Yesterday John Ellis mentioned a local restaurant on Facebook. The restaurant, Café Rakka, was featured on the Food Network program Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives last year and the episode featuring Café Rakka still airs occasionally.

John commented on how much he loves the restaurant. I happen to not like the food but that’s not the point here. Café Rakka has a Facebook page like most restaurants do. They have almost 800 fans and they have people commenting regularly on their page but Café Rakka doesn’t respond to any of them. They don’t say thank you for the kind words nor do they respond to the criticisms of their service. It’s like they just put up the page and haven’t looked back at it. That’s not good.

A Common Commenting Problem
This isn’t just a Café Rakka problem. This is a fairly common issue for companies and other organizations who jumped on Facebook but didn’t really intend to use it for all it can (and should) be used for.

So much focus on Facebook seems to go into what you, as the page owner, are going to do with your status updates but there are fewer people concerned about responding to the fans who comment. If you could only do one, which would you do? I would choose the commenting over the updates. Here’s why:

• When you respond to a comment you show you’re listening
• When you respond to a comment you show that you want to learn
• When you respond to a comment you show that you want to connect
• When you respond to a comment you show that you don’t assume things are perfect the way they are
• When you respond to a comment you show that you value people being willing to reach out to you

When you don’t respond to the comments on your Facebook page you’re saying the opposite of all these things:

• I’m not listening to you
• I don’t want to learn from you
• I don’t want to connect with you
• I think we’re fine and everything we’re doing is perfect
• I don’t value your attempt to give us feedback

Responding to comments on your Facebook page is one of the easiest things you can do so give it more priority. Spend 50% less time working on what you’re going to say in your status updates and transfer that energy to responding. It’s easy, it’s valuable, and in the long run you’ll be glad you did.

Café Rakka was given an awesome opportunity with national television coverage. It’s clear from their Facebook page that people are seeking them out after having seen the show. Now the restaurant needs to listen and respond to the very people they need most.