Four Ways Your Company Can Handle Negative Social Media Comments

Just about every business owner understand how important it is to have a presence on social media. After all, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram provide the perfect way to stay in touch with your local customers.

However, interactions on social media are not always positive. When your company receives negative social media comments, here are some things that your business should do:

1.  Listen

The first, and perhaps most important thing that you should do when you receive a negative comment is to listen to what the person has to say. Even if they are not expressing their displeasure in the most pleasant way, they may still have a valid point to make – so it is in your company’s best interests to hear them out. If they are pointing out an issue with your product or service, you can then take the necessary action to remedy the situation.

2. Don’t Offer Excuses

You may have legitimate reasons why a product or service faced an issue. For instance, your vendor may not have delivered on time or your machines may have malfunctioned. However, the angry social media user almost certainly does not want to hear about these issues. Instead, they want to know what you are going to do to help them resolve their problem. As such, instead of providing the negative commenter with excuses, provide them with solutions.

3. Move the Discussion Away from Social Media

Social media platforms rarely solve complex issues and problems. Once you listen to the commenter’s concerns, you should try to contact them via phone or email to resolve their problem. The sooner you do this, the better. Speaking to a dissatisfied customer away from the glare of social media allows you to speak to them on a one-to-one basis, making it easier to fix their issue.

 4. Don’t Hesitate to Say Sorry

Quite often, all the negative commenter wants to hear from your company is a sincerer apology for the inconvenience that they feel you have caused them. Whether you believe an apology is warranted or not, offering one up can be a quick and easy way to diffuse an acrimonious situation. As such, whenever someone is unhappy with your company for any reason, be sure to offer them an apology.

In Closing

It can certainly be tough to deal with negative comments on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, by following the advice laid out in this article, you might just be able to turn those negative interactions into positive ones.

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