As customer service specialist, how you handle complaints over the social media?

Its not the medium that matters its the approach that matters, a company loses most of its business not due to bad product but due to bad customer service/ complaint handling the most important approach is to be courteous and identification of the problem through proper relevant probing without sounding as you have put the customer under interrogation. Its important that you do not use slang while you are typing (appropriate templates could also be of good help) use positive words, selection of words should not reflect aggressive attitude.

Unfortunately, social media is the trickiest when it comes to customer service. This is because of trolls who are always ready to make fun and infuriate the person at the other end. Therefore, complaints can either be in jest or based on an actual issue. 

In the case of baseless complaints for fun, the best way is to be as lighthearted as possible. In addition to the customary apology, a funny retort which shows your flexibility is the best solution. However, you'll need to assess whether humor is ideal in this predicament or else you'll be stepping on people's toes. 

For serious complaints, I believe there's no harm in apologizing, be it directly or indirectly. For instance, "we're sorry for the inconvenience". This will calm clients a little and show that your business is humble. Today's smart consumers know that they have the power to make or break a company. So they're bound to use that against you if you try acting even a little egoistic. After apologizing, offer a solution. This can range anywhere between contacting an agent for further details on the complaint and resolving it and offering a solution through replies. For Twitter users, responding through multiple tweets can be vexing, so contacting a direct number is probably the best approach. 

As a Customer Service Specialist, I will handle complaints over the social media by the following steps:

1. I will write down all the issues given by the customer from the social media.

2. Inform the customer that I will be working on his/her issues and once I have updates I will let him/her know through social media.

3. Refer the customer's issues to the department in charge of it.

4. Follow up with the department.

5. Let the customer/client know what are the solutions retrieved from the department in charge through social media.

6. Once done, make a new file and save the issue under the customer's name.

I should know the reasons of the Complaint 

having information about this complaint 

I should solve it myself if that was in my Specialization or get back to the management if it was Required 

we are improve over  product and improve over quality of product

first of all take as positive and helping you to  improve the organization / company service .

second if the complainer found someone to listen and act to solve his problem or complain will never go through the social media.

then..

listen to complainer voice(even through the social media) is most important to understand his feeling from the experience i had for years complainer always try to gives the company or the organization  chance to correct the error so take it as chance to make the complainer as a loyal to your organization or company actually is hug chance 

show your empathize with him for what happened to him (don't forget may that destroy his/ her  vacation or his / her time show him/ her your genuine appreciation to what he drove to the company / organization attention  

apologize is a magic key to finalize what he / she feels 

react to solve his /her complain as soon as possible 

in the end remember the complainer is not bothering you he is helping you to know where is the error to eliminate the complain and develop the  organization ...

Ahmed Basry 

As a single customer service specialist, I would be tempted to respond immediately to these concerns especially if you are the handler for your company's Facebook, twitter or other social media accounts.  I would however refrain from doing this without properly consulting all customer service channels.  If I work for a huge corporation, I believe there should be a customer service system protocol that needs to be religiously followed for consistency.  Because companies need to respond in a managed and systematic way that would be consistent whether it be through social media or the regular channels so there won't be any mixed messages or contradicting responses.

The best marketing and publicity, let it be positive or negative, is word of mouth! The word of mouth has now been overtaken by social media that spreads 'the word of mouth' like a wildfire on a much larger scale.

Best way to handle complaints over the social media is first of all to be efficient. Promptness is proper handling of the complaint can limit the spread of the wildfire. Try to understand the situation that is being complained about and show empathy. Most corporations use defense tactics that literally piss off the complainer even more. For instance, my own recent experience with an Airline company, after dealing with customer services for weeks, I took it to the social media. In response, the social media marketing team instead of investigating the situation, they started to defend their company's policies being the "loyal" employees. All I wanted was genuine empathy and someone to genuinely apologize to me for their error. As a result I ended up contacting the CEO of the company and got my $2,639 refund as by then it had become the matter of principles . A simple and genuine apology would have meant more to me than a couple of thousand dollars refund.

The best way to handle complaints over social media is to respond with efficiency, assure the complainer we empathize with them and are going to investigate fully into the matter! A genuine complainer is merely seeking some empathy and genuine apology. Refunds/incentives are secondary no matter how important they may be to the complainer.

Just put yourself in the shoes of the complainer and react and respond they way you would have expected the company to respond to you if you were the one complaining! 

Zain

It's to be avoided if possible,when you say one is a Specialist he/she doesn't allow complaints to go overboard,

Be come don't use inapproriate words just make your statement clear and stand your ground