Routing serious complaints

Whilst most negative feedback in social consists of minor grievances with a product or service, hence relatively easy to solve, there may be occasions when more serious issues have occurred.

An example of this might be an abusive member of staff. Not only is social media not the best channel of communication for resolution, but it’s crucial to get this potentially damaging discussion off a public platform to be dealt with privately. Another instance in which you may wish to resolve an issue privately is when personal information is required to tackle the problem, such as account numbers and payment details.

An effective approach is to show empathy and commitment to a resolution, before offering the customer the email address or phone number of a member of staff (not a company contact e.g. info@acme.com) to resolve the matter.

Sometimes, of course, a response is not necessary or appropriate. There may be certain complaint types that cannot be satisfactorily addressed in social media and are better left alone. Or there may be certain types of user your brand doesn’t want to engage with, such as those or who share inappropriate content. Think about the instances in which your brand would choose not to respond.