www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | MAY 2015 29
BUSINESS OPERATIONS
l F O N
social media platforms. If you own a busy
HVAC company, you might be thinking,
'I don't have the time or resources for
that.' Fortunately, there are ways to be
effective on social media with just one
person, a few hours a month, and the
help of technology."
She suggested a company start small.
Start with one social media platform and
master it. It's better to be engaged and pres-
ent on one platform than be unresponsive
on all tools.
Next, she advised scheduling posts. Sites
like Hootsuite.com allow a company to
schedule social media posts well in advance.
F i n a l l y , s h e a d v i s e d r e s p o n d t o
comments as with email. Social media
platforms will notify via email if there is
a message that requires attention.
WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH
One issue with social media is that it
is a very public forum for any negative
interactions with customers. One per-
son's problem suddenly comes to the
attention of everybody else following
that company. But every challenge also
presents an opportunity to turn lemons
into lemonade.
"Negative interactions are definitely
out there," said Morelli-Chiappetta. "I
would say that 99% of negative interac-
tions on social channels should be viewed
as opportunities to turn that dissatis-
fied customer into a brand advocate, by
showing them your superior consumer
relations capability. So don't avoid the
negative feedback on your social channel.
You want to address the issue in a timely
manner, and respectfully."
She noted that people who reach out
with a complaint on Facebook expect a
response in well under 24 hours, so the
timely part is very important.
The one caveat cited by all of the
experts is that the issue should be
addressed on the channel first, both for
the person having the complaint and
those witnessing the interaction, but then
it should be moved off the channel as fast
as possible.
And for the other 1%... "It's like any-
thing else in customer service—there
will be people who just don't want to
be appeased," said Morelli-Chiappetta.
"So you have to know when to disengage
because it could get ugly. So play by the
same playbook your consumer relations
department place by in general."
So don't avoid the
negative feedback on
your social channel. You
want to address the issue
in a timely manner, and
respectfully.
