Dealing with negative feedback across social media can become commonplace when you have an online presence professionally and even personally. We understand that it can be extremely hard knowing just how to react when being faced with negative feedback or trolling behaviour. Here’s our handy guide to help you take the best course of action if you find your social media platforms under scrutiny.
Keep calm and make your plan of action
The most important thing to remember when you experience any negative feedback is to keep a cool head. It’s easy to react immediately when your emotions are running high, but taking a step back to cool down and assess the situation is a much better way forward.
Carefully consider the feedback and take the key points that you need to deal with. For example, perhaps your client is unhappy with the darker than expected colour of their Microbladed brows a few days after treatment. In this instance, your client needs to be educated on the healing process and their options – as a PMU Artist, you know that brows will look much darker initially than the healed result. Your client may not have taken this on board and may simply be in a bit of a panic. Consider whether you’d like to address their concerns publicly or privately – either way, remain professional and approachable. The best way to avoid conflict is to deflect.
Is this an internet troll or a real client?
It’s unfortunate but true that there are many people that love to try to bring others down for absolutely no reason at all. With internet trolling becoming somewhat of a hobby, it’s not uncommon to have fake reviews appear across your social media channels. If the feedback is from an internet troll, your best course of action is to ignore it and have the comment removed by reporting it using the official social media platform’s process. If this is not possible, some business owners prefer to leave a polite comment under the feedback stating that they have not treated the client in the past.
If this is a real client, it’s important to deal with their complaint in a sensitive, approachable and professional manner. Again, consider whether you’d like to address their complaint publicly or privately. Remember, if you are facing legal battles with the said client, you will usually be told to refrain from entering into any communication with them unless your solicitor is involved.
Offer a solution
The number one thing that you can do to resolve the negative feedback or complaint is offer a solution. Perhaps you could ask the client to visit your clinic to talk through their concerns or offer them a complimentary treatment or voucher for their next visit?
If you are at fault, it’s important that you own your mistake and offer a solution to rectify it. A sincere apology goes a long way and is often all the client really wants to hear. Many people speak out very quickly when they are angry and tend to cool off and think more logically after a little downtime to reflect on what’s happened. Once you have offered a solution, you could ask the client if they would mind removing their comment or at least updating it to include how you resolved their issue.
Remember, having a negative review is not the end of the world.
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