The Review Age and what it means for your hotel
Dec 21, 2015
Corporate transparency, social responsibility and responding to customer reviews in real-time are but three examples of 21st century business practices that have transitioned from value-add to consumer expectation in under a decade.
It’s this third instance that concerns us today as we descend into a literal ‘Review Age’ where everything under the sun can be given an online user evaluation. Moreover, when it comes to hospitality, guests will also pass judgment on you, as a hotel operator, for how well you curate your property’s online criticisms.
Respond too slowly to reviewers who cite operational problems and it makes you look like you aren’t allocating the proper amount of resources to electronic monitoring or, worse, that you don’t care about guests’ needs. Don’t thank past guests for their positive support and it may earn you contempt. Respond emotionally to a negative critique and it draws suspicion as to how you act if this grievance was brought up in person. Don’t respond at all and well…
The bottom line is that hoteliers are expected to rigorously monitor all digital review channels and chatter – be it through social media, OTA website or the juggernaut that is TripAdvisor – and manage the written responses as well as any onsite follow-up activities. Living in the Review Age means that your online persona casts a strong reflection on how you operate in the flesh. For example, a well-curated TripAdvisor page with effusive gratitude and assurances to mitigate cited grievances will inform future guests that this property actually cares.
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