“Listening is one of the most important things a brand can do online. If your brand is just broadcasting its own agenda, it isn’t truly engaging in a conversation.”
– Jeremy Goldman
Most businesses understand the importance of creating, nurturing, and growing their online presence on social media. Today, providing excellent customer experiences requires companies to be active and engage on multiple channels. This is no different for B2B businesses.
How a company reacts to negative comments made in the public eye can profoundly impact public opinion and business reputation.
Integrating social media practices that positively impact the customer journey and acting as a channel for customer support is vital to effective social media management and the success of overall business strategies.
Customer service teams play an essential role in effectively dealing with negative social comments. Here are some crucial considerations to think about when reviewing or creating your social media management strategy.
Responding quickly to negative comments
Customers take to social media to express their frustrations; effectively dealing with the issue as quickly as possible will limit their frustrations from spiraling and attracting the attention of others. However, before responding, support should check the validity of the negative comment to ensure it’s not baseless or someone who’s just looking for trouble. Simply ignoring the comment or removing it (if needed) is the best action to take in those scenarios.
If the comment is a genuine complaint, then support should actively research the cause and internally review the next steps the company should take before responding. Followed by quickly apologizing, either publicly or privately, and letting the user know that a representative from the company will contact them directly to resolve the issue.
Responding quickly to negative comments is a way to make customers feel heard. It also presents an opportunity to provide exceptional customer service and turn a negative comment into a positive customer interaction. Restoring their faith in your business and championing your customer care support.
Take (Some) Discussions Offline
Certain negative comments may revolve around complex issues due to the nature of products and services B2B businesses supply. In some instances, taking a conversation offline may prove more effective in understanding and dealing with a negative comment.
On the other hand, some negative comments are best dealt with publicly. Allowing others to see your constructive response to the issue. Remaining transparent shows, you’re willing to admit when a mistake has been made and would like to offer a way to resolve it.
Deleting negative comments should be avoided as it will eventually lead to a more significant customer fallout. Only offensive and unacceptable comments and remarks should be removed.
Be Sincere
While having different workflows and systems in place to deal with negative comments is essential to good social media management. Providing exceptional customer care requires a sincere and authentic approach to resolving customer issues.
B2B companies can use this as an opportunity to humanize their brand and genuinely connect with customers. People can spot a scripted and rehearsed response a mile away. Instead, focus on understanding the issues and what you can do to help them by engaging in constructive conversations and admitting when you’re wrong.
Listen and Be Visible
B2B businesses that rely solely on LinkedIn not only limit the potential benefits other social platforms can provide. But they may also miss out on the opportunity to react to negative comments made on other popular platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
While it’s not possible to have a presence across all channels on the internet, employing social media listening strategies will help you understand the conversations being had about your business.
Using CRM software, B2B business can identify important conversations and respond promptly.
Is your business using social media’s full potential?
At Brieffin, we use our expertise to unlock everything social media offers your business or personal brand. We use our experience in content creation, strategy and planning, and social media management to help build consistency and deliver marketing success. Let’s talk.
Our Moment of Bliss
You Might Be – the GoldFish Remix. More to listen to on our Spotify Playlist.
