Customer service is a crucial aspect of any business, but have you ever thought about how it can affect your online presence? Today, social media is a prominent aspect of any business profile that should not be ignored including those of hotels. If you are looking to update your hotel social media strategy, then you must allocate resources for valuable customer service via social media.
You might be asking yourself, “What do you mean by customer service on social media, isn’t social media something completely different than assisting customers via phone or in person?” Yes and no. Although traditional customer service is thought of as phone calls or in-person interactions between sales associates, customer care agents and customers, social media is the next step towards having positive interactions with a brand online.
Customer care on social media can be anything thing from responding to messages to reviews or comments on any channel like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. These interactions affect people’s opinions of the brand. Your online image is heavily tied to your brand’s reputation. The better your customer care, the more sales you’ll have the possibility of making. The same goes the other way, bad customer care turns people off from your brand and may turn a loyal customer away leading to a lowered revenue.
One reason why you should pay special attention to this form of customer service is that it’s amplified. Every inquiry and every answer is publicly viewed by multiple people online so each move on behalf of a brand has to be strategic. One example of a good strategy is reacting differently to various situations. For example, if someone had a valid complaint you would want to address the issue and amend it. If there is praise, a simple response thanking them for their comment is enough.
On the other hand, if you’ve received a complaint that was handled appropriately by employees but the guest is still unsatisfied, then you might want to message them privately to further assist them on their particular issue. A public display of back and forth will just make yours brand seem like they lack control of the situation in the eyes of other social media users.
If you are going to respond, make sure you do so in a timely manner. You may even consider setting up an automatic response for anyone who sends you a message saying something along the lines of, “Thank you for your interest! We’re very excited to be hearing from you. We’re currently away from the computer so please allow up to 24 hours for a reply.”
Overall, you want as many online interactions to be positive. Even if there is an unsatisfied customer behind a bad review, you can quickly turn this around with great customer service. To do so you must listen! Don’t just apologize, rather make amends and say how the situation will be remedied and choose your words wisely.
