Why Using Social Media to Manage Complaints Is Bad for Business

Social media is a powerful tool.

Venue managers can use it to engage their fans and stir up some hype during important events.

But, what happens when someone complains?

You might have broken cup holders throughout your venue…and the only way for guests to report this issue to your staff is through Twitter, Facebook or Instagram?

Is that the type of branding you want? Is that how you’d like the world to see your venue?

Mind you, that’s only a few cup holders…

Now:

We understand the culture of connectivity venue managers and, in some cases, team owners strive to employ.

But the new trend of believing it’s OK to utilize social media as the channel for this type of communication just isn’t efficient – or logical.

• How does the guest know they were even heard? Do you think they’ll have peace of mind knowing your staff is on the way if a two-way conversation probably never existed? 
• How would all of the information get captured for the venue to have accurate and complete documentation? How does anything get captured at all?
• Can venue managers really capture every single post during an event? We doubt it.

This form of communication for a venue is even worse than the old days.

Think about it:

If you only have tweets and posts to rely on and miss it, you've done more harm than you could ever manage.

In the old days…

When a fan had a complaint or needed to be heard, they would have to either make a phone call or run and find someone.

Nowadays, guests can sit in their seat, make a complaint public and if your venue misses it…then it’s a serious disaster.

Pure and simple, tweets and posts are needles in a haystack!

It gets worse:

Let’s say you work for a sports team and a guest tweets to the team and your boss – the owner – about a broken cup holder. Your boss then forwards it to you, you then have to send someone out to fix the cup holder.

That’s an ambiguous process that we all know would never be consistent and certainly not one anyone would want to manage!

The only way for you to resolve this issue is by offering your guests a clear way to communicate with your staff.

With that said:

What do venue managers use to make complaints private and optimize your response time to incidents or issues that guests report?

If you’re reading this article, and you’re a venue manager, life just got better (and easier!)…

Text communication is the tool you need to keep complaints, feedback and issues private and your team proactive.

Text Communication Keeps Your Brand Whole

Text communication is as simple as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We’d argue even simpler based on our experience.

It gets better though:

These systems are easy to learn and even easier to operate during a crisis, when it matters most.

It’s guest experience that goes beyond the broken cup holder. It’s a robust system for every aspect of your operation.

See the possibilities here?

This is how simple the process is:

Communication starts with a text message being sent into the system from your guests by way of a designated number concurrently with your venue’s keyword.

Now:

Text communication is a time of need system.

So, it’s important to display visible signage throughout your venue for guests to see.

Trust us when we tell you, you’ll look better to your boss if guests are texting in complaints rather than tweeting to the ivory tower.

If you don’t put signage in place or send a clear message to your guests about its availability, it won’t get used.

If your guests don’t use the system, well then, they might as well just use Twitter, right? No.

Putting signage in place throughout your venue is crucial for the use of the system…and your brand.

Here’s the thing:

When you put the system and signage in place, guests will know the system exists and how to properly use it.

If you make the needed information available to your guests – they’ll contribute! It’s not rocket science.

Let’s put this cup holder example into perspective.

The guy sends in a text message that his cup holder is broken. He sends the text message using your number and keyword (“ISS” for example). The message about the broken cup holder will follow the keyword.

By the way…this only takes seconds. No need to look for handles or hashtags.

Here’s what the text message might look like from your guest: “ISS broken cup holder section 107 row 15 seat 12”

That was quick! What’s even quicker?

If you’re using text communication, that means you’ve already put in place a process to quickly respond to your guest and take care of the cup holder in a couple minutes – not many – like six.

Here’s the kicker:

1. Your boss and your boss’s boss didn’t need to know, so they didn’t.
2. All of your other guests and the rest of the world didn’t need to know, so they didn’t.
3. Your venue’s looking good and you’re looking great in the eyes of your guest.

Planned Processes Help Venue Managers Enrich the Guest Experience (…Not Social Media)

Managing a venue is a demanding job.

Text communication is a quick fix to keep your complaints private and your stress level low.

From the moment the broken cup holder message is sent from your guest’s phone, to the closing of the incident, your system will provide you with a repository of information about the conversation.

This is a private, valuable solution that handles your communication. It also allows you to handle and protect your brand.

Text communication has a few added bonuses – besides the biggest aspect of protecting your brand – that’ll allow you to quickly respond to guest needs, ensure their safety and guarantee a memorable experience.

Here they are:

1. Messages in the queue are color coded by status giving staff a full picture of all messages so nothing slips through the cracks. With it, you can now see your resource allocation and response efficiency.
2. Viewing related text messages through a conversation thread allows you to review all messages associated with a specific issue, like the broken cup holder. It replaces the unclear data with the quick, cold hard facts you need to better respond. No more shuffling through timelines and Twitter lists.
3. Customized response templates can be used when a message is received by the system to respond immediately to guests. A notification can be automatically sent to the guest acknowledging receipt or staff can quickly request additional information about a situation. That’s immediate two-way communication you can keep between you and your guests – private.
4. You can create internal user groups within a text communication system. That way, you can text important messages to your team. Now, you’ve ensured their timing couldn’t be better and your guests’ experience couldn’t be either.
5. Stay on top of the complaints or issues coming into the system with just a few clicks. Generate numerous reports with ease to determine areas of concern and ways to be proactive in the future. Let’s face it, the best way to keep any of your complaints private…is not to have any at all.

But we get it:

There’s no way to guarantee guests won’t use social media to complain. However, putting a text communication system in place certainly improves your odds of them not complaining and instead tweeting about your awesome customer service.

Over to You

Like we said, social media is a powerful tool. But, it can also be a powerful way to destroy your brand, publicly.

When you rely on text communication, you keep your complaints private while simultaneously augmenting the safety, security and experience of your guests.

Are you going to implement text communication to protect your brand and quickly react to guests at your venue?