Posted by Happiness teams, Support engineers, Happiness heroes, Customer service agents, no matter what we’re called, we stand in the front line and are the bridge between the product and the customers.
Customer service is for the folks who are positive, always willing to help others, are full of empathy and are determined to spread smiles!
However, standing on the front line isn’t easy. We have some expected experience while dealing with different type of folks day in and day out. Some of these negative experiences can set us back, make us feel like we’re not doing enough or even make us re-think our decision to work in this industry. It’s harder when it’s on Social media for the world to see it.
Negativity can be divided into two types
1. Negativity towards the product
There are customers who 👇
✅ are not happy with the product.
✅ want something that the product doesn’t have.
✅ ask for functionalities that are not in the pipeline.
✅ point out that something is working differently than they imagined it to be.
Sometimes they reach out directly and sometimes they just talk about your brand without explicitly mentioning it on Social Media.
When you tell them that their problem can’t be solved, some of them understand and appreciate you getting back to them. But some of them won’t be happy with a response that doesn’t really solve their problem. They will tell the world that your product sucks.
That’ll hurt.
The important thing here is – Their problem is with the product and not with you as an individual.
2. Negativity towards you
They mention you or you proactively listen to them > You try helping them but miss the mark with your response > They react. Ouch!
Remember, they are your customers and they can tell you how do they feel about your response. Some might choose to do it in a positive way but it is important to bear in mind that a customer who comes seeking help is already frustrated.
Frustration + Anger + Below the par response = Recipe for disaster
You can’t make everyone happy and control the way they react but you can control your actions and your reactions.
Your job is to spread smiles, spark joy and WOW as many customers as you can. So, you need to have a plan to deal with all the negativity.
Here are 3 Ways To Deal With The Negativity In Customer Service
1. Be prepared
This sounds very basic but it is important to train your mind to be ready for some negativity. The second most important thing is to understand what is directed towards you and what is directed towards the product.
Also remember, Social Media is free to use, public and a powerful way for the customers to reach out to the brands. They are going to use it.
If the negativity is directed towards the product here’s what you should do –
1. Share it with the entire team to see if improvements and adjustments can be made. It’s always about making the product better!
2. Share it with the support team so that you can collectively come up with a better response and be on the same page if someone else from the team faces a similar situation.
3. Make sure you reply and close the conversation. Leaving conversations open will only lead to more frustration.
If the negativity is directed towards you here’s what you should do –
1. Share it with your peers to understand if it’s justified.
2. Analyse and understand how you can improve.
3. Take a deep breath and tell yourself that this is just one response.
4. Make sure you reply to the comment gracefully.
If you’re prepared you’ll be able to take the actions faster and will get better at it with time.
2. Balance it out
If there are negative feedbacks and comments, there also are happy users, positive feedbacks and great comments that encourage us and make us feel good.
Here are a few things that you can do to maintain the balance
1. File the happy moments under the tag ‘Sparks Joy’.
Every time someone says something nice, something uplifting, something that makes you go ‘ Awwww’ or ‘YAY’ save it in a file. This could be a personal file that you can go through when you’re not feeling great. All the happy comments will remind you of your purpose.
You can even make a Twitter Moment out of it 🙌
2. Share the best comments/feedbacks with your team
Happy feedbacks are powerful. So powerful that they can make the entire team smile. Share them with your team and uplift everyone’s mood. This will make you happy as well.
3. Make sure you do a little happy dance
We need to express joy the same way we express sadness. The best thing about the happy dance is that it’s contagious. It has the power to make everyone around you celebrate their happy moments.
3. Take the lesson and leave the rest
Instead of taking the negativity personally and sulking in the corner, make the best out of it.
Look at every feedback and analyse it, find the areas where you can improve and compare different feedbacks to find a pattern. All this collectively can help us improve.
- Don’t take it as a comment, take it as a perspective.
- Don’t hold on to the hard feelings, learn and move on.
- Be mindful and understand that there’s more positivity than negativity.
Closing thoughts
Look at the brighter side and always aim to improve yourself based on the feedback you get. If there’s something you’d like to add to this or have any questions, please leave them in the comments!
If you’re looking for tips to provide stellar customer service, check this out 😎
Use Crowdfire to track your Mentions and provide stellar customer support on Social Media 💪
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