I’m often asked by people how to respond to negative criticism online. It’s a reality and it happens. It can also put an extremely negative sentiment on your business and even maybe destroy it – in 140 characters or less.
If someone says anything negative about you or your brand online that could damage your digital footprint, you most likely would like to defend yourself by stating the truth so that it doesn’t count negatively towards you and your brand. While that might sound like the correct thing to do, your response could also count against you if the correct steps weren’t taken.
Here’s a couple of tips on how to handle negative comments or mentions online.
Responding to negative criticism online
- Always take a step back and research the negative comment or mention.
- The person who left the negative comment might be having a bad day. Don’t take their response personally even when their comment might be extremely negative. Do they have a valid point?
- How can you improve your processes from what they are saying?
- Never delete the negative comment or post unless it contains hate language, nudity or profanity. The internet is public and when you delete a comment where it’s publicly seen, it might look like you are hiding something and it can spin out of control quite easily.
- Respond to the comment as soon as possible and acknowledge the person who left the comment or update. Many times people need to feel heard and understood in addition to having their problem or query solved.
- Learn to apologise without sounding negative and defensive.
- Respond to the criticism publicly. There’s absolutely nothing wrong by apologising. It shows humility and that you are human.
- Take the escalation of the problem offline. After responding to the negative comment or mention, see if you can take the issue out of public view. After all, you need to get to the bottom line of the issue and you don’t want it to escalate further online where it’s publicly viewable by everyone.
- Always follow up any mentions or queries. A simple phone call or email a couple days later can make a massive difference between an unhappy customer and making a happy one for life.
- It’s important to fix the problem as soon as possible that started the negative comment or mention in the first place. If this is happening regularly there might be a problem in your services, products or even business processes that is causing this.
Your digital footprint is your lifeblood online. It should showcase who you are and what you stand for. Don’t let negative criticism destroy your reputation online. Handle it professional and it could enhance your credibility online. I would much rather do business online with a brand or someone that is authentic, transparant and that addresses concerns online than a brand not responding to any criticism.