New Timeline Message Feature
Fans now have the ability to privately message your Facebook Fan Page directly through the new message feature located at the bottom right hand corner of your Timeline, above the application icons. Admins do have the option to turn this feature on or off. One advantage to using this feature is so customers can report issues to you privately, instead of posting directly to the wall. These would especially be issues about a recent visit to your restaurant that involve complaints about food or service. We have all dealt with the challenge of trying to address a patron’s comments, and appear engaged, without having a long conversation on the Wall of your page. This gives you a quick way of addressing problems directly and privately. To turn it on go to the Admin Panel, Manage, Edit Page and then to Manage Permissions.
Obviously a reason to turn off the feature is if you’re not going to use it. The worst possible scenarios is having a group of unaswered messages pile up that just give unhappy customers something else to complain about. It’s all about communication and engagement – and in this brave new world social media networking the penalties for inaction can sometimes far outweigh the penalties for committing an error.