Putting out the Fires in the Web 2.0 World: How to Combat Negative Comments about your Company

While the internet has opened up a new frontier of business opportunities for the enterprising professional, it has also given everybody a voice. With very little work, one can find a multitude of websites inviting people to post their negative experiences with nearly all businesses. While we would like to think that we will always treat our customers in a way that will make them eager to speak positively about us, anybody who has been in business long enough knows that there are always going to be people who are unhappy with us. Sometimes it is deserved while other times it is not. Regardless of the reason, we must know how to address these types of complaints in a way that does not cause further damage.

Brad Sugars, founder and president of the wildly successful ActionCOACH business coaching franchise as well as a best selling author, is one of the most sought after speakers in the business coaching industry.

Today, Action COACH is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as the world’s leading business coaching firm. He has some insights that will help all of us.

“I think the key is to try and have a conversation with communities, and respond to complaints or concerns in an area over which you have some control.”

While it may be tempting to post a reply in defense of your business on every site that has something negative to say, remember that if you post to site that is ran by the person who is upset, you are putting your voice in to their control. What they post becomes their choice instead of yours. An alternate way to address the concerns may be to send a private e-mail asking if you or one of your customer service representatives could contact the person by phone to address their concerns.

Brad Sugars also says that it’s important to know when to respond and when to stay silent.

“You shouldn’t engage people who are obviously venting or have a proverbial “ax to grind,” or who are logging truly illegitimate complaints, because all your logical arguments and responses have little effect on purely emotional public outbursts.”

Brad reminds us that our businesses’ voice is powerful and because of that it can be subject to interpretation. Those who are emotional may have other motives for posting instead of simply conflict resolution. Learning when to protect your businesses’ voice is just as important as knowing when and what to say.

Minimize the amount of online complaints by having a good customer service department that responds quickly and in an open and transparent way. Brad gives the example of the retailer who has a customer who doesn’t receive an order or has some other issue, a transparent way of responding would be to post an apology in your company’s public forum apologizing for the issue and thanking the customer for their business. We live in a world where people are becoming increasingly intolerant of excuses. An apology goes a long way in customer relations.

If you’re in business long enough, people will complain about you. Knowing when and how respond can be the difference between deepening the wound or resolution.

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