As its universally known, the customer comes first in this business world. Everyday, people don’t always have the perfect experience, and it their right to make a complaint if they feel like the services provided to them were not what they wanted. It’s up to companies to choose how they go about resolving this issues.
Defensive
What it means for a company to be defensive is when they choose to not respond to criticism, or when they come back at a consumer negatively when there is an issue involved.
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In this example, a customer had a negative experience at an airbnb, and decided to dm their twitter account to get in contact with them. Once they had sent it, they realized that they had been blocked by the company, because they did not want to deal with the complaint. When a company chooses this method of not responding or coming back negatively, it makes it seem like the company does not care about their customers. Customers like to see that if they have a problem, it will be resolved in a positive manner, and will want to become a loyal customer. When they are defensive, that turns customers away.
Proactive
When a company is proactive, they listen to the customer and assure them that they are validated. They ultimately try and come up with a resolution. They also help customers with any questions or concern they have.
https://www.projectdigital.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/responding-to-negative-comments-1.png
For example, in the picture above a passenger on Southwest Airlines had an issue with his drink coupon. He used twitter to tweet them, and soon after got a response. Someone from the company tweeted him to send his account number, so this issue could be resolved. In my opinion, companies should always be proactive. No wants to be loyal to a company that ignores, or blames for their bad experience. They want to be heard, and respected. If your company shows good service, the more inclined customers will be to keep coming back.
