Hotel’s online reputation is one of the most important marketing tools in hospitality. It represents the the performance of our brand in the eyes of the people. Today, everybody can share their opinion, review, suggestions and experiences in different websites and even in social media. Hospitality industry is most affected by this trend because people in all ages plan their future trip after thorough online research.
According to TripAdvisor’s study 93% of travellers consider online reviews as determining factor when booking a hotel. Without a doubt, positive online reputation will bring more visitors and more income. That’s why it is extremely important to monitor what our guests are saying about our hotel in popular review websites, online travel agencies and social media websites.
Here are the following 5 ways to improve our hotel’s online reputation:
1. Survey on tablet on reception
This is maybe one of the easiest and most effective way to encourage our guests to review their stay. Placing a tablet on the reception desk with survey questions saves time and effort for the visitors and for us. The feedback is real-time and we can react whenever there is a problem before the guest leaves our hotel and that way – change their opinion.
There are a few softwares that can make that happen:
- SurveyOnTablet which allow customers to give their feedback, to share problems and general opinion in real time by completing a personalized questionnaire the results of which we can use on our site.
- or with Reputize – allow your guests to complete a survey which can be uploaded directly to one of the biggest online review websites – Holidaycheck, and that way improve your overall online reputation.
2. QR code in the room
We can ask for our guest’s opinion any time during their stay by placing QR code in the hotel room, in the elevator, in the restaurant or other key spot. That way they can scan it with their smartphone and give us their feedback.
3. Friendly reminder on reception
One other way to encourage our happy guests to share their positive review online is by kindly asking them to do so when they check out. We can ask our receptionists to ask all our leaving guests to visit online review websites and leave their feedback.
4. Email notification
Another way to increase our online reputation is to send emails to every guests up to 24 hours after their check out. The body of the email may consist of direct links to TripAdvisor, Holidaychek or other websites and a friendly reminder to leave their feedback.
5. When singing into the hotel’s Wi-Fi network
In many countries in order to connect the free Wi-Fi network you have to do some actions such as tag in Facebook, share something, follow some account or other. We may ask our guests to leave a review about the hotel in order to connect to the free internet. That way they won’t have another choice but leave a review. But keep in mind that some visitors may find this offensive and give them a negative impression which might resonate in the review.
Managing our hotel’s online reputation is long term process which consists not only of encouraging people to share reviews and opinions. The goal is to get a real feedback which is important to understand and improve the guests experience in our hotel. But without a doubt more positive reviews will bring us more visitors.
