by Liz Zendner
Imagine owning a box factory. Now, imagine that the general public is able to email the box factory at any time to complain about relevant or irrelevant matters. People even email the box company to complain about the quality of tape, which has nothing to do with boxes!
At this point in time, businesses are more connected and accessible to customers than ever before. Thanks in large part to social media, customers are able to interact with their favorite, or least favorite, companies near and far with the click of a mouse. This high level of interaction often welcomes negative feedback from customers who wouldn’t necessarily complain in person. Complaints can provoke defensiveness, which makes it difficult to keep responses professional. Here are five tips for responding to e-complaints:
1. Take a deep breath.
Don’t allow knee-jerk reactions to get sent out to complainers. If the complaint is especially irritating, wait a few minutes before composing a response.
2. Respond quickly.
This may seem like a contradiction to the advice above, but in general complaints should be responded to by the next business day.
3. Keep things positive.
Although it can be tempting to fall into the negativity trap or lecture complaining consumers about industry-specific details, it is important to keep things positive. If it’s hard to think of something positive to say in each response, come up with a positive catch phrase (like “keep eating healthy” for a health foods company) that can be included at the end of each message.
4. Address specific concerns.
There is nothing worse than feeling like your concerns aren’t being heard, so don’t make others feel that way. If there are specific concerns cited in the complaint, address them as directly as possible, while maintaining that positive attitude.
5. Apologize.
Most of the time when a person is complaining, the desired result is an apology. Sometimes, the complaint may be ridiculous or irrelevant, but an apology can still make things better. Keep in mind that apologizing for a customer’s disappointment doesn’t equal an admission of any wrongdoing.
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