly what their concern is.
Beth
[Reply]
October 6th, 2010 at 3:44 am
Everyone and every company has to deal with the unhappy, unsatisfied customer, and now with social media their voice can be heard in many different channels, so diffusing the situation where both sides are happy is the best outcome. IMO
Regards,
Mike
Mike Pedersen´s last [type] ..Real Estate Professionals Are You Guilty
[Reply]
October 6th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Hi Beth,
Great Article about dealing with customers. Not everyone will be a satisfied customer. There will always be someone who is not happy with anything no matter what you do. You just cant let it get to you.
Ted
Ted Hunsaker´s last [type] ..Ted Hunsaker Interviews MyLeadSystemPro Co Founder Brian Fanale-The Internet Rock Star
[Reply]
October 8th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Hi Beth,
You describe a very positive approach to dealing with unhappy people. I think it is much easier to work with challenging people than the ones who just go silent and disappear. So many people look for business opportunities online but don’t do anything but still expect something in return for no effort. Finding the key to keeping people engaged is pretty critical.
Excellent post.
Thank you and best wishes
Peter
peter chapman´s last [type] ..Network Marketing Leads
[Reply]
October 8th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Hi Beth,
Great tips for dealing with customer dissatisfaction. I haven’t really had to deal with anyone in my online business yet that is unhappy. The closest I have come was someone who was skeptical. I just said, “I can completely understand why you would feel that way …”. Sometimes if you look at things from their perspective and let them know that you understand why they are upset, it can go a long way towards finding a solution to turn the dissatisfaction into satisfaction.
Wendy
Wendy Hewlett´s last [type] ..Self-Discovery Through Social Media
[Reply]
October 9th, 2010 at 5:09 am
Hey Beth…I have been through this a time or two myself. I have chosen primarily to post the negative comments and then contact them privately to open up a conversation. It has always turned out good. Usually there is a mis-perception based upon someone attributing wrong motives.
I have found that there is no way to know someone’s motives anyhow…so why judge them based upon what you may or may not think is behind the comment, article or post. People assumed a certain thing about me because their “box” told them that it must be that way. After having a conversation they realize that this isn’t the case.
Thanks so much for the post Beth!
Bruce Backman´s last [type] ..Keep Working at Your Game-an example from Dimitar Berbatov
[Reply]
October 9th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Beth,
These are some really great strategies for dealing with negativity and possible misunderstandings. It is always best to try and resolve this if possible through positive communication. It is true you may not be able to please everyone but trying may be better than just ignoring the issue and hoping it goes away. Thanks, Darcy Dunkley
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
October 12th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Thanks Darcy…Glad you liked my tips
[Reply]
October 9th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
A saying caught my attention recently that give focus to this problem. “You never can say the right thing to the wrong person and you can never say the wrong thing to the right person” Sometimes with the wrong person you just need to “Turn the Page” All of your suggestions are right on just don’t try to convert the unconvertible. Great insight Beth.
[Reply]
October 10th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Hi Beth,
Great post. It is true, you can’t please everyone. There will be occasional unhappy customers no matter how good your product or service. The best thing is to deal calmly and try to keep it positive.
Melodie Kantner´s last [type] ..Are You Exuding Passion
[Reply]
October 14th, 2010 at 3:23 am
In the world of business, there is always a negative side. So people does thrive and noticed something’s missing. They are in constant complains. They want to get more satisfaction. This is the fact. There is no perfect business but there are ways to minimize or control or make some updates to make your products or services to be more accommodating by way of handling this so called complaints one should make the best answers to their queries. The ones you point out here really is a good way on dealing such circumstances. I am grateful to know you have the same points of view as do mine.
[Reply]
October 14th, 2010 at 5:48 am
That’s great Beth - good thoughts. I have, on occasion, struggled with the decision to leave a comment made by perhaps a well-meaning TSA member but sometimes the comments are not what I’m looking for. Either someone is trying to be funny and not achieving it or in some cases is just rude. But in the end I just left them all up because that’s their opinion and it’s all food for thought.
Mark Hiatt´s last [type] ..How To Get Out Of A Conversation
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
October 18th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Yeah I think you are absolutely right, I think it says a lot more about a person when they have the maturity to leave less than complimentary comments up and let the readers make their own mind up.
Beth
[Reply]
October 17th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Thanks for sharing these valuable tips. Some stuff I have always done that has been great is defend your friends, customers, and partners when ever you have the chance.
What happens then is when someone decides to make their own assumptions everyone else pretty much jumps in and fights the battle for you. 1) Turning your page into a list of testimonials and 2) Helping show Google how awesome you really are.
Thanks again. Have a great day!
Joe
Joe Malinowski@Business Networking Life´s last [type] ..4 Steps to Enhance Your Business’s Social Networking
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
October 18th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Hi Joe,
Yes social proof and obviously being around a while to show that you have offered value to people past and present always goes a long way to helping here too.
Beth
[Reply]
October 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I like the idea of controling your comments on your blog but i would go futher if i get a nagetive comment, the first thing i would do is talk to the client or person that was not happy and make sure they understood my product or service. I would still post the negative along side a positive one from the same person.
[Reply]
October 23rd, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Hi Beth. Everyone has an opinion. Whether good or bad, you have to respect others’ opinion. For every 100 positive comments we get on the free information we give away on our website, we will get one person who complains. While I am not sure how you can complain about something that was free, it still happens. You accept the negative feedback, learn, improve, and move on. Thanks, Scott Pollov
Scott Pollov´s last [type] ..Social Media – You Need To Get On Board
[Reply]
October 24th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Great advice Beth, believe it or not, I’ve been able to turn some “complainers” into some of my best customers and business partners by just speaking with them and allowing them to discuss their frustration. Often I’ve found they weren’t mad at me, just frustrated with the situation they were in and were having trouble locating help, so they vented online. After all we are all just human beings right?
Joel Broughton´s last [type] ..Network Marketing is Easy…so why is there so much failure
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Hey Joel,
I agree completely, I too have had similar experiences of turning things around. Humans love good customer care and they tend to remember it for a long time.
Thank you for your comment,
Beth
[Reply]
January 10th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Hi Beth,
It’s so funny that I’m reading this now. Over the weekend I got a nasty comment on a blog post from a couple months ago.
I attempted to send an email, only to find that he didn’t even have the courage to leave a real email address, he left no URL and only a first name. Obviously his comment is not worth my time or attention.
I agree with your tips here. I think it’s important to keep in mind that we will not connect with everyone. Not everyone will always agree with what we say either. Some will be silent, some will politely tell you, and others will be downright rude.
One thing to keep in mind as we visit other blogs and meet more and more people, is that each one is a real person. Obvious I know. However I think it’s easy for some to forget that just because we’re speaking through our computers, we are speaking to real people on the other side. We need to treat them, no matter how rude they’ve been, or how much we don’t agree, as if we were standing face to face.
Great topic and tips.
Susanna
Susanna Hess´s last [type] ..Your Blog Branding- and My Big Blog Mistake
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
January 12th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Thanks Susanna and thank you for sharing you story. It brings to life why this is or isn’t a problem for people. On the occasions when I have stood my ground, I have often got an apology, like they just realised that what they were saying might actually have offended me.
Nothing queerer than folk!
Beth
[Reply]
July 27th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Good post Beth. One more thing that might help is to disconnect the feedback from that customer. Many times when you get negative feedback, you may get angry and that can cloud the feedback. If you immediately disconnect the two, you can focus on the feedback and benefit from it.
Jans
Jans Mendoza´s last [type] ..How to make a Welcome Page on your Facebook Fan Page?
[Reply]
bethhewitt80 Reply:
July 27th, 2011 at 7:53 pm
Great advice Jans, thank you for sharing that, I appreciate it.
Beth
[Reply]
November 29th, 2011 at 2:53 am
Nice Strategy Beth,
In one way negative feedback can give some points on your website, like they say’ “Critics give life to conversation”.
Cheers.
[Reply]