Go looking for complaints

Posted on March 26th, 2010 by tim bursch. Filed under ideas, listen, presence, social media.

Part of my work is managing online communities. I would hesitate to call it management. It’s more like development. Mostly relationship development.

When you sell something people are going to have complaints. There will be mistakes. Right? And people are being more public with their beef.

So, how do you handle complaints?
Here are a few ideas:

Acknowledge. Respond to the person’s issue and take it serious. This usually relieves the tension.
Be quick to act. Be the first one to comment. Think real-time customer service.
Use this as an opportunity to show your great customer service. Other customers are listening too.
Follow up. Make sure the person’s issue is resolved.

How do you handle public complaints?