What do your guests think of you?
And you, what do you think of your guests?
Facts we never call by name.
(The characters and examples are all fictional, anything that matches reality is just a coincidence.)
Emphasizing the importance of guest reviews is not enough in the lift of a hotel. The way you respond to reviews has an even greater role. A good review not only builds trust and loyalty. A good review is a marketing tool. A good review alleviates the negative opinion and strengthens the positive one. A good review is a booking-incentive. A good review generates revenue. A good review will authenticate the hotel. And most importantly, a good review is personalized.
What does personalized mean? Tailor-made and customized to acknowledge the individual comments of every guest. Every guest is different and has their own unique views and opinions.
In the following, I would like to present some typical guests and opinions of who and what, I am sure they have already visited in every hotel.
- The “I’ve been everywhere and never” guest
Who hasn’t heard the phrase “I’ve been everywhere before, but this is the first time it happens to me”. The guest really thinks that they already know everything about hotels and no one knows the processes better than them.
Such a guest likes to say how many places they have been, but they should be encouraged and motivated to write a review.
They will only write a review if something surprising happens to them during their stay (e.g. They need to register their credit card, or drop the towel on the floor to change it).
• Such a guest can really be a good guest, let’s not leave them alone – hold their hands all the way!
• Ask and make them talk about their experiences, they love being in the spotlight! In return, let’s ask for a review!
• Train your team to ask for reviews!
- The “I always leave an opinion” guest
The spread of digitalism has left its mark on the sharing of guest reviews.Generation X has learned it, generation Y has evolved together with it, and generation Z has been born into it. It has become “cool” to share opinions and there are those who just do it for kicks, but let’s talk about them later.
These guests take every opportunity to let the staff know that they are sure to leave a review everywhere and have no choice but to get them the best room, the best service, the nicest table and the best snacks. They are aware of how big a weapon they have in their hands and are not afraid to use it. They love to leave a detailed review, describing everything in black and white as it happened. You have to pay attention to them, get to know them, recognize how to make them happy and how to give them an experience.
We will only find out all the details from the analysis of the guest review!
- The influencer
“I have 12,232 followers on Instagram, I work as a travel blogger and influencer. I would like to create a post or two for your hotel if I can spend New Year’s Eve in your hotel from 31 December to 3 January. ”
I’m sure we’ve all come across such inquiries before. In today’s world, this is an absolutely significant marketing tool that, if used well by a hotel, can not only generate bookings but also contribute to a good reputation. These are opinions that reach hundreds of thousands of people at best, so the hotel’s response to them is paramount.
The synergies of marketing and reputation can be exploited here!
- The opinion hussar
Whose opinion, if not mine? The most critical guest who arrives at the hotel in a way that already knows everything, as they have read all the reviews.
“I read that you can ask for an extra pillow”, “They wrote it on Google that the air conditioning was loud, I hope mine won’t be”.
They are the ones to pay attention to with all your might, as they will be the ones to write the next critical opinion. Splitting hair is no stranger to them, nor is the unfiltered negative opinion.
Be a hotel on the front foot who knows the striking answer to these opinions! Everguest knows!
- The “smiling, silent killer”
This is the guest who always finds everything alright at the hotel. Who is kind, not very talkative, does not ask much. Almost the perfect guest who doesn’t complain, who pays and leaves with a smile. Who always says “yes, everything was fine” at checkout.
This is the one who gets home and shows one’s true color. The first thing they will do is to sit down in front of the laptop or pick up their smartphone and start typing the review that will bare no resemblance to what they have said face to face. It will be clear from the review that many things were not right during their stay; the wifi did not work properly, the water did not flow from the tap, the air conditioning was loud, etc. We are incomprehensible at this point as to why they could not tell us this at the time when we would have found a solution on the spot.
Step back and take a deep breath! In such cases, it is the easiest to make mistakes and publish a response that does not strengthen your hotel’s reputation.
The good news is that such an incident can be prevented! How? Ask Everguest!
Kapcsolódó
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