A Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Complaints into Compliments

Back in 2010, an Icelandic volcano with a complicated name – Eyjäfjälläjökull – erupted. Heavy clouds of ash were thrown into the air, disrupting European air traffic. All flights in the area were grounded, and over 10 million travelers were stranded at different local airports.

At that time, the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, who was just beginning to experiment with social media, found their Twitter feed flooded with confused, desperate and often angry messages from customers seeking guidance.

In a bold move, the airline recruited 100 volunteers to respond to the backlog of customers complaints on social media. Their initiative and the way they managed complaints was highly appreciated at the time and became a fascinating case study of online reputation and social media management.

What can you learn from this story? Many small business owners fear that social media will open the door to customers publicly criticizing their products or services. But, it doesn’t matter whether your business is online or offline – if your target audience is online, they will talk about you. Complaints are inevitable, and customers often turn to social media to voice their frustrations with brands who aren’t properly addressing their needs. What really matters is how you address these complaints and turn them into compliments.

In this article, you will learn how to turn customer complaints into opportunities.

• Monitor Mentions

Whether you are a big brand or a small business, you need to know what customers are talking about you online. It takes time and effort to monitor every mention related to your business, but it’s worth it. Negativity spreads extremely fast, especially in an environment that is open 24/7, like the Internet. Any mention, negative or positive, impacts how people view your brand.

To find out if people are talking about you, carefully and regularly review your blog comments. Check your Twitter mentions, your Facebook and Google Plus notifications, your YouTube video comments, and so on.

Google yourself to find any pages that mention your business or websites that allow users to add their feedback about your brand, such as Yelp, Yahoo Local Listings or Angie’s List.

If manually searching for brand mentions feels like a challenge, you can use tools like Google Alerts or Social Mentions to find out if someone is talking about your business.

• Change Your Prospects’ Perception about Your Business

Now that you know how to find out who is talking about your brand online, you need to learn how to address these mentions.

According to a survey by VB Insight, 17.4% of U.S. consumers use social media to voice their complaints about brands. Worryingly, 32.8% of brands never offer a response to social media criticism, meaning that 289 million complaints remain unresolved every year.

If your customers are unhappy with your products or services the best way to deal with their complaints is to respond to them. If you ignore their complaints (or their positive reviews for what matters), people will assume that you don’t care what they think.

To change people’s perception of your brand, you need to address complaints promptly and respectfully. Use bad reviews as an opportunity to showcase your excellent customer service, and to turn unsatisfied customers into loyal advocates.

• Stop the Snowball Effect

Negativity spreads like wildfire. One person starts complaining about your business and before you know it, more and more people will jump on the bandwagon. This can lead to a snowball effect, and instead of having just one complain, you end up with more than you can handle.

To avoid this snowball effect, it is important to respond to complaints promptly. If someone is criticizing your business, step in and offer to help the person who is unsatisfied with your products. Mention what steps have been taken to remedy the problem and let your customers know that the bad experience won’t be repeated.

• Listen and L.E.A.R.N.

Your customers are the backbone of your business. They are the resource upon which the success of your business depends on. So, when they have a problem, you need to listen and L.E.A.R.N.

L.E.A.R.N. is a simple and useful customer service technique that can help you to handle and resolve complaints and conflicts successfully. It stands for Listen-Empathize-Ask-Reassure-Never Forget to Follow Up.

• Listen: Don’t interrupt your customers. Sometimes, all they really need to do is talk. Their complaint might not be a real problem, and the only way to find out is to listen;
• Empathize: Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and try to see things from their perspective;
• Ask: Ask them what they need. Often, you will discover that what they want is far less than what you imagine they wanted;
• Reassure: Let them know that you are doing everything in your power to resolve the problem;
• Never Forget to Follow Up: Check to see if your customers are happy with the solution you provided and if they encountered any other problems.

• Go the Extra Mile for Your Customers

Going the extra mile for a customer who has complained is one of the best ways to convert them into brand advocates. JetBlue, for instance, is often acknowledged as one of the best companies in handling consumer complaints. The company has a 10 minutes response time, an impressive realization considering that they get around 2,500 mentions a day on Twitter alone.

Showing your customers that you are listening and you are willing to go the extra mile to take care of their needs can be the difference that turns a complaint into a compliment.

Handling customer complaints is an important part of managing your online reputation and keeping your small business strong and profitable. You may fear that bad reviews will affect your business, but not addressing them is even more dangerous. Sometimes, a simple “How can we help?” can give customers the reassurance they are seeking.

How do you handle customer complaints? Do you have any other tips for how to turn unhappy customers into brand advocates? Share your thoughts in the comments below.