Companies that have a social media presence are always receiving comments and reviews about their products or services. When a company receives a negative comment, there are two ways they can respond – in a defensive or proactive way.
When a company decides to respond to a negative comment in a defensive way, they are choosing to support their brand and company name. However, it can show other customers that their company is stubborn and will refuse any wrong-doing they are accused of. When a company decides to respond in a positive way, it shows customers that they care about their well-being and are willing to do what’s right to ensure the customer is satisfied.
As you can see in the picture above, this customer is clearly unhappy about receiving moldy cheese in her HELLOFresh meal kit. In this situation, not only did HELLOFresh not respond to her comment, another person is claiming that they don’t respond to any comments. This is a really bad look for a company because they aren’t responding in a defensive or proactive way and are completely disregarding their customer. This can result in losing loyal customers.
In this example, we see how Honda uses a proactive response to a negative customer review. As shown, Honda replies to the complaint in a timely fashion and are working with the customer to ensure her problems are heard. This is a perfect example of a company using a proactive response to an unhappy customer.