Mind Tools for Business Bloggers

As part of our ongoing training for tutors at Ivy Tech, we were to read an article from Mind Tools about dealing with unhappy customers (the idea being to better equip us to handle the occasional unhappy Learning Lab student). It occurred to me that the material was well worth sharing with business blog content writers.

“Once you’re aware that your client is unhappy, then your first priority is to put yourself into a customer service mindset,” is Mind Tools’ advice. This means that you set aside any feelings you might have that:

• the situation isn’t your fault
• your client’s made a mistake
• he or she is giving you unfair criticism

“Adjust your mindset so that you’re giving 100 percent of your focus to the client and to the situation….Resist the temptation to try to solve the situation right away or to jump to conclusions about what happened.  Instead let your client tell his story.”

One very important function corporate blog posts can serve is damage control.

I teach freelance blog that stories of their clients’ past mistakes and failures can have a humanizing effect, creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame the effects of their own mistakes!

But what about negative comments that readers make about a business, using social media? Well, to an extent, when customers’ complaints and concerns are recognized and dealt with “in front of other people” (in blog posts), it gives the “apology” more weight.  In other words, go ahead and “let the client tell his story,” which then gives you the chance to offer useful information to other readers and to explain any changes in policy that resulted from the situation.

But, even when there haven’t been negative comments or outright complaints, we’re out to engage our blog readers and show them we understand the dilemmas they’re facing, going right to the heart of any fears or concerns they might have.

If there are misunderstandings or negative myths surrounding our products and services, let’s get those out on the table.  Where better to do that than in a business blog?