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.
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 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:
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:
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.
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?