It is common for small business owners to recognise customer complaints as something ‘to be dealt with’, while they funnel time and focus on operations.
It’s a mistake to brush off the importance of handling these complaints appropriately.
Especially in this digital world, where social media can quickly become your enemy with one disgruntled customer.
With the viral capabilities of the internet, social media can oscillate between friend or foe at the drop of a hat.
As a small business owner, you can best protect yourself by paying keen and active attention to any and all customer complaints found online.
There are some very simply guidelines you can follow when handling online complaints:
- Timeliness. This may be the most important. Consider allocating the role of Customer Service Manager to a team member where they dedicate blocks of time each day to respond to online complaints. The longer a complaint sits unnoticed, the more damage it can do. Not only does it upset the customer who lodges the complaint but it allows other customers and potentials to view the complaint as a fault.
- Drop the defensive act and listen up. It's your baby, we get it. But complaints aren’t meant to be personal. The customer is offering you valuable information on how to better your services, so listen. Never engage in a public back and forth battle - you will be showing your weaknesses to everyone.
- Consider carefully the public/private alternatives. Engaging with a customer regarding a complaint in a public forum provides transparency and can allow other customers to see your quick response time and attentive concern. However, there may come a point when the conversation should be private, be in tune with when this change of scenery may be pertinent. Suggest a phone call or a private message chat.
Stay organised and on top of things. Create a database of complaints allowing you to view the conflicts and the resolutions provided as well as key information in how to handle similar situations.
