Reasons you Should Answer Every Complaint you Receive on Social Media
Handling criticism and complaints is difficult.
All too often, we see companies that have gotten the whole customer support thing all wrong when it comes to handling with complaints.
Either they aren’t answering at all and just ignoring the fact that they have an unsatisfied customer. Or they are going into defense mode, making them look bad.
It’s more important than ever to respond to customer complaints on social media than on email and other platforms where the customer can get a hold of you.
This is because when customers complain, they often put the complaint in the comment section of your published content, leaving it out for the whole world to see your company’s flaws.
Do not fear though! A lot of businesses have the misconception that you should delete these kinds of complaints as quickly as possible so their other followers can’t see it.
This is completely wrong.
In this article, we’ll be going through the Reasons you Should Answer Every Complaint you Receive on Social Media.
Us humans are creatures that goes into defense mode when we come across criticism. This mechanism is something that has lived on from back when we didn’t have proper clothes or houses.
It’s important to know that this mechanism exists for a reason and that reason is simply to protect us.
Now, in the day of age we’re living in, we don’t really need to be protected from a customer complaint.
Most often, we need to be taught how to handle complaints in the best way possible.
Because often, if done successfully, you can turn an angry customer into a life long supporter of your company,
Reasons you must answer every complaint
1. You respond by not responding
No response is a response, and it’s very loud.
By not responding to customer complaints on social media (and any other place for that matter), you send out several different signals and the customer gets a conception of your brand quite quickly.
You might have heard it before but I’ll say it again. It’s more easy to destroy trust than to build it.
Ignoring your customers and not responding to their complaints sends out signals that you don’t care about them.
It sends out signals that they aren’t valuable to you and this is something you should stop doing immediately if you are doing it.
People are watching how your brand deals with complaints and this can have a huge affect on whether or not they believe they can trust you.
It is important that you separate negative comments from complaints. Read the comment closely and decide whether or not it holds any value. If not, then How to deal with negative comments is a great guide that can help you solving that issue.
If it does however hold any value, answer kindly and apologize for the issue that your customer has been experiencing with your brand. Try to offer them a solution that they’ll accept.
By doing this, you make it clear that you are a business that care about its customers. Then, the rest of your followers will be able to see it.
The following statistics should make you rethink your customer service strategy on social media if you aren’t answering to complaints:
Gartner found that failure to respond via social channels can lead to a 15% increase in the churn rate for existing customers.
2. Everyone can see your response
A complaint on social media is a golden opportunity for you to show everyone your brand’s true character. Just like everyone can see when you are not responding and ignoring complaints, they can see when you are replying to complaints and trying to make it right by finding a solution for the customer.
If you succeed to convert a complaining and angry customer into a person that likes your brand again thanks to your customer service and the way you respond to complaints, you can gain new customers.
Because your reply to the complaint is open for the world to see, you have a huge potential right at your fingertips but most brands can’t see that opportunity, unfortunately.
When you respond to a complaint, ask yourself this question “What will the people reading this think about my brand”. If the answer is positive, then go ahead. If not, you might want to reconsider.
3. An opportunity to stand out
The truth is that a lot of companies aren’t replying to complaints on social media at all and don’t have any habit of doing so either.
That’s exactly what’s so great about it. Because that means that there’s a huge potential for you to stand out from the masses and show that you have a better customer service than most other brands.
Users on social media are aware of the fact that many brands are terrible at facing complaints on social media (and often in general as well). A study showed that only 42 percent of the people who complain publicly on a brand’s social media are expecting a reply.
This means that you have the opportunity of actually going above and beyond your customers expectations by simply responding. More importantly, you can completely shock them by giving them a good response and being nice to them.
When companies engage and respond to customer service requests over social media, those customers end up spending 20% to 40% more with the company, says research from Bain & Company.
By standing out with your social media customer service, customers are more likely to recommend your brand to their peers because customers who encounter positive social customer care experiences are nearly 3 times more likely to recommend a brand.
Conclusion
As a brand, you should put a lot of effort into responding to complaints on social media. If you aren’t replying to complaints or are doing it poorly, it can be devastating for your brand. 42% of people will tell their friends about a good customer experience on social, while 53% will talk about a bad one, so make sure you are putting time and effort into improving the way you are handling complaints on social media.
If done correctly, you can convert upset customers, build a good reputation, increase word-to mouth marketing and increase your sales.
Lastly, what are you waiting for? Start today!
