The other thing that forces you to take a position with social media is your public and/or company reputation. Ten years ago, if someone wasn’t satisfied with the service at the resort they stayed at in some tropical paradise, they simply told a handful of friends and relatives. Today they are more likely to post a review online, and thousands of people, related and unrelated, may see it. The worst part is that the posted comment may not even be a fair assessment of the resort’s overall service.
It only takes a few bad reviews or complaints about you, your company, or your product to result in lost opportunities and a damaged perception of you and your brand. Your customers are online, and it is critical to manage your online reputation in order to protect your brand, as it may be the first impression the public gets about you.
Social tools like Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and thousands of blogging sites with endless agendas have magnified the voices of your clients and potential prospects for your business. Let’s face it: Almost anything can get posted about you or your company regardless of the facts. Also, it is more likely that a disgruntled person is going to take the time to post than a happy one because the disgruntled person has so much attention tied up in what he perceived as a negative experience or exchange.
No matter who you are or what your business is, when you start getting attention and creating any success at all, it is only a matter of time before someone will post something negative about you online. This is an impossible avoidance. The only way not to get attention is to hide under a rock, and even then you will be discovered. With the influence of social media, those who are critical of you, maybe even those who are envious you, and those who compete with your product or your company can easily show up online to bash you.
Criticism, dissatisfied customers, varying opinions, opposition, and even intentional and malicious brand-bashing are not new challenges in business. These issues have been around since the creation of gossip and competition; it is the power, accessibility, and reach of the Web that makes your social media reputation a new issue.
Here are some ideas about how you can manage negative social media:
Treat your social media reputation like your personal reputation. Handle social media attacks the same way you would a personal attack. Handle such attacks, don’t delegate this or take it lightly. Nothing is more important than your name and reputation.
Handle ALL negative posts as opportunities. All complaints, bashing, and customer dissatisfactions should be treated as opportunities, not problems (until proven to be something else). A dissatisfied customer or negative post can be turned into a fan or compliment when handled correctly. I have a policy in my company in which I personally contact every customer who expresses a complaint. My goal is to transform any problem into a win for everyone.
Handle immediately. The sooner you handle the complaint, the easier it handles. Respond immediately and reasonable people will appreciate you making them a priority. Don’t respond with the intent for them to remove a post or criticism, but rather respond by addressing their concern. “Wow, I saw what you posted online and I wanted to call you right away and see what I could do to handle it. I had no idea. Tell me about what happened. What can I do to resolve it?” Most people, when handled correctly, will then retract the post or post how great you are.
Contact directly. Do not respond publicly online to something negative, as you only bring more attention to it. Like any communication, it is best when handled directly either by phone, a direct message, or even in person if possible. Be careful not to suggest wrongdoing in your message, but instead let the party know you want to see what you can do to handle the upset.
Be proactive. The best solution to reputation management is to be on offense not defense. Create initiatives to collect positive posts and testimonials, even videos, about you and your company. Encourage and make it easy for the people who love and do business with you to spread the good word about you. Aggressively build a positive public relations campaign about your good works, endeavors, and contributions that will outweigh any negative post. Call us if you want some direction about how you can establish a strong social media reputation.
Know your limitations. While I believe that every complaint is an opportunity, you have to know which battles to fight and which ones to walk away from. There are some people whose real goals are to consume you, your focus, and your energy. They don’t seek resolution; they seek to consume you like a vampire. There are some people who are only interested in making noise, negativity, and spewing hate. Disregard and don’t engage them once they prove they are only interested in the negative.