Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way — You cannot please everyone. No matter how hard you try, no matter how great your service is, no matter how superior your product is, there will always be people who won’t like it.
Luckily for you, AVG makes a great product, and we all do a great job of providing high quality community support, so you won’t have to deal with this all that often.
However, if you stick around for a while, you will eventually find yourself dealing with the unhappy customer, or in the worst of cases, the common Internet troll, a strange being with no real opinion or knowledge of what they’re complaining about, that is simply seeking attention from everyone else.
It’s important to realize that the unhappy customer is not wrong. While AVG is a great product, and perhaps even the issue they’re complaining about is a direct result of their own actions, it’s important to recognize that above all, this person is seeking a resolution to the problem they are experiencing. If you can provide that to them, rather than argue with them about how their own incompetence is the cause of the problem, or point out the flaws in their logic, then 9 time out of 10 they’re going to follow your advice, fix the problem, and go back to being a happy customer who now knows that they don’t have to complain in order to get quality support on the AVG Facebook Page, and will likely return if they have another problem in the future asking for help, rather than complaining, threatening to change to another brand, etc.
Every time you encounter the unhappy customer, you have a chance to salvage the situation and keep a happy customer for AVG. Don’t think of them as a problem because they’re being negative about the product, think of it as an opportunity to show them just how positive an experience our community driven support can be.
As you can see from the posts above, this man was ready to leave AVG and switch to another brand. However, what he didn’t realize was that there was a simple solution to the problems he was experiencing. When I provided that solution to him, he was more than happy to try it, and he will also be purchasing 15 business edition licenses once his company starts turning a profit!
So as you can see, the old adage “the customer is always right” is just as true in social media as it was in traditional marketing. Don’t be rude to them, be polite and helpful. The community members will appreciate it, and you may just be personally responsible for keeping quite a few customers for AVG!
Trolls & Spammers
Now, on to a much more unfortunate topic. As I mentioned earlier, you may eventually end up dealing with a troll. While it is sometimes fun to mess with them a bit, you should realize that this can backfire, and that it’s best to just generally avoid them. Remember, people who come to the page, even to complain about issues they’re experiencing, are ultimately seeking a resolution. If you provide a reasonable one, then no matter how angry they are, they will usually be reasonable and give it a try, or at least follow your lead and start being a bit more polite. If you find that providing help is only making someone say even more bad things, especially if it’s non-constructive feedback (like “AVG sucks”, or “Use such and such competitor’s product”), then chances are you’re dealing with a troll or spammer. In this situation I would recommend you politely end the conversation and back out. If they become a problem, let an admin know through the AVG OnFB account and they will remove the offender from the page if they deem it necessary.
As you can see, it is important to always try to remain civil with the people who come to our community, even if they are being impolite to you, it’s best to take the high road, be the better person. Not only can it help you salvage the situation, but it also helps you keep up the image of the AVG Community. You represent the community now, and many people will consider you just as legitimate a source as AVG’s own employees, so make AVG proud that they let you represent them!
Thank You, Zachary Chastain AVG Superfan AVG Community VIP
[...] or “such and such product is better!” Usually these posts are the work of trolls. See the title “Trolls & Spammers” in my post about being polite to the community for more information on how to best deal with trolls. Thank You, Zachary Chastain AVG Superfan AVG [...]