Negative online comments and reviews can present tough challenges for your aesthetic clinic. Knowing how and when to manage negative online comments and to respond is critical, as you may cause more damage with a heavy-handed or defensive approach. Similarly, you should know your rights when it comes to defending your business from defamation and false claims.
Prepare in Advance
It is impossible to know exactly when online comments will hit, or what their content will be. However its now a given that negative feedback is part of the online landscape, and if it hasnt happened to you yet – it will! It can be difficult to take the right approach in such instances, but the worst thing you could do is nothing at all.
Unfortunately, negative feedback does not just go away, and doing nothing is a surefire way to make your clinic look as though it doesnt care about your patients or practices. Replying in a timely manner will reassure future clients that you have taken steps to rectify any problems. This is why it is essential that your team knows how to handle online critique.
Establish protocols ahead of time, leave open lines of communication, and make it clear whose responsibility it is to respond. Dont be afraid to delegate this to another team member- it may be necessary to ensure a swift and efficient response.
The A.C.E Method
It is always worth remembering the A.C.E. method when handling online negativity:
- Acknowledge: Make sure the complainer, and your audience at large, knows theyve been heard. This does not need to be an admission of guilt, though it is important not to lay the blame at the commenters feet, either, but a simple statement on the same platform that makes it evident that you are listening to them.
- Clarify: It is impossible to adequately respond to negative feedback without having all the information. Clarification not only ensures you have all the facts you need to formulate the best response, but also gives you the opportunity to show what you will be doing about it.This step also gives you the chance to reiterate your positive business messages such as commitment to quality and satisfaction etc.
- Engage: Engaging directly with the complainer allows you to get the ball back in your court (and hopefully, offline). By opening a line of communication, it provides you the opportunity to take the matter forward in a non-public forum that will not cause lasting damage to your brand.
This skeleton will provide you with a professional response that will satisfy audiences waiting for you to react. If done well, the A.C.E method will allow you to shift the complaint offline, to be dealt with privately, whilst still satisfying the need to do something about poor feedback. It can be tempting to allow emotions to guide your response, but this makes it all too easy to be sucked into a tit-for-tat argument that will create more damage to your reputation in the long run.
Dont Feed the Trolls
Of course, the phenomenon of trolling means we are often confronted with online feedback that is simply untrue, or downright abusive. Unfortunately, there will always be people who just wanted to cause discontent. When handling these types of comments, it is important not to stoop to their level.
Use the same channel to respond, for the sake of the rest of your audience who may be keeping an eye on the situation, but never engage directly with the troll. Instead, opt for a broad, overarching and impersonal message that follows the A.C.E method as detailed above.
For more information on handling online negativity, be sure to visit the Kendrick PR Youtube channel for Julias presentation on the issue at AM Live North 2017!