Even if your business has never been vilified online, you likely know someone who has that can testify to how detrimental negative comments can be. Whether or not the complaints are valid, they’re now on the record for all to see.
When faced with this situation, you have three options. One is to ignore it and hope it goes away. It won’t.
The second option is to respond online by calling out the customer as irrational. Before you do that, know that caustic comments reflect more on the sender than the receiver and there’s really no delete button in cyberspace.
Your third choice, and the one that’s best for your business, is to publicly acknowledge and address the situation immediately. How you go about resolving the issue will make all the difference when it comes to maintaining your reputation and increasing customer loyalty.
Here’s a three-step process to solving the problem. (more…)