Monitoring your Accounts
How to handle negative feedback
Even the most reputable of brands deal with critics and naysayers. But with today’s technology, consumers have the power to broadcast their complaints worldwide thanks to social media and the internet. As a real estate professional with a social media presence, you will likely face negative feedback at some point. Your first instinct may be to remove the comment as quickly as possible from your account, but it’s important to think before you delete.
Transparency is Key
Transparency is the spirit of social media. It allows consumers to communicate freely and openly with businesses like never before. If you delete every negative comment you receive, you’re not staying true to social media’s transparent spirit. If users don’t like a listing you posted, they have a right to say so, and that’s okay. It’s important that you allow your social media users to comment freely on your account. But that doesn’t mean that you should ignore their criticism.
Responding to a Comment
Once a disgruntled user has expressed his or her displeasure on your account, it’s important that you respond as quickly as possible. In social media, you’re often not judged by the negative comment but by your response to it. You can’t control what other people say but you can choose how you respond.
Below are a few tips to responding appropriately to a negative comment on your social media accounts:
- Approach all negative feedback with politeness—you want to deflate the situation not escalate it.
- Consider the user’s objective for posting the comment—what did he or she hope to gain from the comment?
- Research the user’s profile—gain an understanding of the user’s personality to better know how to approach him or her.
- Respond to the comment on the original thread so that the public can see that you responded.
- Make the interaction personal—ask the user to send you a private message or ask for his or her phone number so that he or she can deal with you directly.
- Don’t be afraid to apologize—often times, users are just looking for an apology.
When to Take Actions
More often than not, you can easily resolve any negative feedback you receive on your social media accounts. Users are generally just looking for a response. But you may have those times when it’s appropriate for you to block a user. Content that is discriminatory and vulgar is never okay. There is a difference between constructive criticism and inappropriate comments. If you have a user that continually posts inappropriate content on your account, you are entitled to block that user.
If when checking your social media accounts and you notice a user has posted a negative comment on your page, take a deep breath. It’s okay. All brands and businesses experience negative feedback at some time or another. You should view negative feedback as an opportunity to highlight your real estate business brand instead of an attack to that brand. For more advice on ways to improve your real estate business through social media, be sure to check-out our Social Media Essentials eBook.