How to Handle Customer

Complaints Via Social Media

Article by Ravi Shukle

Presentation by Aaron Whitcher

10 Tips1) Respond quickly2) Acknowledge mistakes3) Take conversations offline (if needed)4) Personalize your responses5) Don’t take it personally6) Put together an Escalation Plan7) Go the Extra Mile8) Follow up9) Don’t delete negative comments10) Monitor conversations about your brand

Respond Quickly• Respond quickly and

efficiently• Reply within an hour• You don’t need to have all

the answers at that moment, but just let them know you’re looking into it.

• Let customers know when to expect a response

• Be consistent with same level of responses, even on weekends!

Acknowledge Mistakes• No business is perfect (and customers know this)• Take ownership• Make sure apology is genuine• Show your human side• Natural tone of voice.• Show transparency and honesty• Do everything you can to fix the situation right

away

Take Conversations Offline

• All social media communications are in public eye

• Talk one-on-one with customer

• Prevents situation from escalating

• Helps calm the customer• Allows you to discuss in

further detail without limitations of social media

Personalize Your Responses

• Customers look to you to acknowledge and resolve problem

• No one likes automated responses. Implies you won’t take the time to understand the issue and you don’t value the customers input.

Tips:o Use conversational toneo Include customer’s nameo Let customer know how you plan to fix the issueo Take ownershipo Acknowledge customer’s situation

Don’t Take it Personally

• Remember that customers aren’t angry with you.

• They’re angry at the company and the situation they’re in.

• Never respond with anger or rage.

• No insults or put-downs.

Put Together an Escalation Plan

• Helps your employees figure out who to contact in the company.

• Should include full list of employees and departments, and also their contact information.

• Employees can quickly escalate the issue to the correct person.

• May need to get approval for more serious issues

• Speeds up response time• Finds solutions more quickly

Go the Extra Mile• Don’t have to have all the answers.• It’s okay to refer customer to external sourceExample:

o Customer wanted to know where she could buy the radio from her hotel room.

o The Gaylord Opryland hotel responded that the one they have isn’t available to the public, but they referred them to a similar product that the customer might like.

o They even provided a link for it.

• It’s always good to do something special for customers

Follow Up• Don’t assume you’ve resolved the issue.• Follow up to make sure you’ve met the

customer’s needs.• Best to follow up within a couple of days.• Helps identify early issues and keeps interaction

top of mind.• Good way to gather feedback about customer’s

overall experience.

Don’t Delete Negative Comments

• Problems won’t disappear with the comment.

• Customers will just get angrier and keep commenting.

• Makes matters worse

• For problematic commenters or trolls:o Link them to your social media policyo Give warningso If they refuse to listen, then it’s okay to delete or block

them.

Monitor Conversations About Your Brand

• Monitor what people are saying about company on social media

• Consumers don’t always tag or use company’s Twitter handle.

Tools:o Mention: tracks all key mentions across social media and

blogs.o Agora Pulse: customer relationship management tool

that tracks when people have commented on your social channels.

o Other tools like Hootsuite, Social Mention, Tweet Deck, etc.

Thoughts and Comments

1. Have you ever left a comment or complaint on a company’s social media account? If so, how did they respond? Positive or negative?

2. Was the situation resolved? If so, how did they fix the situation?

3. Do you know of any moments where a company went above and beyond for their customers on social media? Or where a company responded horribly?

Source• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-han

dle-customer-complaints-via-social-media/

Thank You!