Dale J. Venturini
President/CEO, RI Hospitality Association
Facebook. Twitter. Yelp. TripAdvisor. There is no shortage of social networking and review web sites where disgruntled customers can voice their displeasure if an experience is anything but perfect. And with the proliferation of smart phones, it can be done before the final bill has even finished printing.
Log onto any review web site, and you will find countless evaluations. Some are good, some are bad. Sometimes the criticism is warranted. While we try to make every experience perfect, the honest truth is that sometimes mistakes are made. We do our best to rectify the situation to ultimately leave the disgruntled guest with a positive impression.
However, the anonymity of the internet makes it easy for people with malicious intent to wreak havoc on a brand. With just a few keystrokes, inaccurate and even flat-out libelous accusations can be presented as fact. Even more alarming is the difficulty to have these falsehoods removed.
Recently, a top executive at a prominent Rhode Island hotel told me about his struggle to have a fabricated story removed from a popular travel review web site. The post, the executive said, accused his hotel of having bed bugs. In the hotel industry, bed bugs are no laughing matter. The mere suggestion of bed bugs can send guests racing to make reservations elsewhere.
The web site was contacted, and the executive was astonished to learn that in order to have the complaint removed, the burden of proof fell on the hotel to show that it did not actually have bed bugs. Some hotels have hundreds of rooms, and to check each room based on a single anonymous accusation when there have been no prior complaints can be a daunting and expensive task.
The explosion of social media has increased the threat of similar issues for businesses in all sectors. From the world’s biggest brands, to the tiniest bed-and-breakfast, it seems everyone has a Facebook page these days. But what some of us are still missing is a strategic plan to respond to harsh criticism and made-up accusations. After all, each negative post is a crisis in its own right.
The most important rule is to respond, and to respond quickly. This shows your followers that you are engaged and that you care about what they think and feel. Still, the question remains: how should you respond?
If someone is attacking your company, make sure to move the conversation offline as quickly as possible. Be polite, thank them for their feedback, let the commenter know you care about their situation, and offer to contact them, or provide them with a number to call with their grievance.
It’s important to avoid a public dialogue where the merits of your product may be opened up to further scrutiny. It’s also important to avoid a private dialogue via email because the commenter has the ability to post those communications online.
A common mistake is to delete all negative criticism. While it’s true that you control your own Facebook page, it’s not a corporate web site. People participate in social media to be part of a conversation. Sometimes, conversations can be awkward and uncomfortable. A carefully construed, well thought-out response to a negative comment will reflect better on you than having a commenter complain that their original complaint was censored. With that in mind, it’s always ok to delete profanity-laced remarks or insensitive attacks.
If there’s a real problem, fix it. Then let everyone know what you did to solve it. If the problem is fabricated, point out that you’ve never encountered that issue before, but let the commenter know you’d like to discuss it further. If your brand has a loyal following, your other fans may even come to your defense.
Lastly, remember – it’s ok to move on. Just like face-to-face communications, you won’t be able to please everyone all of the time. Have faith that your fans will see an unreasonable malcontent as just that, an unreasonable malcontent.
Social media can be an outstanding tool that compliments traditional marketing and public relations campaigns. It provides a new outlet to connect with and engage your guests. But, just as we prepare for a real life crisis, it's important to be prepared for a social media crisis as well.
