What are the most important factors to consider when responding to customer complaints on social media?

This isn't a kindergarten playground where a mumbled "sorry" does the trick. You've got to make it personal. Use their name and be sincere. I once scaled a company to 16 million in revenue within a year, and you bet your ass we did it by treating every customer as an individual. We had agents in different countries; they weren't just reading from a script but tuned into cultural nuances. You've got to acknowledge the issue and give a sincere apology, tailored to the person and the culture. The advice I always gave my agents was simple: treat the customer like your friend because a friend wouldn't s***w you over.

It's important to refrain from reading tone or intent into a customer complaint and not to react as if you've been personally offended. Be kind in your response-you have no idea what else might be happening in this person's life. And it may turn out your solutions are a bright spot in their otherwise difficult day. Offering help to find a resolution can result in a life-long brand advocate.

Be transparent and apologize in a friendly manner. After that, make an immediate effort to resolve the customer's issue, and if possible, go the extra mile, like offering a discount coupon for their next purchase, to maintain customer loyalty. Satisfied customers often bring in more customers :)

One practice I've found helpful is to compile proactively whatever background info we already have. Instead of troubling the customer for it. For instance, when a customer initiates an online chat with a complaint, just from his/her name itself, we should readily be able to pull up from our system: * customer details (telephone no, email address, shipping address etc). * order details (order no, purchase date, delivery date, whether under promotion, whether under instalments, whether partially/fully delivered, whether partially/fully paid etc). * item details (item purchased, whether covered under free 7-day return policy or even whether still eligible for warranty, whether discontinued by manufacturer, replacement model name etc).

So here are my thoughts: 1) You definitely want to respond fast (less than an hour). In todays world and expectations, patience is thin and people want instant gratification. 2) Don't just say 'call our customer support line'. This makes you look like you don't know what your doing - instead apologize, provide links to online material on how to resolve the issue, then let them know they can get on a direct line with you for a faster resolution. The reason for this is not just for that single customer, but for every other customer that searches the internet for the same issues. If you always say call us for the same complaints, then consumers loose faith/trust in you because they'll think you and will go somewhere else.

Be Quick but Don't Rush: In my experience, especially when building over 100 stores and managing agents across various countries, response time isn't just a number—it sets the tone for the entire conversation. But remember, speed isn't about rapid-fire responses; it's about setting expectations right. Telling customers when they'll hear back is key. Nothing irks people more than unmet expectations. That's the breeding ground for more complaints. Trust me, I've been there.

Make It Right—No Half Measures: Once you've taken the blow and said your sorry, how do you make it up to them? Well, if you just offer the bare minimum, you're just another company. I always aimed for my team to exceed expectations, not just meet them. Whether that's offering a refund or throwing in something extra, go beyond. Remember the "treat them like friends" mantra? Yeah, keep doing that here. Your friends deserve the best, so do your customers.

One thing I always like doing, is connecting our digital channels with our knowledge management solution. Then use AI driven responses to point the customer to a set of knowledge material that can help them resolve their issues (help them self service themselves). After a certain amount of time, leverage the AI/Automation to follow-up to see if they were able to resolve their issue and go from there. I've only been able to use this for with Chat, SMS and Email; however, in previous roles we were trying to figure out how to do the same thing through our IVR and other channels.