FEATURE STORY
How to Address Negative Comments on Facebook
When it comes to social media sharing, not all posts will be positive, and some are downright nasty. What’s a builder to do?
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Social media, specifically Facebook, has become one of the most popular means for businesses to market to current and prospective customers. 757 million people use Facebook on a daily basis.
While Facebook has become an invaluable marketing resource for many builders, there may be situations where a friend or follower of your page posts negative comments about your company or an employee on your page. If this happens to you, don’t panic. Here are several steps you can take to resolve the situation.
Respond Calmly and Reasonably—and Publicly
As a builder, you may have encountered the sales training maxim that “an objection unanswered is thought to be true.” That applies to social media too. Answering promptly and politely can solve (or at least start to resolve) many issues. Not replying can cause other social media users who see a public complaint to assume the comment is true, or to assume that you don’t monitor your social media, or that you are unwilling to reply.
Start by taking an honest look at the com- plaint. In many cases, a calm, courteous, reasonable and prompt public reply will resolve matters—and it reassures others on Facebook that you’re committed to
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great customer service. If you or your firm have fallen short of your typical customer care and service, consider acknowledging that and asking for the opportunity to make things right. You can reach out to the person who commented and ask them to contact you privately by sending you a direct message. By doing so, you take the search for a solution offline, out of the public’s view. Most of your social media fans will be glad to see your prompt, courteous reply and not feel the need to take part in the resolution.
Hide the Post
After you review the comment or complaint honestly and calmly, you may decide it is so inaccurate (or, in rare cases, so inflammatory) that even the prompt public reply outlined above may not be enough. In that case, Facebook allows you some options.
When someone comments on your posts, you can elect to hide their comment. The person who made the comment and their friends can still see the comment. However, no one else can, which greatly limits the reach of the negative comment. We recommend that you still respond as outlined above—calmly, courteously, and promptly—so the person who made the comments feels heard and so their friends can see your response and your sincere attempt to set things right.
Another advantage of hiding a post as opposed to deleting it entirely (see below) is that the person who commented does not feel censored.
Deleting a comment can anger the person who made it, leading to a game of “whack a mole.” The person adds a new negative comment on Facebook, which you delete, etc. The original complaint (which may have been possible to resolve) can get forgotten and a now-aggrieved social media follower can spiral to a new level of anger or frustration. The person who complained on Facebook may also show up with the original or new complaints on your other social media accounts. They may even post something like this, “Avoid Builder X. They delete my requests for help, can’t take criticism, and won’t take responsibility or try to fix my problem.”
Delete the Post
Where warranted, and where responding and hiding the post won’t solve the situa- tion, delete.
Are some comments so over the top that simply hiding them isn’t sufficient? The answer is definitely yes, but thankfully this is rare. Let your conscience and your firm’s values be your guide. We recommend a zero-tolerance policy for comments that are racist, sexist, violent or extreme in their
JUNE 2015 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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