Social media has empowered consumers, forcing companies to be more transparent and responsive. That’s a good thing. But hotels have always been responsive, if not transparent. Lodging a complaint is as simple as marching up to the front desk.
So why is it that some guests, upon encountering an issue, log on to Twitter or Facebook and bring it to the attention of their entire social graph instead of to the one person who can fix it the problem: the manager?
- Monitor review sites and social networks closely. Even if you aren’t active on them many of your guests likely are.
- Respond quickly to all feedback, positive or negative.
- If comments are negative, attempt to take it offline.
- When responding to negative reviews and commentary, always thank, apologize, explain, invite back and follow-up. No excuses, and no bribes.
- If guests are still on property, don’t let them leave until you’ve won them over. Convert twerrorists into twadvocates, so to speak.
- If comments are offensive, abusive or repetitive, you have the option of ignoring them. Tweets have the shelf life of tuna sushi in the desert sun; Facebook wall posts can be deleted. Sanitize, but don’t censor.
- A social media policy and guidelines will help minimize risks and prepare you to act swiftly to minimize fallout.
- The more helpful and engaged employees are with guests the more likely guests will be to bring issues to their attention before logging on to Facebook.
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