How To Handle Negative Comments About Your Business?
The web has revolutionized a great deal since its advent. From simply being a store-house of information, it has transformed itself into an expansive platform that facilitates interaction and knowledge sharing. Blogs and forums are a crucial part of this new-age phenomena. They are excellent places for people to talk about their business and invite other users to throw in their “two cents” worth on any topic.
While positive comments about your business are always welcome,
sometimes you need to be prepared for negative remarks as well. They may come from dissatisfied customers or grumping clients or just about anyone who is not very happy with your company. Suchnegative comments definitely put forward a negative impression about your business to other users who read it.
However, the trick is not to evade negative comments and bury them deep so that no one can find them. Rather, you need to be confront those negative comments upright and reply effectively in order to protect your reputation in the market.
Here are some tips about how to handle negative comments posted on blogs and forums about your business:
If You Can't Delete it... Join In
It’s easy to manage negative comments on your company blog. All you need to do is moderate the comments before they appear on the blog so that you can delete anything that tries to throw a bad light on your company. However, what if the negative comment is on some other blog or forum of which you have no control? You may ask the webmaster to delete it, but this will serve no good if the blog is an open community. Therefore, what you can do is – join in the conversation. If you can't delete the blog posit, make sure you counter-strike it in your response.
Respond Quickly
Don't wait until a host of new persons have read the negative remark about your business before you decide to make your case and present your position. Rather, respond immediately! Even if you can’t think of a solution immediately, just post a note saying a customer representative will get back with an appropriate solution and that your business always adheres to the highest standards. This way, you will be part of the discussion instead of being the topic of a negative remark. Moreover, it will show audiences that your company is considerate about the issues of customers and responds to their concerns.
Make an Impression
Negative comments can sometimes be a boon in disguise. If you acknowledge a legitimate problem immediately and provide an instant solution, it will strengthen your reputation in the market. This will not only earn you the respect (and adoration) but also a whole lot of fans! People appreciate candor and honesty and how you respond back to a dissatisfied customer could be your chance to get more people to become your customers.
Open a Discussion
Positive comments are nice to hear but they hardly make people stand up and take notice. Instead people tend to taken more notice of a negative feedback and a subsequent reply! Negative comments about your business and your counter response to that comment open up the gates for a full-blown discussion and encourage other users to join it. With social media networks in place, this can make you popular overnight. However, do make sure that you win the battle and establish yourself as a business who has not only solved a customer concern but one that has in-depth knowledge about the industry and markets.
Disclaimer : Sabra Easterday is the owner and founder of MatchB2B. Sabra is also a lawyer with a special interest in business issues and e-marketplaces. Notwithstanding that Sabra Easterday is a lawyer, nothing in this article and no services of MatchB2B or its website are legal services and no attorney-client relationship exists between any reader of this article or user, customer or potential customer of MatchB2B, and MatchB2B, its website or Sabra Easterday.
