Consumers rely on what they read online when making a hotel reservation, especially when traveling somewhere for the first time. Here now are five mistakes the hotel industry makes with their online reputation, and how to correct them.
Engagement: Hotels are missing a golden opportunity to capitalize on the proliferation of social media. Never has it been easier to reward and socialize loyalty, and yet few do. Offer discounts and contests for guests and frequent visitors. Create loyalty programs that center around social engagement, such as a future discount in exchange for a like on Facebook or a check-in on Yelp. This would go a long way towards improving public interaction with the hotel.
Make the experience more fun for your guests with an intra-hotel social network. No matter the reason behind the trip, many guests look forward to the social interactions and the potential of meeting new people. Cater to this subset of travelers – mainly young, single professionals – by offering a technological portal, either free or paid, at each location where guests can choose whether or not to connect in a safe, secure, and fun way. Airlines are on the cutting edge here, allowing flyers to play games with one another and chat while aboard their flights, all from the comfort of their own seat. Hotel guests could decide to interact later at the hotel’s bar and restaurant, bringing in more revenue, or to meet up at the hotel’s gym for a workout. When done with safety and security in mind, the hotel would garner the reputation of being modern and technologically exciting, setting it apart from the competition.
Demonstrating genuine care for the guest experience: Too often hotel management is unaware of dissatisfaction until it reaches an extreme. Why not offer a proactive forum for guest feedback during the guest’s visit, when it is easiest to resolve issues and give gratitude for positive feedback? Offering free Wi-Fi service in exchange for guests completing an online survey when they access hotel Wi-Fi incentivizes this invaluable communication. Dissatisfaction alerts sent automatically to hotel management would enable prompt action and resolution, and highly positive feedback could yield a request to publish and share a review. In addition, amidst the common practice of charging for Wi-Fi, this added value would attract more guests, much like Southwest Airlines has captured a greater share of travelers with “Bags Fly Free.”
Review sites: Why are so few hotels actively pursuing the posting of positive online reviews? Make it as easy as possible for your guests to share a positive comment. Set up a computer in the lobby dedicated specifically to functioning as an online comment box. Combine it with a reward for doing so, and soon your online presence will make vacancies a thing of the past. Hire a social media staffer to post the handwritten reviews and address the negative reviews.
Acting immediately in response to bad reviews: Notice that I did not say responding immediately to bad reviews. Acting immediately means carefully analyzing the content and validity of a complaint or bad review before taking action to rectify the problem. Too often I have come to a hotel to find that some of the negative reviews (especially about aesthetic qualities) turned out to be true. Surely the hotel could have done something about it by that time. If a guest complains about dirty bathrooms, the hotel should audit the cleanliness of every bathroom and ensure proper cleanliness. Complaints of malfunctioning heat or air conditioning should be remedied. Once the necessary repairs have been made, photo evidence should be supplied in a thoughtful, diplomatic response to the bad review, thanking them for their time and feedback, assuring them that the hotel has made all necessary improvements to all facilities, and offering a steep or total discount on a return visit.
Total exposure: Hotels that are not parts of a big chain run the risk of falling through the cracks if they are not found on major hotel databases like TripAdvisor or Yelp. Few realize that many of the bigger hotels are paying advertising fees to rank highly on these databases, so how can a smaller hotel on a meager budget reach those additional customers? The answer is exposure. A smaller hotel should be taking advantage of all of the various web profiles and business assets that can be created online and attributed to that hotel. Branded content can be published on these profiles, and hotels can interact with their community on the profiles as well. These items will rank well on search engines as they become more active, thereby increasing the general exposure of the hotel. While many of these profiles are free, they do take a significant amount of time and effort to build and manage effectively.
Contributed by Eric Schiffer, chairman, ReputationManagementConsultants.com, Irvine, California