 Marketing grab an interview with Phil Davidson, Managing Director to share his thoughts on the importance of Reputation Management in Hospitality.
What advice would you give to hoteliers when dealing with guest complaints?
The advice we would give to hoteliers is to be pro-active, objective and timely in dealing with complaints. It is very easy to be almost afraid of receiving a negative review, and therefore, want to ignore it, or become defensive and offended at a customer’s dislike of something you are responsible for. With the use of online networking and review sites, positive and negative reviews have become very visible, globally; it has never been so important for hoteliers to be aware of, and on top of their businesses reputation.
When should a hotel invest in something like this? What size establishment does it work best for?
The answer to this question is simple; investment now in your business can only mean reaping the rewards sooner. Getting closer to your customers and understanding what they want is the key to a happy, long-lasting relationship. Word of mouth marketing has long been the fastest growing medium for businesses. The Retail Consumer Report, 2011 (Harris Interactive) revealed that 33% of consumers who were contacted by businesses about their online complaints, subsequently published a positive review about that business, and 34% deleted their original reviews.
The size of the establishment really doesn’t matter. The software lends itself to a single, independent or a multi-site operator. The more hotels, the more reviews, and, therefore, the more time consuming the manual exercise would be. The software solution replaces the need for dedicated marketing experience or member of staff; it’s fast, efficient and easy to use.
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How does your software help deal with guests reviews?
Guestline’s Online Reputation Manager software takes the work out of managing your online reputation by collecting and reporting live data sweep across the whole of the web, including Facebook, Twitter, online booking agents, travel review sites, etc, allowing the hotelier to be instantly aware of their reputation, and react quickly to reviews. It also offers comprehensive reporting of competitor reviews to allow hoteliers to determine their strengths and weaknesses in the marketplace, and strategize accordingly. Reputation Manager, integrated with their PMS will open up further benefits in the quest for customer service excellence, by offering the complete picture of each customer. It will link the customers’ profiles with their reviews and responses. Additional to this, the software offers a host of reporting and call-to action planning capabilities, including trend analysis.
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