You might think your online reputation is not vitally important to your company, as your services are mostly client facing rather than online. However, a hotelier should never underestimate the power of the internet.
Over a million people in the UK alone search for ‘London hotels’ every month, with most likely half of these people heading to impartial review websites such as TripAdvisor – and these forums can often make or break how many people book a stay in Liverpool, London, Manchester or elsewhere. It is therefore essential you continually monitor your online reputation, and attempt to take action when your company receives some negative reviews.
Become Internet Savvy
We live in a world that is defined by the internet, so if you are not moving forward with technology, you are going to be left behind. Your company should aim to become more internet savvy, which means, you ought to have booking management software that can make the reservation process easy for customers. Besides that, on the marketing level, you should start blogging every day, interacting on social media, and engaging with potential customers. Having a better presence on the internet undoubtedly has multiple benefits. Though this could cause problems if your existing internet provider is unable to cope with any potential extra traffic generated through your hotel’s new marketing techniques. One possible solution you as a hotel owner might consider is researching different internet providers such as pioneer internet for example, or perhaps other providers who specialize in providing high-quality internet service for commercial purposes. Regardless of your decision internet marketing and using the internet to build your hotel’s reputation is definitely a positive.
Not only will this result in more traffic visiting your website – if you have not got one, get one – but it will also demonstrate to the public that you are a caring, friendly company that cares about your customer’s needs. That is reputation money can’t buy!
Respond to Negative Reviews
If a guest has criticized your service online, respond to them in a professional and helpful manner. Do not launch a tirade of abuse at them for saying something bad about your company. Simply apologize on behalf of the company, explain that their experience was unfortunately unique, and ask if you can telephone them to personally apologize. Not only will the previous guest appreciate the effort, but you will demonstrate to readers that you continually strive to provide the best service possible. Approaching the guest to remove the bad feedback could be a viable option to consider after you have resolved their issue. You could also get those negative Google reviews removed by online reputation management companies (such as Reputation.com), if you feel that the reviews are not true or are inappropriate.
Customer Cards
You will obviously want to avoid guests making complaints about your hotel once they leave their rooms, which is why we recommend leaving customer comment cards in their rooms so they can offer feedback. By leaving a negative review at a hotel, they are less likely to post about their bad experience online.
Encourage Online Reviews
Any hotel worth its bricks and mortar should encourage online reviews, as it demonstrates to potential guests that you’re proud of both your hotel and service. Promote websites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp or Google Reviews on your social media pages – as these people are following you as they like your hotel, you’re more likely to receive positive reviews that will boost your popularity index.
Learn From Negative Comments
Have you received a few negative comments in the past few months? If it is happening a lot, it might be time to review your services. Do you regularly read comments about poor customer service, dirty rooms or uncomfortable beds? Try to identify your hotel’s problems to improve its quality – or your online reputation will continue to affect your business.
So, what are you waiting for? Go online, start engaging with the global community and take those all-important negative reviews onboard to improve your customer service.
