How Do You Handle Angry Customers on Social Media?

Upset or angry customers are a fact of life when you run a business.  No matter what you sell or what industry you are part of, things happen and people have bad days.  What's different now is that customers can express their feelings instantly to the widest possible audience through social media when they are angry with your brand.  Having a great response strategy will help you neutralize the negativity and possibly convert that angry customer in to a real fan.

Have a Plan - Take Pro-Active Steps
As always, planning is everything.  It is important that you have a plan and strategy in place BEFORE a customer takes to the internet or blogosphere.  Create a commenting policy for your blog and have it posted so that you'll have something to fall back on if you have to remove any comments.  All of your team members should be familiar with that policy as well as the procedure for dealing with angry customers or who they should call.

Listen for the Complaints
You cannot possibly respond to conversations that you don't see or know about.  Monitor your social media outlets, your blog, and Google Alerts (it's free!).  Depending on what your business is, you may want to monitor review sites such as Yelp too.  If there is a specific forum that your customers are fond of using, add that to your daily check list.  Your customers are talking whether or not you're listening.  Catching negative comments before they build momentum makes them much easier to deal with.  If you don't have the time to do this level of monitoring, you can assign it to your Virtual Administrative Assistant.

Evaluate
You will have to determine which negative remarks are worth a response.  Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and just move on.  Here are some situations to avoid:

• Complaints that are on very small blogs or forums.  Your response may actually bring more attention to something that would have faded away.
• Blatant attacks that are clearly rude or outrageous.  These are posts that anyone who reads it will see that the poster has a personal problem.
• Interacting with a known crackpot who is only looking to pick a fight.  If the same person complains repeatedly, no matter what you do, don't continue to engage that person online.

On the flip side, do not simply delete every negative comment that you see.  That just causes your community to question your credibility.  Keep your platform as a place for open dialouge as much as possible.  But DO delete comments that are offensive or threatening.

Engage Quickly
Immediately say sorry, whether or not it is your fault.  Offer an apology for their unsatisfactory experience and try to take the conversation off line as soon as possible.  The longer you wait to respond, the angrier the customer gets and the more likely that others will pile on with more negative buzz.  An example response is:

"Hi (customer name).  Thanks for getting in touch and sorry to hear about (issue or experience).  If you send along your email to help@xyz.com, we'll work with you to find a way to help with that problem."

Offer to make it right when you respond.  We all make mistakes, but customers remember how we fix them even more.

Speak Like a Person
Don't use a canned response to every online complaint.  Nothing makes people angrier than feeling like they are being treated like a number and not a real person.  Show empathy, communicate in a friendly tone, use their name, and use your name.  Often simply including a name or picture difuses the situation because the customer has a much harder time being rude to an individual as opposed to a nameless, faceless entity.

Never Get In To a Fight
Anytime you win an argument online, you've actually lost.  All customers remember is that you were combative to another customer who might have had a valid complaint.  They don't want to do business with someone they feel will not take their issues seriously.  Respond to the initial complaint, but don't get involved in a contentious back and forth.  Some things to remember when responding:

• Don't get emotional.
• It's a real person, just like you, on the other side of the complaint.
• The complaint may actually be doing you a favor by pointing out something that needs to be improved in your business.  How many customers felt the same way and just left without saying anything?

Respond On the Same Platform
If the complaint or negative comment came on Twitter, respond on Twitter.  Don't use email to respond to a facebook comment.  Noone will see the response if you post it somewhere else.  When you respond online and in public, you earn positive word of mouth.

Instant access to customers and information can be a double edged sword for businesses.  But with a little pre-planning and a solid strategy, you may be able to turn those angry customers in to loyal fans.

How do I become a Gmail Ninja?

Gmail is a fast growing platform for both business and personal emails.  Google has put together this great list of tips to help you become a Gmail Ninja!

Become a Gmail Ninja

If you don't have the time or inclination to set up these systems, assign the set up to your virtual administrative assistant.  Administrative Business Consulting is always working to get you back to the fun part of your business by helping you delegate the administrative tasks that eat up your day.  Contact us today!

What is a Webinar and How Can I Put One On?

Web conferencing is a service that allows meetings and events to be shared by users in remote locations.  Referred to as on-line workshops or webinars, these events can be used for:

• Meetings
• Training events
• Lectures
• Sharing information on new products and services
• Promoting your business

This dynamic and engaging platform helps you build an audience that will regard you as an expert in your field, as well as keeping your education and travel budgets down.  With a little bit of planning, you can integrate this tool in to your marketing plan.

Determine your format
There are several available formats for running a successful webinar.  Take a look at this table for tips on how to choose the right one for your presentation:

	Description	Pros	Cons
One Speaker	A single presenter speaks, demonstrates, and answers questions from the audience.	Fewer people to coordinate and train on the webinar tool.	Lone presenter is more likely to become authority at the “front of the room” which may create reluctance to ask questions.
Interview Style	Interviewer asks a set of predetermined questions.	·         More engaging to hear multiple voices. ·         Interviewer asking questions often encourages audience to do the same.	·         More people to train and coordinate. ·         Scheduling run-through and webinar may be more difficult.
Moderated Panel Discussion	Multiple people on the line at the same time, with a moderator facilitating the discussion.	Offers variety of voices and perspectives.	Can be challenging to keep panelists from only talking among themselves.
Interactive	Audience members participate fully via instructor-led exercises and facilitated discussions.	Participants receive deeper understanding of topic because they’re fully engaged in dialogue and exercises.	·         Can only accommodate a small group. ·         Requires experienced teacher/facilitator.

Fill Roles

Once you have determined the style, then you'll need to fill the appropriate support roles for the webinar.  Basic roles are:

• Organizer/facilitator - this will be the person who schedules the session, creates the visuals, invites the attendees, tracks the participants, and follows-up afterwards.  You can take this role on yourself, or delegate it out to your Virtual Administrative Assistant so you can concentrate on being the expert.
• Presenter/subject matter expert - you will generally be filling this role, but you can draw on others in your field for the interview or panel discussion style of webinar.
• Assistant - during the actual webinar, you need to have an assistant that will help it run smoothly.  That person will be answering technical/logistics questions, running the slide show, and gathering other information that the presenter will need.  Again, this is a perfect role for your Virtual Administrative Assistant.

Plan Your Visuals

Webinars are a platform that relies on audio and visual content to get your message across.  Instead of having text heavy slides, use interesting visuals that illustrate your topic.  Have an intro slide that shows log-in information as well as logistic information like how to ask questions.  If your are using one of the multi-presenter formats, have a slide that introduces all parties with pictures if available.  Include a brief overview of the agenda and topics that will be covered.  When you are going to be referencing web sites or tools, try to include live versions or screen shots of those things.  Use interactive exercises like polls and Q&A sessions to keep the audience engaged.  Remember, your audience will probably lose attention if your presentation is longer than 30-60 minutes so build your presentation accordingly.

Pick a Provider

There are many providers (and growing) for putting on webinars.  You can use services such as DimDim.com, Yugma.com, GoToWebinar.com, or any provider that you are comfortable with.  Things to keep in mind when deciding are:

• How many people will be accommodated
• Cost of the service
• Does it have the features you need
• How is the audio portion handled
• Can you record the session for future viewing

Once the provider is set, don't forget to practice at least once with all the presenters and your assistant to make sure you're familiar with the tool.  Don't make the actual webinar the first time you log-on and try it out.  You want to be seen as the professional and expert to your customers.

Schedule & Invite

Now you're ready to schedule the session and invite your attendees.  The most effective days for webinars is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the afternoon.  Set yourself a goal for invitees and attendees remembering that most webinars achieve a 30% attendance rate.  Your invitation should be targeted, somewhat personal, and sent at least 3 times to be effective.  Promote your webinar through your website, social media outlets, and blog to reach the widest possible audience.  Have your autoresponder send a thank you email and registration confirmation to each participant that signs up.

Follow-up

Everyone that took the time to participate in your webinar trusted your advice on and was excited by the topic that you chose to speak about, don't let that opportunity pass you by.  Follow-up the webinar with some value added contact that will cement your name and business in the customer's mind.  You can send each participant a copy of your presentation with additional text and exercises, you can give them a free service such as a short consultation, or you can add them to an exclusive newsletter or website access list.  This is a great chore to outsource to your Virtual Administrative Assistant.

The marketplace is quickly changing and customers are always seeking a more personal connection with the businesses they frequent.  Webinars are an excellent way to build your following and your reputation as an expert in your field.  Take the opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competition and dive in to the wonderful world of webinars.