One of the questions I’ve gotten more than any other with regard to putting a business on the social networks regards negative customer feedback.
By putting yourself and/or your company in very public forums, with tools and systems that allow for both positive and negative reviews, aren’t you giving an unhappy customer a way to make you look bad?
For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume a customer has a legit gripe, and not concern ourselves with the deranged, completely in the wrong, and confused people every business deals with now and then.
In any case, yes – you are 100% making it easier for your company to look bad in a very visible manner.
And that’s okay.
Why?
Because they’re talking about you anyway – a lot of the social review sites aggregate locations and entries right from Google.
(Go search for your company on Yelp, just to name one.)
In any case, this really is a great thing.
Most social sites, including Google, give you the option to “claim” your company profile. This allows you to not only add additional info and sales materials to things like your Google Maps listing, it also lets you moderate and address complaints directly.
What looks better, the unaddressed complaint, or the one where the company has taken full responsibility or provided a civil and reasoned explanation?
I’m sure you know from experience that often an unhappy customer or client simply needs to know you’re listening and addressing their concerns. Talking with them – just like you do when they come to see you in person – can make a big difference.
Obviously decorum and privacy are things to think about in a deeper discussion of this issue, but in the broadest conceptual sense, hopefully you can see what I’m saying.
Make sure the good outweighs the bad, and be there to directly and honestly address any problems.
Transparency is the name of the game these days.
One other thing to keep in mind – by having that social networking presence, you’re making it just as easy for your happy customers to sound off and talk you up.
(Let’s hope there’s a lot more of these than the unhappy ones. If not, you may have bigger problems than whether you should be on social networks.)
