The social media consumer: How to complain, and be heard

Congratulations. You can now make your voice heard via Facebook or Twitter, and tell your least favourite companies exactly what you think about them. But does that give you the right to be rude and obnoxious? Do you even realise that there are real people who have to respond to your “input”?

It seems that consumers everywhere have suddenly hit the end of the year 2010 and woken up to the power of social media. Brands routinely make the news because of Facebook status updates on business decisions they’ve taken or a tweet that slipped out at the wrong moment. Some retailers are being shunned, while others start trending on Twitter and Facebook. Sometimes it feels like social media has changed the entire equation.

It’s all very exciting, but when last did anyone even stop and think, “Hey, just because I can sit behind my screen and tweet, it doesn’t mean I don’t have to be polite”. 

In my line of work, I am in charge of teams that speak on behalf of large corporate brands. I am honoured (read in sarcastic tone) to receive tweets and wall comments from the public and when there isn’t profanity, abuse or impolite threats, I do a little jump of joy and celebration in my worn-out office chair. 

“Yay, they spotted a rat in store, but at least they didn’t swear at me!” was a thought I had only a few days ago.

So if you truly feel a need to complain, then take it from me. There’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

1. There’s nothing wrong with complaining, it’s how you do it that brands care about

Complaints are more important that compliments.  It’s the complaints that create change, it’s the complaints that keep brands on their toes, it’s the complaints that really make a difference in how services are rendered. Or at least, they’re supposed to. 

When complaining online, try and keep in mind that it’s not XYZ Super Awesome Brand that you’re actually complaining to. It’s generally Middle Man Pete, an employee who doesn’t make the decisions and usually acts as middle-man to the people who do make the decisions, so there’s no need for you to be a Class A asshole about it, it’s not his fault.

2. Don’t get emotional, get factual

Yes, you’re upset.  Yes, you’re hurt/angry/outraged/hard done by.  But it’s not Middle Man Pete’s fault, for Pete’s sake! He’s just the poor dude behind the computer screen trying to make life easier for you on Facebook and Twitter.

Tell him the story, keep the facts in mind, be direct, be honest, be constructive. The more facts you give, the quicker it’ll help him to get his job done, thereby helping him to help you. Be patient if you haven’t had a response back from him in less than an hour. He probably needs to get hold of XYZ Super Awesome Brand and find out what the story is, and how he can fix your issue. This takes time.

3. Be constructive, not insulting

Sometimes negative feedback is necessary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you telling XYZ Super Awesome Brand what it has done wrong and why you’re upset. But there is nothing more annoying than some Average Joe ranting and raving about absolutely nothing in particular on a Brand’s wall or on Twitter. So should we all boycott XYZ Super Awesome Brand because you say so? Don’t worry about the facts or even telling the brand what they’ve done wrong, just go ahead and type in caps lock because you’re VERY ANGRY, that’ll help a lot!

While you’re arguing on the internet and trying single-handedly to bring down a multiple million rand corporation with your silly little anti-brand Facebook page and #BoycottXYZ hashtag, the rest of us will point fingers and laugh. Hell, some of us might even join you. 

But maybe try and put yourselves in Middle Man Pete’s shoes, put in the effort to tell him what would make you happy again and how XYZ Super Awesome Brand could fix the situation.  Be realistic though, demanding free stuff isn’t always going to get you somewhere.  Sometimes it can be something as small as, “How about you look into training your cashiers a little bit further?” or “Pushing buttons isn’t where their job begins and ends, sometimes it’s as simple as smiling, greeting the customer and being friendly”.

It’s great that we’ve got the convenience of no longer having to pick up the phone or get into our cars to complain about services rendered or products bought. 

But lets not get carried away with the fact that because brands are now on Facebook and Twitter, we can shout abuse and think it doesn’t matter. As informal as the platform might seem, there is (hopefully) a strategy and process in place behind the scenes, and usually in the frontlines is Middle Man Pete, and he has feelings too.