If you have your own private label supplements business, chances are that you are using various social media outlets to promote your brand and products. While social media is an open platform great for receiving feedback on your services and supplements, it can serve as a home to negative comments left by consumers.
Negative comments may befall you for variety of reasons, but perhaps the most important thing when they appear is how you react to them. Such negativity can easily impact your overall reputation, so it’s imperative that you act with authority and professionalism.
Let’s take a look at how you can neutralize negative comments if they are unjust criticism, or how to handle them if customers’ disappointment seems to be valid.
#1. Identify the Nature of the Negative Comment
What this means is to be able to differentiate whether the comment is:
- A plain online attack. Since in the virtual world anonymity is so pervasive, you might not know who really stands behind the comment. It could be an anonymous unhappy customer trying to tarnish your reputation or a random visitor who is trying to blow off some steam for reasons that have nothing to do with your products or business.
- A customer’s product review. When it comes to private label supplements, people tend to criticize a product or ask clarifying questions based on something they’ve read on the Internet. The criticism or complaining of a product often comes when someone is seeking instant results from it. Customers get disappointed and frustrated if they don’t see immediate progress.
- A comment on your customer service. When unhappy, customers can leave pretty blatant negative comments. If they are related to your customer service, take them as useful feedback and try to improve the weak spots they reveal. Sometimes a customer comes across about a particular problem, be it with shipping or their order. Then he or she might take to social media to express their dissatisfaction. You can be sure that other customers will see the complaint — some may even share it and thus the credibility and reputation of your company may be threatened.
#2. How To Respond to Negative Comments
To a plain online attack. Have you heard of the terms “troll” and “trolling?” A troll is someone who often posts provocative yet irrelevant, derogatory and aggressive messages in a forum or a blog comment section, in order to simply disrupt an on-topic discussion. That person is not necessarily a real customer of yours. It can be a random anonymous person who has no experience with your product or company. So if the comment doesn’t make a clear point, it doesn’t make any sense and/or it’s totally irrelevant, feel free to delete it.
To a customer’s product review. Understand that consumers are easily influenced and confused by new research and studies published every other day. Oftentimes, the findings of such studies are quite contradictory, so spend the extra time to give more information. Make sure to give special attention to Fish Oils or Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin D, and Multivitamins, which are all hotly debated supplements and can stand as examples of oft-conflicting information.
Some researchers find that these supplements play a supportive role for a variety of ailments, while others deny that role. Communicate the issue on more than one social media outlet: publish a clarifying article on your blog; talk about it on Facebook and Twitter; generate discussion and see what your customers have to say. Be honest when responding to questions regarding your products.
Don’t shy away from answering a tough question, and do your best to explain your brand’s position on the matter by citing studies or research that come from a reliable source. Back up your statements with facts and statistics when possible. By ignoring a product question on your social media accounts, you may lose the trust of your current and potential customers.
To a comment on your customer service. Respond to negative criticisms as quickly as possible. Even if you don’t have an immediate solution to the problem, at least the message you’ll be sending is clear: “We acknowledged your post and we are here to help.” Thank your customer for reaching out to you, and attend to the problem in a calm and professional tone of voice.
Give answers, apologize if needed, and offer a customer-pleasing solution. That way your other customers will see that you are a responsible and customer-centric business. Being open and caring will keep your customers loyal to your brand.
Be aware, however, that some issues are best handled offline by more personal communication via email or phone. For example, if you’ve delivered a wrong order, or there were some problems with the shipping address and other similar technical issues, you wouldn’t want to engage in that conversation in front of the entire online community. Handle it directly with the complaining customer.
#3. Handling Various Social Media Accounts
Your response to negative comments on the different social media platforms will look and feel differently. Just like one expert put it: “[social networks] are the same language, but different dialects.” Facebook is the obvious choice, whenever a detailed and informative response is required to defend a product or advertise it further.
Twitter, on the other hand, is best for short and punchy responses when time is of the essence. Sometimes even the fact that you’re responding in a timely manner is enough for an angry customer to calm down. Whatever the situation, just remember that the fundamentals of effective communication remain the same whether you agree or disagree with your customer. Stay polite, don’t get defensive and show them you value their opinion.
Conclusion
Negative comments are dangerous. They can hurt the image of your brand or your business and threaten the trust your customers extend to your products and services. Handle such comments with care, before they have a chance to leave any bad impression for the rest of your social media followers.
Look around, the summer is almost here! So check your stock of hottest fat burners, workout formulas and beauty products and call us to replenish, so you are ready for your summer sales! Give us a call at 855-209-0225 ext. 2 or email us at sales@privatelabelsupplement.com and let us know how we can help!
All my best,
Stefani Thionnet
Stay focused and never give up!
