Travel blog by web-hotels.com

With the shift of the web and the impact of social media reviews & UGC is more important than ever. UGC and role of user-generated reviews is now at a stage that it no longer can be ignored by hotels. Power to the user is clear and ignoring user reviews can really have a neagitive impact.

A recent survey conducted by Market Metrix and TripAdvisor found that 85% of hotels have no guidelines for monitoring, responding to or acting on guest reviews. Perhaps this lack of direction explains why, according to TripAdvisor, only 4% of negative reviews are responded to!

It’s critical for hotels to regain control and take the appropriate action. Consumers say when a company responds to a review, it puts the company in a favorable light (Compete Inc., 2007). Our own research shows that responding to customer issues can improve a guest’s likelihood to recommend and return by 20% or more. This leads to word-of-mouth referrals which can represent 40% or more of a hotel’s customer mix. If hotels don’t respond, the dynamic of negative feedback can build into a huge wave of consumer defection.

To assist hotels in developing their own approach to handling online reviews, Market Metrix has assembled the following guidelines based on industry “best practices”:

Monitor

- Sign up for emails, alerts and RSS feeds to know when new reviews and scores have changed.
- Monitor the review sites frequently, depending on how often your hotel receives reviews.
- Make sure your hotel is listed on these sites and that your photos, videos and descriptions are up-to-date, accurate and complementary.

There are free tools out there that help you monitor buzz like yahoo buzz and buzzmetrics. Others are paid like brandwatch or a new social media tool webcertain has come up with which is very very in-depth.
Respond

Management must clearly establish the hotel’s response policy. Ideally, hotels should respond to all reviews within 24 hours in a personal and professional manner. This demonstrates a hotel’s commitment to listening and acting on guest feedback. If a response is not possible within 24 hours, respond to all negative reviews first.

- If needed, forward negative comments to the appropriate person for assistance in responding and to let them know there is an issue in their department. Determine if and when the GM should be alerted.
- If a review is suspected to be fraudulent, immediately contact the review site to dispute it. If justified, the review will be removed.

In responding to guest reviews, always start by thanking the guest for writing a review. For positive reviews reinforce hotel strengths and invite the guest to return.
Forward positive comments to the appropriate person who can share the feedback with deserving employees. In responding to negative reviews, apologize for their experience, inform them what you will do to address the problem, invite the guest to contact hotel management for resolution and describe (or even post a picture) how the problem was resolved. Make sure to track which reviews have received a response.

Analyze / Improve

Get to the bottom of every mention !

- Share issues, gaps and trends with appropriate managers.
- Set goals that are measurable.
- Consider tying employee compensation to appropriate guest feedback measures, as long as they are fair and unbiased.
More people than ever before are reading hotel reviews prior to booking. Hotels that embrace online reviews and take actions can increase their business. Online reviews can help you connect with your customers, find out what they really want and promote your hotel. This will lead to higher levels of service and confidence in your brand.