What Would Trigger Your ‘Epic Meltdown’?
Holidays such as Mother’s Day can be exhausting. And exhaustion can lead to mistakes. And mistakes can lead to customer dissatisfaction. And customer dissatisfaction can lead to customer complaints.
What’s important is how you handle the complaints.
Recently, one company’s owners handled their complaints in the worst way possible. And let’s just say their problems went from bad to worse. WAY worse.
In a nutshell (you can read the whole story here), two restaurateurs in Scottsdale, Ariz., took to Facebook to defend themselves after appearing on an episode of the TV show “Kitchen Nightmares.” If you’re not familiar with the show, famed chef Gordon Ramsay aids failing eatery owners. But that didn't happen in this season’s finale episode because, for the first time in the show’s history, Ramsay walked out. The couple was simply too difficult to work with, he said.
Viewers responded to the show by going online (on Facebook, Yelp! and Reddit) to post their opinions—and they weren't nice. Admittedly, it would take a lot of self-control to maintain any type of composure in reading through the comments posted. And while the couple did seem to start out with a modicum of discipline in defending their bistro, it didn’t take long for them to lose their cool. Within minutes, their responses became hate-filled expletives in which they referred to commenters as “stupid people” and “punks.” (Since then, the couple has claimed that the Facebook page was hacked and that they were not the ones actually responding to the criticisms, despite the fact that the couple is seen on the TV show acting in a fairly similar manner toward both customers and employees, as well as Ramsay…)
We addressed the topic of how to handle customer complaints back February when you were facing your post-Valentine’s blitz. But with this week’s incident getting so much attention (many have cited it as “the most epic Facebook meltdown ever”), it seemed worthwhile to look at the issue again. In that post, we discussed “4 Smart Tips to Soothe Post-Holiday Complainers.” Here, we’ll expand on the topic by looking at the different types of social-media-based negative feedback (as aptly outlined by Josh Catone of Mashable) and reiterate the best ways to respond.
So, first, the types of problems you’ll likely face:
Straight Problems. Catone describes these as situations in which someone has an issue with your shop and goes into detail describing it. Yes, the feedback is negative because it “paints your business in a poor light.” Nevertheless, you can gain from this feedback by learning of real problems you need to address.
Constructive Criticism. Catone says this type of complaint is even more beneficial than a “straight problem” because you get tips from the complainer on how to fix it. Take advantage of these comments and try to use them for improvement of whatever could be at fault.
Merited Attack. With this complaint, Catone points out that the attack itself might not be merited, but whatever caused it can be. It boils down to someone doing something wrong—whether you or a member of your staff—which has led to a customer being angry.
Trolling/Spam. Catone defines the difference between trolling and a merited attack as one in which the “troll” has no valid reason for being angry. Spammers are even worse—usually being individuals who cite your shop negatively to promote a competing business.
As you can see, some negative comments can be to your benefit. But whether they are or not, you still need to know how to respond to any of them. So those rules:
1) Don’t ignore the complaints. (The Scottsdale restaurateurs took that bit of advice to heart!) Basically, you don’t want other fans of your page to think you are ignoring the complaint by not responding.
2) Apologize. Say you’re sorry and thank the person for commenting. Often that solves the entire issue.
3) Post a comment that you will be sending the reviewer a private message and then do so. It will make them feel special and help to calm their irritation.
4) Don’t delete the comment unless you have a policy in place. Deleting comments often will simply spur the ire of the person who posted it originally, who may incite friends to add additional comments—and make the situation worse. Some situations do merit the deletion of content. For those cases, create a policy (add this to today’s to-do list) in which you let fans know upfront that you will delete any comments that include racism, sexism, verbal abuse, inappropriate language, pornographic content or are blatantly antagonistic toward other fans.
5) Throw out a shiny object. Basically, try to deflect the conversation by redirecting it to something positive. (After you apologize and thank the commenter first, of course.)
Did you have any negative feedback after Mother’s Day? How have you handled the responses? Send a note to [email protected] or respond here.
A Side Note …
Thanks for visiting FlowerChat! We hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. If you’re new, we’d like to invite you take our quick, 3-minute intro video tour here. Discover all the great resources we offer.
And feel free to dive into more great articles in our "Blooming Banter" section.
Then, sign up for a FREE membership! You'll automatically get a 30-day trial as Pro-level member. No credit card required.
Pro-level members get you access to all areas of the site, including all the forums, the photo gallery, blogs, videos, webinars and downloadable resources.
At the end of 30 days, your membership will automatically convert to our Basic level unless you choose to remain a Pro member.
For the price of two fancy coffee drinks a month, it’s really hard to say no!
We look forward to seeing you in the forums!
Holidays such as Mother’s Day can be exhausting. And exhaustion can lead to mistakes. And mistakes can lead to customer dissatisfaction. And customer dissatisfaction can lead to customer complaints.
What’s important is how you handle the complaints.
Recently, one company’s owners handled their complaints in the worst way possible. And let’s just say their problems went from bad to worse. WAY worse.
In a nutshell (you can read the whole story here), two restaurateurs in Scottsdale, Ariz., took to Facebook to defend themselves after appearing on an episode of the TV show “Kitchen Nightmares.” If you’re not familiar with the show, famed chef Gordon Ramsay aids failing eatery owners. But that didn't happen in this season’s finale episode because, for the first time in the show’s history, Ramsay walked out. The couple was simply too difficult to work with, he said.
Viewers responded to the show by going online (on Facebook, Yelp! and Reddit) to post their opinions—and they weren't nice. Admittedly, it would take a lot of self-control to maintain any type of composure in reading through the comments posted. And while the couple did seem to start out with a modicum of discipline in defending their bistro, it didn’t take long for them to lose their cool. Within minutes, their responses became hate-filled expletives in which they referred to commenters as “stupid people” and “punks.” (Since then, the couple has claimed that the Facebook page was hacked and that they were not the ones actually responding to the criticisms, despite the fact that the couple is seen on the TV show acting in a fairly similar manner toward both customers and employees, as well as Ramsay…)
We addressed the topic of how to handle customer complaints back February when you were facing your post-Valentine’s blitz. But with this week’s incident getting so much attention (many have cited it as “the most epic Facebook meltdown ever”), it seemed worthwhile to look at the issue again. In that post, we discussed “4 Smart Tips to Soothe Post-Holiday Complainers.” Here, we’ll expand on the topic by looking at the different types of social-media-based negative feedback (as aptly outlined by Josh Catone of Mashable) and reiterate the best ways to respond.
So, first, the types of problems you’ll likely face:
Straight Problems. Catone describes these as situations in which someone has an issue with your shop and goes into detail describing it. Yes, the feedback is negative because it “paints your business in a poor light.” Nevertheless, you can gain from this feedback by learning of real problems you need to address.
Constructive Criticism. Catone says this type of complaint is even more beneficial than a “straight problem” because you get tips from the complainer on how to fix it. Take advantage of these comments and try to use them for improvement of whatever could be at fault.
Merited Attack. With this complaint, Catone points out that the attack itself might not be merited, but whatever caused it can be. It boils down to someone doing something wrong—whether you or a member of your staff—which has led to a customer being angry.
Trolling/Spam. Catone defines the difference between trolling and a merited attack as one in which the “troll” has no valid reason for being angry. Spammers are even worse—usually being individuals who cite your shop negatively to promote a competing business.
As you can see, some negative comments can be to your benefit. But whether they are or not, you still need to know how to respond to any of them. So those rules:
1) Don’t ignore the complaints. (The Scottsdale restaurateurs took that bit of advice to heart!) Basically, you don’t want other fans of your page to think you are ignoring the complaint by not responding.
2) Apologize. Say you’re sorry and thank the person for commenting. Often that solves the entire issue.
3) Post a comment that you will be sending the reviewer a private message and then do so. It will make them feel special and help to calm their irritation.
4) Don’t delete the comment unless you have a policy in place. Deleting comments often will simply spur the ire of the person who posted it originally, who may incite friends to add additional comments—and make the situation worse. Some situations do merit the deletion of content. For those cases, create a policy (add this to today’s to-do list) in which you let fans know upfront that you will delete any comments that include racism, sexism, verbal abuse, inappropriate language, pornographic content or are blatantly antagonistic toward other fans.
5) Throw out a shiny object. Basically, try to deflect the conversation by redirecting it to something positive. (After you apologize and thank the commenter first, of course.)
Did you have any negative feedback after Mother’s Day? How have you handled the responses? Send a note to [email protected] or respond here.
A Side Note …
Thanks for visiting FlowerChat! We hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. If you’re new, we’d like to invite you take our quick, 3-minute intro video tour here. Discover all the great resources we offer.
And feel free to dive into more great articles in our "Blooming Banter" section.
Then, sign up for a FREE membership! You'll automatically get a 30-day trial as Pro-level member. No credit card required.
Pro-level members get you access to all areas of the site, including all the forums, the photo gallery, blogs, videos, webinars and downloadable resources.
At the end of 30 days, your membership will automatically convert to our Basic level unless you choose to remain a Pro member.
For the price of two fancy coffee drinks a month, it’s really hard to say no!
We look forward to seeing you in the forums!
