Episode 66: What To Do With Snarky Replies - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Episode 66 - What To Do With Snarky Replies

Podcast Information

Title: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Host: Liz Wilcox
Description: For online businesses that need to remix their email marketing efforts, and finally build an email list that makes them money and feels good to do it.
Episode: Episode 66: What To Do With Snarky Replies
Release Date: December 16, 2024

Introduction

In Episode 66 of The Email Sound Booth, Liz Wilcox delves into a common but challenging aspect of email marketing: handling snarky or negative replies from subscribers. Released on December 16, 2024, this episode provides valuable strategies for online business owners to manage and mitigate negative interactions effectively.

The Rise of Snarky Replies

Liz begins by contextualizing the issue within the busy holiday season, highlighting an increase in snarky and aggressive responses from email subscribers. She observes, “I've noticed in my own inbox and in our Email Sound Booth Facebook group that people are getting a little sassy, a little snarky in the inbox” (00:00).

Option 1: Ignoring or Deleting Negative Replies

One primary strategy Liz discusses is the option to ignore or delete negative replies. She references her friend Aman Ismail, an email strategist, who adopts a strict approach: “She just ignores them. She straight deletes them... nope, not today, Satan. Delete, delete, delete” (00:00). Liz emphasizes that business owners are not obliged to engage with disrespectful or abusive messages, stating, “You do not owe anyone your time when they are coming at you sideways” (00:10).

Option 2: Clarifying and Defending Your Business

Contrasting with the deletion approach, Liz shares her personal method rooted in assertiveness and defense of her business values. She explains, “I believe that bullying exists only in spaces where we allow bullying to exist” and elaborates on her strategy to address misunderstandings without descending into conflict (00:30).

Example 1: Clarifying Misunderstandings

Liz recounts an incident where a subscriber complained about receiving too many emails: “I joined your list on this date. I find it super annoying and aggressive that I've been emailed six times” (00:50). Instead of ignoring the complaint, Liz opted to clarify the situation, reassuring the subscriber about the availability of the opt-out button and addressing the feedback constructively.

Example 2: Defending Her Team

Another example involves a subscriber requesting a free year for an annual pass. Liz’s sister and employee, Patricia, initially offered a compromise by granting a few free months. When the subscriber responded rudely, Liz took proactive measures by creating a personalised Loom video to explain the rationale behind their policies. She noted, “People that ask for refunds normally come back and buy higher priced items from me or they decide, oh, I don't want to cancel at all, let me re up” (00:50). This approach not only defused the situation but often resulted in retaining the customer.

The Power of Personal Video Responses

Liz highlights the effectiveness of using personalized video responses to counteract snarky or aggressive emails. By addressing the issue directly and visually, she finds that “people are very disarmed” and more receptive to resolution without escalating the negativity.

When to Hire a Customer Service Representative

Acknowledging that handling negative replies can be draining, Liz advises hiring a customer service representative when financially feasible. She suggests setting clear boundaries for the role to ensure that snarky or abusive messages are managed professionally, thereby preserving the business owner’s energy and focus.

Final Advice

Liz wraps up her discussion with three main takeaways:

Ignore or Delete When Necessary: For outright insults or disrespect, it’s acceptable to remove those interactions from your inbox.
Clarify and Defend Your Business: Address legitimate concerns and misunderstandings calmly to maintain your reputation and customer relationships.
Invest in Support: When possible, delegate the management of negative replies to a trusted team member to maintain your own well-being.

Conclusion

In Episode 66, Liz Wilcox provides a balanced perspective on handling snarky email replies, offering actionable strategies that blend assertiveness with empathy. Her insights empower online business owners to maintain a positive and productive email marketing environment, ensuring their efforts remain both profitable and fulfilling.

As Liz aptly concludes, “You are awesome no matter what anybody says in the inbox” (00:55), reminding listeners to uphold their self-worth amidst challenging interactions.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

“I've noticed in my own inbox and in our Email Sound Booth Facebook group that people are getting a little sassy, a little snarky in the inbox.” – Liz Wilcox (00:00)
“She just ignores them. She straight deletes them... nope, not today, Satan. Delete, delete, delete.” – Liz Wilcox referencing Aman Ismail (00:00)
“You do not owe anyone your time when they are coming at you sideways.” – Liz Wilcox (00:10)
“I believe that bullying exists only in spaces where we allow bullying to exist.” – Liz Wilcox (00:30)
“People that ask for refunds normally come back and buy higher priced items from me or they decide, oh, I don't want to cancel at all, let me re up.” – Liz Wilcox (00:50)
“You are awesome no matter what anybody says in the inbox.” – Liz Wilcox (00:55)

Key Takeaways

Maintain Boundaries: It's essential to recognize when to engage with negative feedback and when to simply remove it.
Clarify Misunderstandings: Responding calmly to legitimate concerns can preserve your business's integrity and customer relationships.
Leverage Personal Touch: Personalized video responses can effectively disarm negativity and foster positive resolutions.
Delegate When Possible: Hiring dedicated support staff can help manage challenging interactions, allowing business owners to focus on growth.

This episode serves as a practical guide for online entrepreneurs seeking to navigate the complexities of email marketing, emphasizing the importance of maintaining respect and professionalism in all communications.

Loading summary

Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
What's up? My friend Liz Wilcox here, and you're listening to episode 66 of the email soundbooth podcast. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited. We're getting closer and closer to 100. Should I do something special for 100 episodes? You know, email me, of course, and let me know what I should do for 100 episodes. I am getting excited about it anyway, feeling blessed, feeling lucky that you're here with me today. But I've been seeing a lot and maybe, you know, at the time of the recording, you know, we just passed Black Friday. A lot of people are doing like 12 days of deal stuff. It's the holidays. And I've noticed in my own inbox and I've noticed in our email sound booth Facebook group that people are getting a little sassy, a little snarky in the inbox. They're hitting reply. They're not being nice. So what the heck do you do when you get a nasty reply? Right? Well, there's a few different options. Number one, and this, my friend Aman Ismail, another amazing email strategist, and she has this amazing agency. If you want someone to write your emails for you, she just ignores them. She straight deletes them. She says, nope, not today, Satan. Delete, delete, delete. Right? So that is one option. You can ignore them. You can delete them. Now. My suggestion is if that feels right to you, that feels right to you. You do not owe anyone your time when they are coming at you sideways, right? If they're not respecting you, you don't really owe them any respect, right? You are a business owner. I know that you're listening to this podcast. So that makes you, you know, a respectable and respecting human, right? So if somebody's coming at you sideways, you don't owe them anything. You can straight delete, right? If they're just, you know, you're an a hole, or I don't like you or whatever. Now, I have a bit of a different approach because I cannot, and maybe this is my background, maybe, maybe I get it from my mama. I cannot just sit back and, you know, let people, you know, walk all over me. I believe that bullying exists only in spaces where we allow bullying to exist. I believe anyone that's coming at me sideways in my inbox and this ain't anything but anything that I'm smarter than them and I can shut them down. And not in a, you know, I'm going to one up you, but in a let's, it's a come to Jesus meeting. So to speak. So I usually let something sit for a couple hours, up to 24 hours. Now, if they've insulted me, whatever, I usually delete it. Like if they say you're an idiot, delete, whatever. I have reached the point in my life where I don't have to defend myself. I can clarify for you if I think you've misunderstood, but I will never defend myself against someone who thinks I'm an idiot or, you know, what, whatever words. That's a. That's a nice word, right? But if you are insulting my product, if you're insulting my business, my policies, the people that work for me or the people that are in my community, you're darn, I got something to say about that. Because I will always defend my community. I will always defend my employees, and I will always defend my business. Right? That's my livelihood. This business supports three households. I, you know, I have to defend. But rather, again, I use the word clarify. I prefer the word clarify because I'm not going to war. I'm not. I'm not going to war. I'll go to war for my community and Patricia, who works for me, right, and is also my biological sister, But I'm not going to go to war with you about my business or myself because I know there's no way you could win. You're not even penetrating this. Like, you know, you might think you're a Trojan horse, but that, you know, I've got one up on you. So I will clarify. For example, actually, just yesterday, before recording this, someone emailed me and said, I joined your list on this date. I find it super annoying and aggressive that I've been emailed six times, you know, and it had been like, I don't know, three weeks. So they really weren't even getting all my emails right. Or they were mistaken. They probably got emailed 10 times, but they only saw six. And so I did clarify for that person because my reputation is very important. I don't want them to go into a Facebook group or something and say, oh, my gosh, this person. Daily emails, blah, blah, blah, blah. They didn't warn me, which is not true. I did warn everyone about the daily emails that I'm running currently. So I just clarified. And I said, you know, hey, Liz, you know, you're welcome. Oh, they, they had announced they were unsubscribing, and I made sure that they were unsubscribed. I said, you know, hey, Liz, is your absolute right as a consumer to unsubscribe from any emails? You find irrelevant or annoying. But I do want to mention in all the emails that I've sent since said date, there has been an opt out button in every single email. Thank you for the feedback. I will try to make it more obvious in the future. And so this isn't me bowing down to them. And it's not even a way of like, you know, being snarky back. Like, hey, you know, you should have just read the email and you would have gotten an opt out button. Duh, like it was, you know, I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted to clarify for that human what the heck was actually reality, right? For example, some other people, there was someone who said that they wanted, they basically wanted a year free into my annual pass because they hadn't used it in like four or five months. My sister Patricia emailed back and said, yeah, actually we'll give you four or five months for free. We understand, you know, things happen. We want to be. One of my values in the business is radical generosity. So she was responding in that. Now this person came back incredibly rude and said, I don't understand the problem. Why can I just have a year? First of all, this person did not even say there was any sort of emergency. They said that they were traveling the world and just didn't have time to focus on email marketing. So within Patricia's full rights and reasonable actions to say, oh, no, sorry, this is a subscription like Netflix. When it expires, it expires, right. When you stop paying, it expires. But she didn't. She was extremely generous. And so again, Patricia is not just an employee, she is my sister and I will defend her with my life. So I came, I actually made a loom video. I found it to be very nice. You don't have to match their energy. That's the important part. If you're going to reply back or if you feel like you have to, especially in this situation, this is a, you know, a customer of ours. You know, we have to keep interacting, right? We can't just delete and hopefully she'll go away, right? So I made a loom video and I said, you know, hey, hey, Liz, I don't actually think we have a problem here. According to our records, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Patricia was acting with incredible generosity, giving you four or five months for free. That's a, you, you know, $45 value. And, you know, we hope, you know, we're still going to extend that offer to you. But unfortunately, for the price of our offer, we simply can't just be giving away free months, you know, in excess. You said you hadn't used it since five months ago. We're going to give you five months for free because we think that's just the really nice thing to do. So, you know, thank you so much. Congrats, congrats on the five free months and we hope, you know, you continue to use the membership and those five months get you caught up where you want to be in your email marketing. So I find that I have a superpower in turning people around. Now, that person never replied back because what are you going to say? So I think I have a. Yeah, I have a superpower in turning people around. People that ask for refunds normally come back and buy higher priced items from me or they decide, oh, I don't want to cancel at all, let me re up. So that's one of my superpowers. And hopefully listening to me, you know, I'm not doing this to like vent and be like, oh my gosh, you wouldn't believe. I'm just trying to share how you can come back, you know, especially to customers or previous customers that have been a bit snarky, aggressive or gimme, gimme, gimme type of energy. All right, the last thing I want to share about what to do when someone is just a total, you know what in the inbox when the time is right. I'm not saying do this right now, when you can afford it, please hire someone like Patricia so you don't have to see that crap, right? It really does affect your energy. And I know I'm the lady who tells you get replies, get replies, get replies, but those nasty ones really do and can weigh you down, right? So when the time is right, AKA when your wallet is ready, hire a customer service rep and let them know the boundaries. Hey, I don't want to see stuff like this unless it's, you know, in the case of that, you know, lady who was asking for a free year for no good reason, you know, I don't want to see that stuff unless I absolutely have to get involved. You know, that's your job now. So. All right, that's my advice. Ignore delete if it's someone, especially if it's someone that's just insulting you or the way you do business. Delete. You know, if it's a snarky customer, take a beat. You don't have to answer right now. And I also find making. If you didn't catch this little tip making videos, people are very disarmed. Like snarky, nasty people are very disarmed online. When you make a video and you look right directly at that camera and, you know, speak what you gotta speak, they're incredibly disarmed. And I've never had anyone come back with more anger. It's always disarmed them. And, you know, we've been able to resolve things. And then the third thing, of course, when the time is right, when the money is right, hire someone so you don't have to see that. All right, now, if this hasn't scared you off, if you're still interested in growing your email list, hitting send, you already know. Join email marketing membership. It's always open. It's always $9 a month, and I would always love to have you in there. I'm going to send you out weekly newsletter templates so you know exactly what to say. You can minimize those snarky replies because you're what you're sending out is tried and true. All right, the link will be in the show notes. As always, I am Liz Wilcox. You are awesome no matter what anybody says in the inbox. And I'll see you on the next episode of of the email soundbooth podcast.