Tips to Help Businesses Deal with Negative Feedback on Social Media

Deal with negative feedback on social media effectively with these PR tips.

Boners BBQ’s public fight with a Yelper; Applebee’s’ inappropriate handling of unhappy patrons on social media after the restaurant fired an employee; Amy’s Baking Company, the infamous restaurant that appeared on Kitchen Nightmares, and its all-caps combative Facebook posts to, well, the world. Although it shouldn’t be shocking when businesses don’t know how to handle themselves on social media, it always seems to take us by surprise and spark at least a couple of days of online debate, news stories and blog post reviews of the meltdowns. It’s as if we’ve forgotten that it’s all about building and maintaining relationships on social media, even for businesses.

I recently had an inappropriate interaction on Facebook with a business that my family and I used after I left an accurate, yet negative review of the company’s response to an issue. This in turn led to the business posting argumentative comments, which makes it look like some angsty teenager runs the company’s Facebook page.

This reminded me that not all businesses are able to hire a PR firm, or even one PR professional, to help them navigate the sometimes confusing world of social media. So, I’ve compiled some tips below to help businesses resolve conflict with customers quickly, efficiently and, most importantly, appropriately.

1. Don’t take it personally: In most cases, people who post negative reviews are not doing so maliciously. They have a legitimate complaint that needs to be resolved. This is not a reflection on you personally. No one is saying, “Hey, I don’t like that guy/girl who runs that Facebook page; I’m going to make his or her life miserable.” If you can remember this rule, then you are already way ahead of the crowd.

2. Don’t ignore the post: Sometimes, especially if you don’t have a customer service background, those negative posts can be intimidating. However, it looks better if you respond appropriately. It shows the world you know how to handle your business. And never, EVER delete the post. You may think that you have minimized the damage by limiting the amount of people who can see the negative feedback, but I promise that someone, somewhere has already taken a screenshot of the review.

3. 

   Keep customers happy by responding to comments on Facebook.

   Think before you type: This goes back to the first tip. Remember that it’s not personal, take a deep breath and continue on to tip number 4. If necessary, get all of your aggression out in a Word document, delete what you wrote and then continue to tip 4.

4. Apologize and offer a solution: The first thing you should ALWAYS do when dealing with an upset customer, on social media or in-person, is to just say that you are sorry about the situation. Express your concern, and let your customers know that they are valued because, let’s face it, you wouldn’t be in business without them. After you apologize, offer a solution. If you don’t have a solution yet, let them know that you’re looking into the matter and will follow up shortly. Then, continue to the final step.

5. Follow up: If you needed time to look into the matter, follow up with the customer with a solution as soon as possible. And, I’m talking within 24 hours. If you had a solution, follow up with your customer as soon as the issue is resolved to see if it was handled appropriately and to make sure your patron doesn’t have any other issues.

I promise that if you follow these five tips, you will diffuse the situation with your upset customer 99 percent of the time. Plus, there’s no better publicity than letting the world watch an unhappy situation resolve into a positive one.

For more PR tips, visit my blog.