How To Manage Online Criticism

Hubspot Marketing Blog produced a great article in reaction to someone writing negatively about whichever business practice they choose to savage. They addressed four specific criteria that will help better manage the negative criticism directed or pointed at their (customers) frustration. One position that Roberts and Porter indicated was that the customer service line was an opportunity for turning a negative situation into a positive, possibly even retaining a customer who may not otherwise have stayed with a company or business entity. I also remember hearing a statistic that for every one negative comment about an organization or business, it takes seven positive comments to level the playing field regarding consumer confidence.

---Drumroll........here is Hubspots 4 keys to managing online criticism---

1. Try not to be hurt--sometimes people just like to vent their frustrations or are genuinely having a very bad day...take web based criticism with a grain of salt, and always consider the source to reduce unwarranted stress.

2. Differentiate complaints from venting--think about their statement from the customer's perspective, do they have a reason to be frustrated? Constant complaints have the underlying principle that something is wrong, but minimal complaints could just be the source of an individual who is always unhappy with their service, products, or resources. Again, think about the legitimate frustrations as manageable means to overturn their experiences, if possible.

3. If you are wrong, apologize--DO NOT BELITTLE YOUR CUSTOMERS, in other words a bad apology might be worse than no apology at all.....If their was an error on your end, or delivered an invalid message, address the issue and admit the negligence on your behalf. No one is perfect and the majority of your followers will understand that if you are honest with your own assessment as well as those at your organization.

4. Seize the opportunity--take the time to make sure your followers understand that you are doing everything in your power to address the situation (whatever it may be) and you take their criticism and feedback seriously. Act like you care and learn from your mistakes, if you do this, you will have the upper hand on many of your competition.......in other words, engage in appropriate customer service measures to make this a competitive advantage against other businesses in your sector.

It is really interesting to be reading about this article, as we currently just dealt with a frustrated customer who was writing defaming reviews about my manager. We could have addressed the situation differently, but we will have to see if there are any lasting effects of the comments......We could have learned from number four in my particular case.