{"id":1885,"date":"2016-11-29T16:21:45","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T00:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/passportbend.com\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2016-11-29T16:24:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T00:24:45","slug":"how-to-handle-negative-customer-feedback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/2016\/11\/29\/how-to-handle-negative-customer-feedback\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Handle Negative Customer Feedback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In today&#8217;s social media, customers have a voice.<\/p>\n<p>For a businesses working the same way as 20 years ago, that can be scary. Many business owners recoil at the thought. Immediately they imagine a worst-case scenario: one or two customer-service horror stories that haunt current customers or frighten away new business.<\/p>\n<p>Though one might imagine a social media world where nearly all customers are silently satisfied, we all know it\u2019s the unhappy ones who express their dissatisfaction loudly and publicly for all to see.<\/p>\n<h3>Don&#8217;t feel forloned.<\/h3>\n<p>Here&#8217;s where we can turn the proverbial lemon into that delicious lemonade.<\/p>\n<p>Think of it this way: criticism, whether constructive or not, gives us the opportunity to improve. Here\u00a0is your chance to win over their hearts and minds.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thank them for their feedback, and then demonstrate your willingness to improve the situation.<br \/>\nSoliciting, then acting on honest feedback demonstrates your willingness to provide great service.<\/li>\n<li>Negative feedback helps.<br \/>\nIt clues you into those \u2018blind spots\u2019 that are unfortunately inevitable in any business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Remember this: *You* are not *Your business*<\/h3>\n<p>This feedback is not a personal attack. Separate your ego from your company and embrace the criticism or negative feedback. Listen, on a higher level, to customers.<\/p>\n<p>This is important because it helps you know where you\u2019re doing well, where you\u2019re not, and how to improve. It&#8217;s really not any different than how you provide good customer service in person.<\/p>\n<h3>3 Points to minimize any damage<\/h3>\n<p>So, here is a 3 point plan to help you minimize damage from a negative review and avoid being the next social media horror story you read about online.<\/p>\n<p>1. Don\u2019t Argue. Your first response when reading a negative review will be to defend yourself. It\u2019s perfectly natural, you are personally invested in your business. But trying to argue or \u2018prove them wrong\u2019 online is a losing proposition that will only backfire.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Instead, take a deep breath and start with empathy. Try to see their point of view and understand where that customer is coming from. Then respond with sincerity and a willingness to make things right.<\/p>\n<p>2. Take it Private. The longer a problem lingers in public, the more likely it will spin out of control. Start by responding publicly, but move it offline as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A simple private email will start a new conversation, enabling you to discuss the details away from the public eye who might not be able to piece together the full story.<\/p>\n<p>3. Identify &amp; Correct the Real Problem. It\u2019s all too tempting to hope the problem will just go away with a discount or freebie. But, only addressing the root cause will prevent this problem from happening again.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Try to understand where the problem originated. Document these in a simple log, and review them regularly with other people in your company as needed.<\/p>\n<h3>Know what the secret is?<\/h3>\n<p>Your customer wants you to be successful. They <em>want<\/em> to be happy with your product or service. If you can change your perception of their\u00a0input, you\u2019ll change their impression of your company.<\/p>\n<p>Consider feedback a gift you can use to see how and where your business can improve; these frustrating situations can lift your business to run better and smoother for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In today&#8217;s social media, customers have a voice. For a businesses working the same way as 20 years ago, that can be scary. Many business owners recoil at the thought. Immediately they imagine a worst-case scenario: one or two customer-service horror stories that haunt current customers or frighten away new business. Though one might imagine [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eacspace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}