Can You Mitigate a Customer Service Issue on Facebook?

The dreaded negative comment. The customer complaint. The poor review. What are you supposed to do when it’s posted on Facebook? How can you mitigate these customer service issues without causing more harm than good?

In this post, you’ll learn how to mitigate customer service issues on Facebook to help you increase customer loyalty and build trust.

Respond Quickly

You want to respond to any customer service issue as quickly as possible. As a good rule of thumb, try to respond within one hour – especially during business hours.

Why the prompt response? Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. In most instances, the longer anyone sits there and stews, the more upset they become. Conversely, if you’re issue is addressed promptly, it has a tendency to make you feel valued.

Does this mean you have to have all the answers right away? Nope! Your response could be as simple as acknowledging the issue and letting your customer know you’re looking into it.

What about responding on the weekends? Ideally, you’ll want to provide a consistent level of customer service support via social media seven days a week. In reality, this isn’t always possible. If you aren’t going to be able to closely monitor your profile during the weekend, try to check your page at least once a day.

When mitigating customer service issues, respond as quickly as possible - especially on Facebook.Click to Tweet

Talking With Clients — Getting potentially negative conversations out of the public eye as quickly as possible is key to keeping a situation from escalating. One upset customer a business can handle. 50 or 100 upset customers can quickly become an issue.

Move the Conversation Out of the Public Eye

As quickly as possible, try and move the conversation out of the public eye. This is one of the best ways to keep the situation from escalating.

Start by replying to the comment with a private message. Under the comment, you’ll see the option to ‘Like,’ ‘Comment,’ and ‘Message.’ Messages allow you to send a private message to a fan.

Furthermore, invite the commenter to contact you over the phone. Talking over the phone is a good way to help calm a customer and reassure them that they matter to you. Why? Because tone of voice speaks volumes. It reminds both sides that everyone’s human. And, it helps establish a stronger connection.

When dealing with a complaint on Facebook, move the conversation out of the public eye to keep it from escalating.Click to Tweet

If Your Community Defends You – Let Them

If you have built really strong brand loyalty among your Facebook fans, it’s not uncommon for them to jump to your defense. This is great! While you don’t want your page to turn into an over-the-top exchange of insults, fans who are willing to stand up for you and defend you are invaluable.

They provide genuine credibility. And, they help endorse your business as a trustworthy business.

Man and Woman Talking — Mistakes happen. It's when we try and hide those mistakes and pretend like they're not real that we (and our businesses) get into real trouble.

Be Transparent

Mistakes happen. Customers know this.

When your business makes a mistake (and it will) – don’t pretend it didn’t happen. Own up to it. Be genuine. Be heartfelt. Show your human side.

Being transparent about the mistake and how you plan to fix it can ultimately help you build customer trust.

Does this mean you should start shouting about all the ‘mistakes’ you’ve made? No. Definitely not. It’s best to avoid having big, public hiccups. But when they happen, address them.

Follow Up

You know what they say about assumptions, don’t you? (They make an a** out of you and me.)

So, don’t assume that because you responded, the issue is over. Follow up with the dissatisfied customer to make sure their needs are fully met. This kind of personal approach helps build brand loyalty.

Dealt with a customer complaint? Don’t assume it’s been resolved just after one reply. Make sure to follow up.Click to Tweet

Don’t Take It Personally

Reality is, words can hurt. When someone (anyone) says something mean about your business – it doesn’t feel good. In fact, it can feel like a personal attack against you.

When you get a customer complaint – try not to take it personally. Take a deep breath. Maybe step away from the computer for a few moments before you reply.

The last thing you want to do is let your conversation take a turn for the worse.

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