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If your blog accepts comments, then you have four alternatives when you receive a negative comment on your blog....
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One of the biggest concerns companies have over starting a blog is how to deal with negative comments. If your blog accepts comments, then you have four alternatives when you receive a negative comment to your blog.
1. Ignore them/delete them. This usually isn't the best course of action. If you consistently ignore negative comments on your company's blog, that will likely generate more as your community begins to question whether or not you actually want to interact with them. If you delete them, that will make matters worse, because the bloggers whose comments you deleted will then go back to their blog and post about how you are censoring comments to your company's blog.
Granted, if a particular commenter or two are purposely attacking your company through comments, you may have to step in and censor their comments, but this should always be a last resort.
2. Antagonize them. This can also happen if you ignore/delete comments. Let's be clear: This is probably the worst thing you can do.
If someone leaves a purposely antagonizing comment, do NOT reply in kind. Your community won't remember the guy that slammed your company, they will remember how you shot your mouth off at the guy that left a comment on your blog. As with ignoring comments, this will draw even more fire from your community.
3. Attempt to pacify them (or 'shut them up'). This might include giving the commenter an incentive such as a coupon/discount to 'make up' for the complaint they have raised.
True, this might stop the negative comments, but really doesn't help your company, since you are simply trying to make the problem go away.
4. Address them. This is always the best course of action. You can't please all your customers all the time, but you CAN listen to them.
Let them speak their peace, and see if they are trying to bring to your attention problems in your business processes that can be addressed and corrected. If so, a negative comment becomes a powerful opportunity for your company to not only improve its processes, but likely convert a complainer into an evangelist for your company.
In the end, your community of blog readers want to know that you respect them enough to give them a sense of input in the direction of your blog, and ultimately, your company. If you have started a blog to simply serve as a sales brochure, they will sniff this out a mile away, and rightly complain early and often on your blog about this.
But if you are interested in using your blog as a communication tool with your community, as a tool to better understand them, and help them better understand your company, then they will see this, and you'll convert passive visitors into active and empowered marketers for your company.
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Comments
Mack,
I think of my readers as VIP friends, peers and customers. And to that end, my job is to 1) listen, 2) learn, and 3) thank them for their input.
Lewis
Posted by: Lewis Green | 10.25.06
"You can't please all your customers all the time, but you CAN listen to them."
Right on Mack. Fact is, negative feedback, (negative remarks/comments)are what businesses are most afraid of. But, let's face it...your customers can say it to you, or about you. By addressing these concerns you show you care--and you learn something in the process.
There's an art to addressing negative feedback: you can say/write "good point, thank you!" and then write a post hailing the customer and showing what your company is doing to improve. This makes the customer a more-likely evangelist. You can also take a poll to see if, indeed, others are experiencing the same issue. It makes you look more heroic and a heck of a lot more accessible.
At day's end, once a company has dealt with negative feedback it gets easier to go from the "fear" of what customers might say to the "freedom" to improve products/services/relationships. Basic and simple, sure, but no less powerful.
Negative feedback is really a gift--you just need to know how to package it and act on it.
Posted by: CK | 10.25.06
Negative feedback is the very first chance at conversation. If a customer takes the time to actually write to you, then there is also an expectation that you (or your company) will respond.
And this is a true chance to have your blog build some brand equity -- dealing with an issue in a credible and transparent way can be powerful. It creates a great brand story for you in the process of resolving a complaint.
Many customer issues escalate not because there is no resolution, but because there appears to be no one listening. As consumers we tend to become frustrated when we are disempowered ... and blogs put a small amount of power back in our hands.
Nice post, Mack. Thanks.
Posted by: Gavin Heaton | 10.25.06
Hi Mack,
Excellent post. Negative feedback can often contain profound seeds of truth. Companies pay consultants dearly to unearth problems; blog feedback can offer them this information free of charge. The best approach, as you've said, is to respond to them kindly and humbly. That usually defuses the blog's most virulently negative respondents. It keeps the tone of the conversation civil and acknowledges everyone has been heard, and that their comments are appreciated, no matter if they are negative.
Posted by: Claire Ratushny | 10.25.06
I completely agree, all. I feel the same about negative blog comments that I feel about email complaints, which is usually how I hear complaints about MarketingProfs.... (our email newsletter content, web site content, or whatever....)...and that is: I usually get great insight into how subscribers are feeling about us from complaints. True 'nuf: they sometimes do tick me off...but once I calm down, I can usually find a nugget of truth that ultimately helps me do my job better.
And I agree.... usually, customers/subscribers/blog readers just want to be HEARD...and once they know you're listening, they chill out and become far gentler and kinder.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 10.25.06
"Many customer issues escalate not because there is no resolution, but because there appears to be no one listening. As consumers we tend to become frustrated when we are disempowered ... and blogs put a small amount of power back in our hands."
Great point Gavin, every problem and complaint is a chance to convert a customer into an evangelist. All depends on how the question/problem is handled.
Posted by: Mack Collier | 10.25.06
a good read.
Posted by: comfort | 06.07.08
I usually get great insight into how subscribers are feeling about us from complaints. True 'nuf: they sometimes do tick me off...but once I calm down, I can usually find a nugget of truth that ultimately helps me do my job better.
Posted by: battery | 12.05.08