Here’s a roundup of great moments in hotel customer service. These everyday examples demonstrate how doing a little something extra for your guests can make a big difference – especially in the age of social media. This one, in particular, stands out:

Mommy-blogger Christina McMenemy of A Mommy Story stayed at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, the host hotel for a blogging conference. As an attendee of this conference for the last three years, she had fallen in love with the hotel’s alarm clock radio, which doubled as a sound machine, and she’d been looking to purchase one, but couldn’t find the exact one. She turned to Twitter for help:

The hotel was smart enough to check their Twitter feed during the blogging conference and responded:

When she got back to her room that night, she discovered a second alarm clock radio sound machine on her nightstand with a handwritten card next to it. The card read:

Christina,
Thank you for following us on Twitter. We hope you enjoy these spa sounds at home. If you need anything, please let us know.
Sincerely, Elizabeth, Nick & Tori.

The staff at Gaylord Opryland took the opportunity to go out of their way to make this guest happy, and she was thrilled to share her “amazing experience” here.

Be mindful of ways you can go above and beyond for your guests, and they’ll be glad to share their story, as well.

Feel free to share any stories you have about going the extra mile for your customers, or if you have been on the receiving end of truly exceptional customer service, tell us about it in the comments.

Postrocket, a group specializing in Facebook marketing, applauded Zappos.com for their ability to successfully maintain their first-class customer service standards on their Facebook page – a feat that’s been difficult for some well-known brands. Here’s an excerpt from the Postrocket blog:

What they do well: Customer Service, duh it’s Zappos! The important thing is that their five-star reputation for customer service translates over to Facebook as well, where they respond to literally every single wall post a fan makes – quickly and with personality. Take a look at this example… not only does Zappos make an initial response quickly, but they continue to engage in the conversation as time passes by.

And the lesson we can learn from this is explained in Postrocket’s article like this:

Don’t use Facebook solely as a platform to blast out messages to your fans. Engage with your fans – ask them for opinions, respond to their questions and feedback. This is how you gain… tons of brand advocates like Zappos!

To learn how other big brands are using Facebook successfully, read the full article: “5 Lessons Learned from 5 Big Brands That ‘Get’ Facebook Marketing,” on Postrocket’s blog.