Like many travel businesses, Booking.com saw an increase in customer contact through the pandemic as customers needed to change or cancel their bookings. This increase meant booking.com’s social media team needed to double down on their efforts to respond to all customer enquiries, fielding off not only an increase in customer contact, but also an increase in the frustration levels of their customers. Despite this Booking.com maintained good customer sentiment with 67% of customer contact and engagement scoring positively through February and March 2021.
How do they do it
Booking.com respond to every customer comment they receive as quickly as possible. They publicly acknowledge and address every complaint or concern, then invite the customer to send more details via a private message. This approach ensures that all customers know they are working through feedback, but minimises a negative impact on brand reputation by moving complaints to a private channel. It also has the added benefit of protecting customers’ personal and sensitive information.
Booking.com knows that customers have ever-changing plans due to the ongoing situation with travel restrictions. It makes sure it gets in front of this simply by pinning the most up to date information, or answers to FAQs to the top of their social media feeds where customers can easily see it and access them. This helps reduce the amount of contact they will have from customers with generic enquiries, allowing them to focus on resolving specific issues.
“Booking.com knows that travel can be challenging. Whilst customers have heightened emotions and are frustrated by ever-changing travel restrictions and requirements Booking.com has ensured every customer is taken care of quickly. This matters. Hats off to Booking.com” Says Polly Barnfield, OBE CEO Maybe*
How you can succeed with social like Booking.com
Remember to always prioritise engaging with your customer feedback before anything else and respond quickly.
Reply to customer complaints publicly so the customer and others can see you are actively acknowledging them.
Collect specific details about the complaint and personal details via a private message.
Be proactive and share any information or FAQs upfront by pinning your latest operating hours and procedures to the top of your social media feeds to reduce customer friction.
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