3 simple ways to stop a Twitter catastrophe

In today’s world, customer service starts on Twitter.

Instead of waiting on hold for 30 minutes, fighting with an automatic answering service and praying to speak to an actual person, millennials are turning to social media to air their grievances.

It’s more efficient, but your brand is vulnerable.

When you receive negative customer complaints on Twitter, your organization is pushed into the spotlight. How you respond can make all the difference.

Here are three golden rules (and actions) to follow during your next online crisis:

1. Don’t “ghost” your customers.

Your customers are tweeting because they want immediate answers. Hiding from complaints won’t work, because your Twitter activity is public.

If you’re posting your regularly scheduled content, but not responding to your customers, everyone will notice. Ignoring a customer can damage your organization’s reputation, causing the disgruntled customer to turn against you as a hater. (See No. 3 for how to deal with haters and trolls.)

Action: Face your customer head on.

Train your team to respond on all social media channels, keeping responses short and timely.