Social networking: The death of the official complaint?

We brits have a great capacity for passive aggression. It’s in our genes. From the moment we’re born we’re cursing away under our breath, being generally hard done by the world from our peers to our bosses. Combine this national trait with social networking and … oh dear… We’ve all seen Facebook statuses and tweets where our friends have vented their frustrations without direction. This is the path of least resistance. It relieves us of our stress without any obligation or responsibility to follow it up and “make it better”.

So to jump right in: As a business owner, it’s time to face up to the fact that if someone has a problem with your company, the first thing they’re likely to do is talk about it online on Twitter, Facebook, Google Businesses/Maps, Trip Advisor, or any of the vast array of vent-sites (aka review sites) available. The 2^nd thing they’ll do is talk to their friends about it face to face. Then if it’s a really serious issue, something verging on illegal, they’ll make an official complaint.

This is a terrible thing for business as by passing the official complaint route, which requires the person to become responsible and accountable for what they’re saying, it means that businesses can’t react to their customers feedback as readily as they should. If a customer has a terrible meal at a restaurant, they may say “Oh it was nice..” when the waiter asks for their opinion, but may log onto twitter immediately afterwards and proclaim “Pretty sure I just ate some under-cooked road kill at xxxx restaurant” and then do the same on Google maps/business.

What does this all mean then? Well, the acceptance that most of your customers may not come straight to you if they have a problem (especially if yours is an infrequently used service or retail business) is a good place to start. Waiting for a customer to complain isn’t something you can “do” anyway, so that requires no work on your part. So what can you do?

• Look at the most used websites in your sector for user reviews and go through your businesses reviews on a regular basis. There’s a misconception that once something is on the internet, it can never be taken down. The reviewer/customer can take back their reviews on most sites so the first thing you have to try and do is contact them. Most websites now require some sort of 3^rd party account to verify that they’re a real person, like a Facebook account or a Google account so you can contact them this way. But be very careful. You will be sending them a personal message, so keep it respectful and definitely don’t send any more than one e-mail. Any more and you’ll be harassing them, which will only lead to more bad reviews.
• Approaching someone who’s left a negative review on-line can be quite disarming. When someone screams into the abyss that is the internet they rarely expect to get any form of response, so when they do, it’s a big shock. Use that shock to instil a positive association over the negative one that’s already been created.
• Respond to the reviews, all the reviews if you can, yes, even the good ones. It’s a perfect opportunity to show that your business goes beyond the cash register, something that customers like to see and which will guarantee you their custom again.
• Don't recruit friends and family to write good reviews to counteract the bad ones. Don't let your first response be to "fight back". This isn't a fight, it's an important part of your business. Take a look at this. This is a prime example of fight-back mentality. I wrote a damning review for a service I received. Then suddenly new 5 star reviews began being posted. In total 3 5 star reviews in 3 days dated 24th, 25th and 26th July 2008. Your customers will pick up on strange patterns of reviewer behaviour, especially if there seems to be a credible bad review followed by short, sharp overwhelmingly positive ones.
• Swallow your pride and ask for a second chance. If it’s that customers first time, apologise and invite them back; show them just how good your service really is. Then watch as the review changes to a positive, or even neutral… anything but negative. If it doesn't change, then you’ve probably not met their expectations. If your reviews are overwhelmingly positive, then maybe their expectations are too high. If they’re average overall, then you’ve done something wrong.
• Be concerned, don’t act concerned – people know the difference. If you’re not concerned about what your customers think, then you’d better start writing your exit strategy right now.

Master your strategy when it comes to dealing with review sites and you can rest assured that you are engaging with customers who have either turned their back on your business or who are, or may become, well connected ambassadors for your business.