Try social media to address customer complaints and concerns

Your process for handling customer complaints likely follows this path:

One person complains to you, probably via e-mail.

You respond promptly to the complaint with a “we understand how you feel” e-mail. A contrite phone calls follows, complete with a discount or free product offer. You win the customer back. Congratulations!

But you know the axiom: Every person who has a bad experience tells 10 others. How do you win them back?

Here is where businesses can find great value in social media. While most companies use sales as the only barometer for judging how many resources should go into social media, they shouldn’t miss the opportunity to cast a wide customer service net. Now you can answer one complaint for the benefit of hundreds or even thousands of people in just a few keystrokes.

Here are a few guidelines for adding a powerful customer service component to your social media strategy:

Be proactive: When one person complains, 10 others suffer in silence. While you certainly can’t (and shouldn’t) replace the one-to-one interaction with a single unhappy customer, you can use Facebook to address any complaint generally.

For example: “We understand some customers may have received slower-than-normal service on June 20. We apologize for the inconvenience. The great response to our new specials left us temporarily understaffed. We have adjusted our staffing levels in relationship to the special offers, and have given our associates additional guidance on how to handle those situations. Thanks for your business!”

You can also write a blog that address potential customer relationship issues before they arise. Blogs need not be 1,000-word masterpieces. A brief explanation will do, and if you have Twitter, be sure to share the link! (Make sure a grammatically savvy employee or friend proofreads each entry.)

Be swift: Check your Facebook page at least once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Social media conversations are immediate by their nature, and even a good response loses steam if it takes two days. If you blog, keep it up weekly at minimum.

Be creative: Use a compact  Flip camera or  Sony Webby HD – or even a cell phone with decent video capability – to have a member of your management team respond to a complaint and explain the solution. Provide a Facebook coupon that all your fans can use. These gestures cost you next to nothing, yet can have powerful impact.

Don’t be defensive: As you know, customer complaints are often coated in smoldering rage. And many times, the angrier the complainer, the more off-base their complaint. Don’t get drawn into an argument, because the viral nature of social media will then work against you.

Social media has put more power in the hands of the consumer. Use it to your advantage as well.

Matt Schroeder has a 20-year background in a wide range of media, from writing and design to new media and broadcast. Reach him at mattschroeder255@gmail.com.