How to reply to an online customer complaint
Customer service these days does not take place in private calls between a customer and a call centre operative, or in emails that nobody else will ever see.
Customer complaints are now a global spectator sport, conducted on any number of social media channels or review sites.
They can be very damaging, considering that 94% of customers say that a negative online review convinces them to avoid that business. But on the flip side, customer advocacy can be increased up to 25%, by answering a complaint on social media.
Clearly then, with online complaints, do not ignore them!
And whatever you do, do not post a standardardised impersonal reply!
How to handle an online customer complaint
So, how should you deal with a complainer in a public forum?
An excellent piece of advice is reply only twice, as discussed here by Jay Baer, the author of the very helpful ‘Hug Your Haters’ which you will find extremely useful if you even slightly deal with customers.
Click the image to hear why you should only reply twice to a customer complaint
First, show that you care for the customer and empathise with their problem.
After the customer’s next reply, whatever that may be, offer to have a private conversation offline via your customer service email address.
Do not get pulled into a long drawn out conversation (for the whole world to see) where your offers of help and customer demands keep ramping up and up. It will only end badly.
Here’s a real life customer complaint challenge for you…
Customer Complaint Challenge
Imagine you are the social media manager for British Airways.
What reply would you write on Twitter to this real complaint?
Remember the method above and also to ‘hug your haters’.
But before you answer, see what British Airways actually tweeted, for the wrong way to do it.
If you’d like to hear more from Jay Baer on how to successfully deal with customers without escalating any tricky situation, then you can listen to the full podcast here, or watch the full video below
