AMOR Maclang, globally award-winning brand architect, risk/crisis/reputation strategist and marketing and communications innovator, has discussed the management of adverse deals and complaints from customers especially amid the pandemic in the current period of recovery.
Staged and broadcasted live from Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, the third and final edition of the Department of Tourism-National Capital Region’s (DOT- NCR) “Leadership Excellence Series (LES) 2021: A 360-degree Virtual Learning” had 400 Facebook viewers and 700 Zoom attendees.
At the trailblazing hybrid online learning event, Maclang cited a gigantic food player’s very controversial situation, without delving into the details.
Bad things can inevitably happen to anyone anywhere but what everyone needs to understand, she said, is how to deal with an irate customer or client, without hiring lawyers or risks and issues managers for the issue.
Don’t talk to them like a lawyer, advised Maclang who covered the particular issue for no more than two minutes. “(Instead,) talk to them like they were someone in your family and that crisis would be very easily licked.”
She said it’s not just COVID-19 that tourism is under huge threat such that the climate change crisis will definitely be another game changer. Maclang, as a long-term crisis manager, added that’s not what the COVID-19 is, as it certainly is a “paradigm changer.”
There is a difference between catching measles and being temporarily scarred but can be recovered from, or having the leg amputated but has to totally adjust to a new lifestyle and circumstances, she related.
She also knows what everybody wants in the tourism industry, and that is for the economy to reopen. “But, what if it was actually already opened, it just so happens that it’s not the same economy that we were used to?”
Established business models are dying out and new business models are springing right back up. Maclang noted there’s a good chance that going back to the old economy won’t happen, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be made.
It is quite the opposite, she pointed out. “The dinosaurs are hibernating and the new young, bold are seizing their chance.”
She drove down to Tagaytay to check how the hospitality in the tourism industry is doing. Restaurants and resorts were booked solid, with digital marketing campaigns in place, and converted safety and exclusivity into their marketing positioning.
According to Maclang, despite two-thirds of all e-commerce stores shutting down, the entire category grew by 750 percent — much of it, of course, was informal.
Higher education is crippled, online courses are skyrocketing, and the number one class is cooking. Telemedicine, once considered a little more than a novelty, is experiencing a massive upsurge. “You won’t find any algorithm or a neat little formula for resolving your issues during this crisis but the signs and money are there,” she said.
An e-wallet hit the P1 trillion in transactions, which means the money is there, it is moving, it is just not in a traditional way, she added. Tourism highlights in the country are also all experiencing solid bookings during the crisis.
“Crisis management requires the mother of all pivots from many of us in the industry,” Maclang said, and this is where the innovation of crisis marketing comes in.
When marketing meets a crisis, it is to find the opportunity in a crisis. “So, my advice: toss out the playbook, realize you are going to have to stop acting like you know what you were doing, be experimental, fail fast, make mistakes and if you can find a case study on it, it probably doesn’t work,” she noted.
For Maclang, it’s better to apologize for mistakes by trying new things rather than closing the company because the established ways of getting customers don’t work anymore.
“We are moving from a mobile economy to one that more closely resembles a coral reef,” she added. While millions of people would continue to stay home even after they got vaccinated, they want the food, products and services brought to them much like in a coral reef.
“Before you change your model or messaging, change your mindset and find your new niche while others are still trying the same old tricks,” she stressed.
This is where it gets a little bit exciting: the Philippine travel industry, Maclang said, must ensure it is headed for long-term success and progress not by employing current best practices in sustainability but by finding ways to exceed best practices.
This is the country’s time to stand out as a place that values the health of the planet and not just of its visitors and its people. People must likewise co-create a unified vision for the recovery of the travel industry hinged on sustainability.
Social distancing should have been done a long time ago and the carrying capacity of most of Philippine islands cannot really tolerate mass tourism. Maclang appealed to address this next crisis before it hits so as to prosper in hard times and not forever play the victim.
As what she always tells to partners and clients: crisis is counter intuitive. “A lot of what makes you successful in ordinary circumstances will end you in a crisis.”
Maclang mentioned they had two companies run to them because they were inadvertently shut down. In times of chaos, “you competitors may attempt to beat without wanting to compete,” she warned.
“Merging crisis management, marketing and good governance is what you need to keep in mind to thrive in any type of storm,” she concluded.
Besides Maclang, Cathy Yap-Yang, multi-awarded business journalist and PLDT-Smart’s first vice president and group communications officer, underscored the important role of the telco company in providing the necessary technology for communities with the greatest needs.
Over the course of the pandemic, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, DOT secretary, said that online learning courses have been essential to use for equipping tourism stakeholders with specialized knowledge and practical training.
“It’s 2021 and in our increasingly digitized remote working society, the web-based training is not going away,” Puyat said, adding the LES has innovated online learning thru creative programming, high value production but most importantly, engaging in dynamic speakers who are at the top of their fields.
Woodrow Maquiling Jr., DOT-NCR regional director, said these two 21st century women business leaders zeroed in on two important elements in elevating Filipino hospitality to a notch 2.0: customer satisfaction and how to handle adverse situations.
“The reason why we created LES is to infuse enthusiasm in ourselves in today’s challenging times, to give our people something to be excited about, something they can pin their hopes on, and something they can emulate and celebrate the abundance of good health and life itself,” Maquiling concluded.
Inspired by the world-famous TED Talk format, the DOT-NCR’s LES 2021 is available on-demand @TourismMNL on Facebook, Twitter and Tourism MNL on YouTube. Download the entire program for free at Spotify, Apple podcast and Google Cast.
