Nobody likes getting a Facebook alert for a negative comment that is sitting out in the open for all eyes to see and when you’re a Real Estate Agent you would think it’s even worse.

But did you know that negative social media isn’t as bad as you may think it to be? In fact, it can be a glass half full to the online professional.

This isn’t to say you should start sending messages to client asking them to post a negative review right now, of course preventing negative reviews IS better than having to resolve them. But you can take a different approach to dealing with angry clients and competitor comments.

Here are 3 different ways for the Real Estate Agent to approach negative comments:

1. It’s time to show some love

Don’t reach for the delete button just yet. Sometimes a comment can be an opportunity to show your ability to care as an Agent. Read what your client is saying and in your response, acknowledge how your client feels. Tell them that you understand and you can see where they are coming from. This diffuses the situation, tends to simmer down a client’s anger and it opens up the lines of communication for you to talk to your client and resolve their issues.

For those reading the conversation, they can see your patience, empathy and professionalism as an Agent.

2. Don’t leave them hanging

Today is better than Tomorrow and Now is better than Later. The longer you leave your clients comments unattended and open in the social media platform, the longer it leaves people the time to form an opinion from only one side of the story and assume that negative feedback is true because they can’t see anything else to the contrary.

There are two sides to everything so take a look at what your client is saying and think of a way to write a well thought out response that conveys your message. Readers can see that you are attentive and that you work well when faced with a problem.

3. See the future before it happens

I’m going to teach you how to predict the future and see a bad review before it happens. As far as humanly possible with the power of well implemented web services of course! Creating a customer service process where you connect with clients from start to finish, following up with them, allows you to determine their opinion of you and see if there may be any loose ends or room for discussion. Having a simple Email Service can allow you to do this.

Now, how can you predict the future with the power of technology? If you’re dealing with multiple clients it’s impossible to manage them all. A service such as Active Agent integrates solution between CRM, Website and Email. The system tracks engagement and utilises analytics to handle everything from generating newsletters, content specific to clients and it manages the contact journey so you never have to worry about who has been followed up with or what stage of the journey you are at.

So when you get a bad review, remember its not the end of the world but instead think of it as a glass half full of opportunity where you can show off your skills as an Agent.