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One of the biggest fears companies express when it comes to engaging in social media of any kind is negative comments from customers. Yes, customers can share negative experiences on your website, your Facebook page or your Yelp (News - Alert) profile, but that doesn’t mean these are platforms to fear. Instead, how could you transform these comments into success stories?

This is really a touchy subject for some companies if they haven’t taken strides to make sure quality customer care is a priority in every interaction. For instance, the retail store that doesn’t train its customer-facing professionals to deliver a level of care that matches the call center will create a confusing experience for the customer who visits the store after an online interaction. If something goes wrong, the outcome could be much worse.

In some cases, company employees are trained to handle the situation that went wrong well enough to make it right. In others, the employee may believe it’s simply the customer’s problem and they aren’t interested in investing any time or energy into making it right. When the latter happens, you could not only lose a customer, but also receive complaints through multiple channels. Do you then use that opportunity to make it right or ignore the comments?

Customer service software company TeamSupport recently published a blog on this topic, offering guidance on how you can transform customer complaints into customer loyalty. The reality is that even if you have the right customer service software in place to optimize the customer experience, things can still go wrong. How you handle it when they do can determine the overall satisfaction the customer will experience.

First and foremost, you have to apologize to the customer. This means owning the mistake even if it wasn’t yours directly. Give them the opportunity to share their frustration and explain the events that led to that point. The fact that they are even giving you this information indicates they want you to make it right and they want to stick around.

Don’t stop with the apology, however. While the customer wants to be heard and wants you to apologize, this step alone isn’t enough. You have to give the customer an incentive for trying your brand again. This may mean a free meal at your restaurant, a 20 percent discount on their next order, free shipping for the rest of the year, etc. Understand the customer and what excites them and you’ll be better poised to offer an incentive they can appreciate.

One thing to keep in mind – don’t get cynical. Yes, you will have those customers who complain simply because they know you’ll come through with something to make them happy. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. If you make four out of four genuine customers happy and the fifth one is just out to get something out of you, you’ve still turned four unhappy customers into loyal fans.