Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 10:20AM 8 Tips for Responding to Negative Comments Online
There are people out there who do not like your products, services or you in general. Scary to think it but as much as the web has brought people together, its also allowed for the sharing of opinions that are not always in agreement with your own. Like any kind of reaction to someone who is attacking you, it is always best to count to ten before even considering a response. Remember, in this online world we partake in, a bad response is likely to produce more negative sentiment than the original offending remark.
Guidelines for your response:
1. Respect their right to have their own opinion, especially when you are responding on their turf!
With the advent of Web 2.0 and all that it offers, the individual has embraced the concept of online self expression. Your response must respect the author’s freedom of speech which is equally upheld in the online world. Disrespect tends to be reciprocated.
2. 'Attack' the issue, not the person.
It's easy to make things personal. Don't. A slightly negative comment here, a misunderstanding there, and all of a sudden you have several pages worth of social media bickering on your hands. Flame wars will destroy your reputation. The 12 negative comments will stand out much more than 144 positives...should have let that one go.
3. If you are going to make a bold statement you need to be prepared to back it up.
With the advent of The Google, finding supportive information is easy. So is uncovering a False Prophet. An unsupported argument isn’t worth your bandwidth.
4. Don’t get lost in trivialities – focus on the main issues, not sub plots.
We've all gone off on marginally-related tangents during conversations and explanations. Some of us do it so regularly that it is hard to catch yourself in the act! People don't like to read about sports when there’s a swimsuit issue. Do us all a favor and cover what’s important, no more.
5. Do not use a standard response. Tune each response to the individual issues/concerns/complaints.
Remember that scripted response you got from the last email you sent to company xyz? We hate those too. Read the issue carefully and build the body of your response around the issue, not just within the opening sentence.
6. Don’t be afraid to post a question in retort if their concern is unclear.
Interaction is the key to online success. Ask questions so that you are clear about the issue in its entirety before responding. A response that addresses only part of the concern is seen as if you are avoiding the WHOLE of the issue.
7. Don’t try and market / sell your product in your response.
Who wants marketing being shoved down their throat. As reported by Social Media Today, Nielson Norman Group's research found that 'users detested "marketese"; the promotional writing style with boastful claims.’ An insightful response will do more to drive site traffic than untactful “marketese”.
Check out http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/72131 for reference.
8. You don’t NEED to respond.
This one may seem counterintuitive, but it's true. Sometimes the best strategy is to not do anything. Becoming deeply involved in social media discussions and trying to correct misunderstandings every step of the way can be a bad strategy. Open discussion is healthy for your company’ or product's image. Make a good product and individuals will spring to your defense when others comment negatively.
Reader Comments (18)
Great post! I think all points are spot on but point 8 strikes particularly well - in my consumer trends for 2009 ( HERE) I spoke about the counter trend which I believe will come into existence because companies are over engaging their consumers.
I think its critical that the conversation is shaped not controlled and as you have said it, if your product/service isn't on scratch then expect negativity.
Cheers,
@timshier
Nice breakdown. Speaking of the first point - what do you think of transferring conversation back to company's own turf. One of my ORM clients is thinking about opening a "crisis response" site (most likely a blog site or a forum). The idea is to provide a short reply to a complaint that appears, say, on a large complaint board, and in this reply (or in the signoff) to invite the complaint author to continue the dialogue over at the crisis site. Your take on this?
Hi Yelena,
Allowing for a crisis response site is a good idea and getting customers feedback on the issue will prove invaluable as we have found that customers not only want to be heard but also want to be seen as being helpful. However, transferring the conversation back to your own turf may prove difficult, especially if the customer's experience is a negative one. Our approach would be as follows:
On your own site (or the Site you are representing) create a blog post that re-states the customer in questions issue but from a general customer point of view (you never want to single out a customer directly). At the end of the issue ask customers how they have dealt with that issue in the past and what advice they would share with other customers. You can then go to the Original customers statement (in their blog / forum / social network) and inform them that you have set up an open response on your website for customers that have dealt with the same or a similar issue and that you would like to have their opinion on how the product / service / process can be improved.
We don't necessarily recommend offering the original customer an incentive for responding but after they have responded you may consider a "thank you" to the original customer if they take the time to respond on your site. If you do go down the path of giving them a thank you, do not publicize it. Give them the opportunity to inform others of what you have done.
Hopefully that answers your question. As a last word of advice, we recommend titling the blog site or forum as far from "crisis response" as you can. Keep the title in the positive frame of mind or customers will start to think of all the reasons their may be a "crisis".
Let us know if there are any other questions we have not touched upon.
Cheers,
SocialTrending
awesome post! all this web 2.0 ( http://rapid4me.com/?q=web+2.0 ), social networking and social media for business talk has enabled me to form a new division of my company! Thanks and look forward to more insight from you.
Thanks for the kinds words. We are having some issues with the new site but when we get it up and running there will be many more posts like this on a more regular basis
If a customer bad mouths your product as a result of a negative customer service experience, do everything in your power to handle the problem IMMEDIATELY! Respond directly to the comments or send a personal email. Apologize on behalf of your company. Offer to refund their purchase with a promise of a discount on their next purchase - offer BIG compensation to customers. You can't afford bad "word-of-mouth" publicity.
I understand that I don't need to response, but if I want to say something very much and want other people see my opinion now, and my comment is moderated for a week !!! Is this OK ??? I don't think so ...
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