The internet is often a difficult path to navigate—just ask Queen Elizabeth. Sometimes our digital highway is so slippery that even a brand like the Windsors takes a tumble. That was the case with the ‘negative review’ sent out into the world by former Prince Harry and his partner Meghan. It was undoubtedly a difficult moment, but we can certainly learn a lot from the Royal Family’s response.
How do you maneuver your brand past a customer who feels wronged, even when you are following the agreed-upon rules? Perhaps something really did go wrong, and you want to handle it in a normal way (despite the initial negative feedback). But how do you do that?
You probably remember Harry and Meghan’s interview, in which they shared their negative experience with the British Royal Family with famous talk show host Oprah. Not pleasant at all for a traditional and established institution like the Queen and her family. It was all the more painful because the ‘review’ was given by true insiders, giving it a lot of resonance.
Suppose this happens to you—how do you deal with it? And what can we learn from the Royal Family’s reaction(s)?
That is exactly what the British Royal Family failed to do: react quickly. If you wait too long to respond to a (public) negative review, a potential reader only gets to hear one side of the story. Then that review about your brand starts to take on a life of its own; you’ve lost control. You clearly saw this happen after the now-infamous Oprah interview. Both public and journalistic opinion began creating their own narrative without official input. They started speculating about the Queen’s reaction themselves. And that is exactly what you want to avoid.
An eye for an eye might sound good, but in this case, it’s best to leave your inner god of vengeance aside for a moment. It’s almost always better to avoid public confrontation. You rarely come out as the winner. The British Royal Family’s official response was therefore by the book. In a (belated) official statement from the Queen, she clearly says: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
She shows empathy and acknowledges Harry and Meghan’s negative feelings without backing down. It’s an excellent response that we can learn from. Turn the other cheek without betraying yourself or your brand identity. That can truly work as a ‘healing touch.’ Even with extremely dissatisfied customers.
You can see it throughout all the responses from the Royals to Harry and Meghan. They are obviously shocked, but they are still somewhat extending a hand to their family members who moved to the US. But what do you do when one negative review is followed by another? In the case of the Royal Family, they are, for now, wisely choosing to only respond to what matters: namely, what Harry and Meghan are saying.
But what if the angry review and your soothing response are followed by another frustrated outburst? You can go one of two ways. Either you respond again by extending a hand, or you don’t, but you respond by saying you regret that constructive communication and cooperation are not possible. Either way, the neutral observer will certainly have more sympathy for you because you are reaching out than for the disgruntled complainer who, it seems, is not open to reason.
And how do you turn that negative feedback into the ultimate review? In the case of the British Royal Family, it would be great if the Queen were to send an official invitation to Harry and Meghan to sit down and smooth things over in a reconciliation meeting. In this way, you try to influence public opinion in a positive way by showing empathy.
You are essentially saying: “I am not only showing understanding for your feelings and your experience, but I am also taking the first step toward a concrete improvement of that negative experience.”
As humans, we are by definition empathetic beings, which means we often mirror the behavior of others (you shout – I shout / I smile – you smile). It could very well be the solution to prevent the situation from escalating further between the Queen and the British Royal Family on one hand, and Harry and Meghan on the other.
We are certainly curious to see how this will evolve further. To be continued…