Grant Thomas, the Hereford Times digital marketing expert, explains how to engage online with customers with a problem

NOWADAYS, there are a lot of ways customers can let you know how they feel about your business. In the best cases, you may get an awesome shout-out on Twitter or Facebook.

But then, there’s the flip side: an unhappy customer can blast your company online. What is the best way to deal with this?

Own up to your mistakes

Don’t try to make excuses or turn it around on the customer. Take ownership of your business’s mistakes. It’s likely that once the poster cools down and sees that you’re taking their complaint seriously, they’ll step back and realise that we’re all only human and that you’re doing your best to make things right.

And if you don’t feel your business made a mistake, take a minute to read the review and try to understand why the customer felt the way they did. Customers want to feel heard and understood, so arguing with them about what happened or why you’re in the clear is only going to escalate the situation.

Be genuine

We’ve all experienced a time when we were upset and were offered insincere concern from someone, right? And I’m sure that kind of reaction only made you angrier.

It’s easy to feel defensive if someone is criticising your business, and your gut reaction might be to dismiss their concerns. But before you respond, take a step back and put yourself in their shoes.

You don’t know what else is going on in their life that may be playing a factor in how upset they are about the issue with your business. Make sure that your response clearly acknowledges their issue, validates their feelings, and offers to make it right.

Don’t let it linger

The timeframe in which you respond is critical. Letting a bad review sit unanswered for days or weeks only lets your unhappy customer’s resentment build. Plus, it gives anyone else who stumbles upon the review the sense that you don’t really care about the issue since you haven’t bothered to respond.

Social media moves quickly, so it’s best to get a response to a negative review out within the first 24 hours. Any longer than that, and people will start to read negative intent into your silence.

Reach out directly

The final step, once you’ve publicly acknowledged your error and offered to fix the problem, is to reach out to the customer personally. Send them an email or give them a call, apologising again and offering to make things right.

This signals to them that you’re serious about solving their problem – you weren’t just trying to save face on social media. This added touch can sometimes be the thing that turns their feelings around.

While negative reviews can seem like a burden, when handled correctly they can be a great way to show how much you sincerely care about your customers. By responding quickly, listening intently, and offering solutions, you can not only regain trust with the upset customer you can also win over others who happen upon the interaction online.