Turn a negative into a positive

At an event last week I was asked, How do you deal with negative feedback online? Can it be erased?

Well, yes and no.

You can’t actually go and erase it so it no longer shows up but you can definitely take  actions to lesson the impact and show that you are ‘listening’.

Dealing with negative feedback is not always easy and being told your products/services aren’t so hot is never a good feeling BUT think of how much better off you are KNOWING what people are saying about your product than not.

This is an OPPORTUNITY to improve your product/service, get feedback and turn an unsatisfied customer into a happy one.

You always have choices

• Ignore and do nothing: This  serves no one.  You don’t get the feedback and you potentially lose customers down the road.

• Do something:  Listen. Reach out to the person, whether it was on Twitter, a  blog or in a forum. Interact, leave a comment, ask for more information.  You get insight into ways you can improve your services and a potentially happy customer who will now see that you care. Not to mention other people will also see that you are engaging and acting on the comments. Everyone wins!

You don’t have to do it all at once

People are having conversations about your brand, whether you choose to listen or not. These conversations will happen with or without you, listening and being part of them is to your advantage.  At the very least, having them on your radar is a good start.

You may not ready to start responding to complaints but you can start by listening and keeping tabs of what is being said about your company and industry.  There are many tools that exist that allow you to set-up alerts and receive notifications when your brand/name is mentioned on the web.  You can also go to search.twitter.com and use the advanced search feature to see what people are saying AND you don’t even have to have an account. This is FREE information!

Not to mention conversations about your competitors are happening as well….Another great way to get market research and help you work on your differentiators!

So take that feedback and turn it into a positive learning tool for your business!

Thoughts?