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It used to be that restaurants could take days or weeks to respond to customer complaints. But now, in a digital world run by social media, that response time is limited to a few hours. In a recent article, <a href="http://nrn.com/social-media/dealing-customer-complaints-digital-world?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-should-restaurants-handle-complaints-on-social-media-4483" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nation&#8217;s Restaurant News</a> spoke with Jay Baer, the author of customer service books like &#8220;Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers.&#8221; He says that about 74 percent of people who complain about a restaurant or food product expect a response, and 38.5 percent of those want a response within 24 hours. That can make it difficult for restaurants to keep up. &#8220;That&#8217;s a challenge, particularly for restaurants, because people are busy. Somebody not in service has to staff the customer service hotline. They can&#8217;t do that while they are serving drinks or food to customers,&#8221; said Baer. Despite the quick turnaround time, it&#8217;s crucial for restaurants to address complaints as soon as they can. When brands interact with their customers on social media, it builds loyalty. It&#8217;s also a way for restaurants to market themselves and separate their model from the competition in order to attract new consumers. Restaurants are already familiar with receiving public complaints&#8212;according to surveys Baer conducted with <a href="http://www.edisonresearch.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-should-restaurants-handle-complaints-on-social-media-4483" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Edison Research</a> in 2015, food and restaurant brands receive 13.9 percent of all social media complaints. Even though that criticism can be tough to respond to, it&#8217;s essential for brands to reply. &#8220;No response is a response. It&#8217;s a response that says, &#8216;We don&#8217;t care about you at all.&#8217; And that&#8217;s a dangerous game to play with the loyalty of your patrons.&#8221; Click <a href="http://nrn.com/social-media/dealing-customer-complaints-digital-world?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-should-restaurants-handle-complaints-on-social-media-4483" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> to read the original Nation&#8217;s Restaurant News article.

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The majority of customers expect brands to respond to their complaints within one day. 

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