There is a growing phenomenon of websites that publish feedback from gusts that stay at commercial accommodation, including motels. Web-cred is of increasing importance as a motel's consumer rating is being formulated and exposed to the world by guest reviews. Past guests are more than happy to share accommodation experiences and future potential guests are using these reviews to determine their accommodation choice.
The importance of your motel's on-line consumer "rating" will soon outstrip rating systems such as Qualmark. The Internet not only is making the traditional "Agent" redundant, but will soon be threatening traditional quality assurance programmes. In the very near future, it is conceivable that a motel's "star rating" will be solely determined by on-line reviews. This is daunting territory for many motel owners as the reviewers' data is raw, live and very pointed... who can argue with the adage that the customer / market is always correct!
It will become increasingly important for moteliers to monitor the Internet chatter on social media sites and networks surrounding their motels.
How can you monitor on-line guest feedback and comments? The answer is simple, easy to set up and FREE! Google Alerts provide email updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your choice of query or topic. Your motel name (and variants of) should be entered into your Google Alerts. Google is the most comprehensive search engine that now indexes the whole blogosphere and consumer-generated sites.
Background
It's common knowledge that the Internet has changed how travel consumers perceive the credibility of information. Any discrepancy between "official" and "unofficial" content should be dealt with immediately. A motel has to stand by its product and service, but cannot ignore the “popular vote” for its product’s quality.
Research has shown that consumer-generated content on social media sites and networks is perceived as more credible by online travelers. The bigger the disparity between official and unofficial content, the bigger the gap in credibility.
Social Media (Consumer-Generated Media) is online content created by Internet users and made available to other Internet users via Web 2.0 interactive technology applications. Motel/hotel review sites such as TripAdvisor.com are part of the Social Media phenomenon.
Fact
- 38% of US Internet users (72 million) use a social media site at least once a month
- 89% of US Online Buyers read customer reviews before they buy - 43% most of the time, 22% always.
- TripAdvisor.com: TripAdvisor receives over 30 million visitors every month. The hotel can actively respond to any customer review via the 'Hotel Owner's Page' by using the link located at the bottom of the page with customer reviews and then clicking on the 'Respond to a Review' link.
- Expedia.com: Expedia is the largest online travel agency (OTA). Currently the hotel can monitor all of Expedia's customer reviews, but cannot actually respond to a review.
- Google.com: Google is the largest search engine with 60% of search traffic in the United States, and more than 75%-80% of traffic in Europe. Google provides a sampling of reviews for each hotel from TripAdvisor and other review sites (type in the hotel name + location, and then click on Reviews under the hotel listing). You can then visit each of the review sites and respond to an actual review there if allowed.
- Travel Bug: NZ’s own travel site has yet to generate sales that live up to the hype of its successful big brother, TradeMe. Guest reviews are a relatively new addition.
It is important to respond to reviews and comments as you are made aware of them, so you can immediately address any issues and act appropriately (both negative and positive).
Here are some quick tips for responding to customer reviews:
- Thank the customer for taking the time to write a review
- Apologize profusely if the customer is right on target with their negative review
- Provide a simple, short explanation of what really happened (if such an explanation is possible)
- Assure the reviewer and motel guests in general that every possible step has been taken to address the problem or service in question
- Offer a direct line of communication between you and the reviewer (via email, direct phone line, etc.) in order to rectify the situation
- To conclude the response, use any elements of the customer’s comments that are constructive (e.g. great location, comfortable rooms, etc) to put a positive spin on a negative review.
Moteliers need to work hard to nurture happy customers and avoid negative postings. They must monitor reviews on review sites, TripAdvisor in particular, and react immediately if an extremely positive or negative review is posted.
Use Google Alerts to monitor all online chatter about your motel.
It's much better to react to these postings and show your current and potential customers that you are 100% committed to serving them by addressing any and all problems, rather than ignoring complaints. You may be under the impression that responding to a negative review is a wasted effort because this customer will probably never return. However, your response should be primarily focused on assuring the traveling public that the issue is being addressed and the motel is dedicated to customer service.
Your response will also speak to future potential customers who might stumble on this review and the motel 's response.
