If you are experiencing a social media crisis with your business, it
can either devastate you or you can turn it around and deal with it in a
way that doesn’t ruin all of your efforts thus far.
If you approach it correctly, you have the potential to get closer to
your clients and to your market by dealing with a crisis that you could
not prevent from happening. It is up to you to deal with it in a way
that will turn the tables and allow you to achieve extremely positive
results rather than negative ones. There are many ways in which you can
make lemonade from lemons.
• Meet the crisis head on: If you ignore the crisis
and assume it will disappear on its own, you are sadly mistaken. The
best way to constructively deal with the crisis is to go into the
situation with your eyes wide open and to methodically and sensibly
dissect the crisis until it no longer poses a threat to you and your
business.
• Deal with negative comments diplomatically: In all
businesses, you will come across people online who will be dissatisfied
with some aspect of your business (either your products and/or services,
your content, etc.) and will happily share their opinion with you. The
best way to deal with and diffuse the situation is to have an honest
dialogue with the other person. Communicate the idea that you are happy
to listen to him/her and reassure him/her you will try your best to
improve upon your offerings so his/her needs are met. If the other
person feels you are truly trying to accommodate him/her, you will
actually have the chance to turn that person into a loyal client.
However, it is important to understand that developing that relationship
will take time and nurturing. It won’t happen overnight.
• It is important to post negative as well as positive feedback from your online connections:
In many cases, you will learn more from negative feedback than you will
from positive feedback, even though positive feedback is easier to
receive (on an emotional level). Not only will it prove to be a learning
experience for you but it will most likely benefit your online
connections as well.
• Let your staff in: It is not a smart idea to keep
your staff in the dark when dealing with a crisis for your business. If
you are in it together — then you should be in it together. You need to
be able to trust them and to delegate responsibilities to them so they
can help you to manage the crisis in the best possible way. Not only
will that approach help to manage the crisis but it will also help to
build loyalty in your staff.
• Speak with people as equals: It is extremely
important you give your clients (and other online connections) the
respect and consideration they deserve, which means speaking to them as
equals. You need to ensure your clients know you consider their opinions
to be important.
• Always acknowledge other people’s comments: The
worst thing you can do when someone sends you a comment online is to not
acknowledge it. If a customer asks a question you can’t answer right at
that moment, acknowledge that the question was asked and let the person
know you will do some research and get back to him/her with an answer.
• Sincerity is always best: Always be sincere —
people can tell if you are insincere, and they won’t appreciate it.
Generally, people understand everyone makes mistakes and they will
definitely respect you more if you apologize and move on.
• Pay close attention to what people think about your business brand and offerings:
It is important to really listen to what people are saying about your
business. If you keep yourself in the dark, you are not giving yourself
the opportunity to improve upon what you have already established, which
leaves you with no possibility of gaining more success. Success, of
course, is your ultimate goal.
Conclusion
Although “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is a cliché,
there is a great deal of wisdom in the concept. If you are dealing with a
crisis in your business, it doesn’t mean that you have to accept it and
close up shop. You can consider it a learning experience and turn the
negative into positive. Everyone has to deal with crises at some point
in their careers. It isn’t a matter of the crisis existing, it is a
matter of how you react when you are in the middle of it. If you deal
with it constructively and gracefully, your business connections will
respect you and will want to continue to be associated with you and your
business. Remember to listen to what other people are saying and glean
ways to improve your approach whenever possible. That is one of the
important ways in which you will grow your business.
Michael Cohn,
Post from: SiteProNews
