When social media brand monitoring uncovers direct mentions, it is time for the social media marketing team to shift into the social media customer service team. Having a plan in place that outlines standards for engagement and assigns responsibility to team members will create consistency and uniformity. Most gaming properties have a service standard. Adopting this plan to include social media is a great place to start – social media guest care is just like normal guest care. A few considerations in adopting your customer service strategy for social media include: Putting a system in place to find social media mentions. Start with where your guests are: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp and TripAdvisor have proven to be popular.
Get notified when someone mentions your casino. It is possible to configure social media accounts to send alerts directly to email or to consolidate the effort with social media monitoring tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social. For national brands, in-depth searches using sophisticated brand monitoring tools can be worth the investment. Find the back story. A social media care team must be able to communicate directly with line managers to inform them of a comment related to their department. This communication is also critical to get the casino’s side of the story. Guests may omit critical details in their message that can explain the outcome of a situation and why it may have happened. Time is of the essence. Responding quickly is a necessity, even if it is just to acknowledge a comment in order to buy more time to investigate or find a solution.
CAN IT WAIT?
After finding a negative comment, what do you do next? Some comments need immediate attention from management while others can wait or just require acknowledgement. Start by prioritizing comments based on whether a guest is still on property, then consider the urgency a guest may have to find a solution. Comments that typically take greater priority include: Direct, time-sensitive, technical or purchase-related questions: “What time does the buffet open tonight?” Complaints from dissatisfied customers: “Your cocktail server, Alice, spilled a rum & coke on my jacket. I want her head to roll.” Urgent service requests: “I just checked in and got to my room and found chicken nuggets in the bathroom. WTF!” Issues or outages that affect many users: “This casino’s wifi sucks.” Comments that are important but don’t require immediate responses may include: Responding to general mentions or references of your property: “Last night I played at your casino and won $50. #MakeItRain”
Thanking customers who gave positive feedback about their experience: “I love your casino. Alice is an awesome cocktail waitress!” Touching base with guests who made comments about your casino but weren’t necessarily expecting a response. Often referred to as an indirect mention, these comments are an easy way to create conversation and build rapport: “I went to Acme Casino last night and found a parking spot next to the elevator. #Winning.”
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF THEY WERE STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU?
After deciding to respond, crafting an effective response is part art and part science. The “art” is in cleverly using words and actions to make people happy even though they may be very upset. The science is in doing it over and over again with a consistent tone. Developing a framework for responding will create the necessary consistency and uniformity that will create better outcomes for the guest and for the brand. Following the decision tree to craft a response will appease dissatisfied guests, provide structure to an uncertain situation and bring the matter to a close without escalation.
