Social media: How Hoteliers Should Deal with Complaints?

20 February 2012

Jonathan Smith on Social Media Complaints

With social media channels providing the opportunity for people to communicate their thoughts and share experiences of hotel visits online, general manager, Jonathan Smith from Holiday Inn Express, Oxford Road, Manchester, offers his advice on how to monitor what is being said about your hotel and how to respond appropriately.

The latest data from the Office of National Statistics in the UK shows that, for the first time ever, over half of the UK adult population accessed social networking sites in 2011. Also, internet access from mobile devices is increasing dramatically with 45% of UK adults accessing the Internet from these devices last year.

This has a huge impact on us hoteliers. Visitors to hotels have more access than ever to give their opinion publicly – whether it is good or bad. As a result, it is more important than ever to monitor these conversations and act quickly when required.

Monitoring Social Media

Here at the Holiday Inn Express, we have introduced an internal system to monitor all social media sites. If a negative message is detected, an automated response is issued to the author and the hotel is notified.

Company policy states all comments need to be responded to within 24 hours, a process mirrored from the current complaints procedure.

However, as not all hoteliers will have access to an internal system, simple measures, like Google alerts, can be set up to monitor online conversations.

For more specific social networks, such as Twitter, there are tools available to track what is being said about a brand. For example, Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, both personal browsers, enable you to set up a bespoke search terms such as the name of your hotel, and see all the tweets that mention that term.

Negative Review: How to Act

It is vital to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion – whether you agree with it or not. If someone says something negative about your hotel, you must not publicly reply and say they are wrong.

Rather, it is important to thank the poster for their feedback and offer to speak to them personally (offline) to discuss their issue and to offer a solution.

This process must be done as quickly as possible. If a Tweet is posted and a number of people who have experienced similar problems see it, they might be tempted to add their experience. If you react quickly and respond to the original author of the Tweet in real-time, this can diffuse the situation as you have shown your pro-activeness and willingness to rectify the problem.

The Impact of Doing This Right

People don’t always expect to get a response, so tend to be pleased when they are contacted by the company directly. If there has been a specific problem and you offer a solution, it is likely for the person to go back online and comment on the response and express their appreciation of the good customer service received. This shows to all their followers that feedback is taken seriously and it demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction which is very important.

Social Media: The Golden Lesson

Responding to customer reviews is a crucial part of managing your hotel’s online reputation. Monitor the conversations taking place online and make sure you respond, where appropriately, in a quick and effective manner to demonstrate your dedication to customer excellence.

By Jonathan Smith

About Jonathan Smith: Jonathan Smith is the general manager at the Holiday Inn Express, Oxford Road, Manchester. He opened the hotel on 23 August 2010 and now employs 32 staff and saw 58,844 visitors through the doors during the first year. He previously held GM positions at Holiday Inn Express Hotels in Lichfield, Bradford and Manchester East.

2 Comments

Jenn Seeley (21 February 2012 at 2:33 pm)
Monitoring social media for hotels is extremely important, yet according to this report (http://www.tourism-review.com/european-hoteliers-fail-to-use-social-media-news3124), far too many hoteliers are still failing to implement a social media strategy of any sort. While I’m not a fan, personally, of auto responses of any kind, it is understandably easier for a brand to at least acknowledge the issue promptly automatically, but it can equally leave a less than personal touch feel that only aggravates the situation.

Hotels need to get serious about social and build a plan that allows more room for that human connection.

You’re bang on right though – people are tickled when they actually get a response (provided it’s not robotic). I am delighted every time a brand reaches out to me!

Jenn Seeley
Community Engagement, Radian6
Patricia (27 February 2012 at 10:20 pm)
Never argue, try whatever is necessary to help your guest, and do not ignore the situation!
You can lose one guest, but that guest will tell many “potential” guests about his bad experience and believe me, you will loss these people.

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! (some are a pin in the neck…)