In an earlier post I talked about how Langham Hotels have successfully employed various social media tools to engage with its customers and generate business. I had cited it as an illustration of how to use Social Media Tools in my post titled “Growth of #TravelIndustry in #India and Examples of Use of it by #Langham Hospitality Group”
But, a recent incident at Leela group of Hotels in Bangalore has made me realise the power of social business and its intend not just restricted at creating business through consumer engagement on such platforms. Customer Service is the most vital component for any business and hence they should always remain a priority.
The reference to incident goes back to 2010 where Leela Palace (Bangalore), a 5 star hotel, turned away a cyclist citing a policy that does not allow cycles inside its premises! The main opposition came in the form of a very popular bikers’ message board called BikesZone and it took on a shape of its own. Leela’s PR and management goofed initially, but did come back on the issue admirably by creating social engagement messages on its Facebook Page of how they has created parking stands for cyclists and how they were welcome to come
The point being one might ask what is Social Business in it??? Social business is not just about application of social media tools but it encompasses a lot more.
Social business, as a practice, facilitates to help brands get aware of what their customers want and make adjustments suitably, where it matters and where it is possible. The changes must not be policy changes alone – they could be anything from resolving customer issues, altering features in products or services, modernize a line of products based on reaction and so on – the distinction is that it all happens in public, in that way impacting the opinion of the brand not just with one person interacting with the brand, but a whole lot of people who are watching the conversation.
The point of it all is not to be a sitting duck when one or more customers/stakeholders share updates or feedback with a brand – in full public glare, if I may add – but anticipate and embrace such feedback. This means brands require knowing and understanding who their key stakeholders online are…their preferences and keep in touch with them.
Leela was enforced to get this method and perhaps aren’t doing anything besides fixing a definite thorny image problem. Leela started out as a bystander to the problem, trying corporate-speak to diminish the crowd. It did not work, so they decided on simpler, more apparent things to transform the mood – they did what they could to facilitate cyclists and changed the policy.
But other brands need not be sitting ducks. They ought to start listening (not just on their Facebook and Twitter pages, but wherever people are discussing their brand, their brand’s category or industry and also their competitors), they should engage amend and adopt…constantly. Then only will the whole concept of social business thrive
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