The last 2 years I have been traveling quite a lot for work, and although I love being in new and different places the disruptive aspect of traveling is not something I am very fond of. I don’t think I am the only one who feels this way and I see this as a huge opportunity space for both the travel and hospitality industries to make the travelers experience more pleasurable with a little help of some social media magic.
Great cases like @KLM Surprise Campaign showcase how social media can delight a traveler’s experience.
But it wasn’t until my last trip to Palo Alto, where I stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel, that I had a firsthand experience with customer engagement through social media.
A smooth landing
Before arriving at the Four Seasons I posted a tweet where I mentioned @FSPaloAlto and expressed how much I was looking forward to relaxing at their spa after the long journey. To my big surprise @FSPaloAlto replied to my tweet fairly quickly asking me if they should make reservations! WAUW! I was impressed!
Once in my room I found the following handwritten note welcoming me.
You can imagine that this put a huge smile on my face! It made me realize how a personal handwritten message can suddenly give a big hotel chain such as the Four Seasons a human and personal feel. Most importantly I felt welcome!
Enhancing my customer experience
Although I had a basic room, I was very happy with the high quality of it. A very big bedroom with a very comfortable bed, huge TV and an awesome bathroom with a huge bathtub!
So after a lovely night sleep I woke up and tweeted the below tweet to my followers.
Again @FSPaloAlto was quite quick in their response and as you can see, next to wishing me a good morning, they also took the opportunity to “up sell” me a dinner in the hotel restaurant (which is a very good restaurant by the way). This is very clever, I totally welcomed this tweet and did not mind the up sell at all. Actually I found it quite thoughtful!
But nothing prepared me for what I found in my room when I returned during the afternoon. Another handwritten note, but this time wrapped with a little present. Based on the morning tweet I posted about the great bathroom, they gave me a bottle of bath salt to fully enjoy the bathtub experience! This really blew me away. The thoughtfulness is incredible, and I was just delighted! (and had myself a perfect bathtub chilling!!)
Service becomes great and personal with social media
Now you can imagine I was getting quite spoiled, and at the same time I thought this was the best physical experience social media ever gave me, next to meeting great tweeps in real life.
The day I had to fly out I needed to print out my e-ticket, so instead of dialing reception to ask this question I just tweeted the below.
To my astonishment when checking out the sweet lady tweeting for @FSPaloAlto came to personally wish me a safe trip home, this completed the experience. People talk to people, not to brands.
What can I say; I think this is an awesome example of how social media can be leveraged by the hospitality industry. Four Seasons clearly understands how important personal experiences are and have jumped on the social media bandwagon to increase their level of service. A good investment, as they not only give people like me a great experience, they have turned me into a brand advocate.
I say, click here to book yourself into a Four Seasons to experience this awesome social media customer service!
Article originally posted on iStrategy Blog
Fantastic Social Media in action, a great example of how a hotel can really be customer centric.. super stuff!
Hi Clive! Thanks for stepping by! Indeed this was a very powerful experience to have… It felt really cool to be interacting through tweets like that! Very engaging and personal. Speak soon!
Sent from my iPhone
The Four Seasons Hotel never cease to amaze me with what they are doing with social media. It shows how applicable and how real social media can get regardless of industries. It is just a matter of whether businesses are ready to embrace it the way they should. Thanks for sharing your awesome experience :)
Hi Janwong, indeed it was a superb experience and yet another proof point that social media just works when done right!
Thanks for stepping by and leaving a comment!
ciao
Thomas
[...] one? Not only the latter is attractive, it is better in many other ways! One great example is the Four Seasons Hotel where they took the ‘social’ aspect of social media to offline interaction – [...]
Lot of pleasant surprises :)
A pleasant surprise it was!
thank you for yr comment
What is also amazing about this story is the use of the handwritten notes, a lovely and personal touch. A nicety that is waning.
Indeed! Thats what made it really special! Thanks for stepping by Lia!
ciao
Thomas
I am so impressed! We stayed in the Four Seasons only once and it was by far the best hotel I have ever stayed in. Divine! I love their customer service!
Indeed they are famous for their great service, and now with the use of social media they have made it even better! Thank for leaving your comment
[...] nice example on how the hospitality industry can use social media in their overal publicity plan: http://thomasmarzano.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/how-the-four-seasons-hotel-just-gets-socialmedia Filed Under: Social Media Elza van Swieten | Create Your [...]
[...] is completely impressed and blogs about his experience, even suggesting Four Seasons to his readers. The whole thing goes viral, and Thomas and Four [...]
Great read. Nice experience.
I have at least One good reason for Why not to use this dimmed blue font on the dark background… :-)
Best wishes,
Thomas
Thanks Thomas!
Give me that reason? hihi must be readability right?
ciao
Thomas
[...] comes from a post by Thomas Marzano [...]
Thanks for one of the best stories of the positive uses of Twitter I read yet. It shows how companies can leverage social media without the typical hard sell.
Thanks Al!! Thats very kind of you to say : ) FS is doing a real good job indeed.
[...] trip to Silicon Valley and his brief stay at the Palo Alto Four Seasons Hotel. In this post titled How the Four Seasons Hotel Just Gets #SocialMedia, he recounts how the Four Seasons used Twitter, handwritten personal notes, small gifts and special [...]
[...] http://thomasmarzano.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/how-the-four-seasons-hotel-just-gets-socialmedia/ [...]
This is amazing! I am so happy I found this after having the WORST travel experience with Delta (their sister company) just last week. I think they could learn a thing or two from them. Thanks for sharing!
[...] comes from a post by Thomas Marzano [...]
[...] Blog Posting from I strategy conference, highlighting social media experience at Four Seasons [...]
Great case on social media usage! This should definitely be presented during social media classes. I think Twitter offers great opportunities for a better customer service and companies should really take the example of Four Seasons. As a matter of fact I’m gonna suggest this case to the teachers of the post-graduate degree I’m studying, starting September. Thanks for the good read!
That’s brillian Silvia! Thanks for yr comment and let me know if the case will be used! :) ciao Thomas
Great experiance to share! Will do it myself next time I book at a hotel, just to see if they follow the example :-)
Cool! :) Let me know how that goes for you
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] but because of the public nature of Twitter and the viral power of social media, your truly outstanding customer service efforts can be seen by millions. Consider going above and beyond for your customers once in a while, and [...]
[...] for communicating with your customers. Four Seasons seems to knows this better than anybody. In one noteworthy instance, the hotel chain truly went above and beyond to interact with a customer and make sure his [...]
[...] brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
[...] How the Four Seasons Hotel just gets Social Media [...]
[...] “multi-functioning” team to assist in all areas of the organization. Blogger Thomas Marzano wrote about his experience with the airlines and his hotel online. [...]
This is wonderfull post for us.
[...] his way to Palo Alto for business, Thomas Marzano mentioned the Four Seasons hotel he would be staying at in a tweet using the hotel’s [...]
[...] in his next tweet to spend many of those nights at The Four Seasons. The brand has had several similar stories posted online by delighted customers, and they are exactly the kind of successes that justify the [...]
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