Journalist and specialist Chris Richardson has compiled a list of 10 ways you can effectively tackle the digital world and maintain your hotel’s reputation online.
As more and more people get used to booking their future accommodation online, hotels must pay even more attention to their online reputation. The ratings, the comments, and the feedback that your hotel receives are going to heavily influence your future bookings’ performance.
For your hotel’s reputation to continue glowing so that your profits can remain stable and consistent, you must find some effective reputation management techniques, and here’s 10 ways you can confidently maintain your digital reputation.
Ensure that you provide the best possible experience
First things first. If you ever expect your hotel’s reputation to shine in the online environment, your hotel must offer a satisfying experience. Obvious right? How do you do that?
First off, ensure that your ad postings are always genuine. People shouldn’t expect Wi-Fi if there’s no Wi-Fi. Keep your rooms clean, have kind and helpful employees, and don’t give your clients reasons to complain.
Listen to the direct and the indirect feedback you get
There are two types of feedback and each one is useful in its own way. The direct feedback comes from the reviews and testimonials your hotel receives on the web. Analyze them closely and figure out the good points and the bad points given by your customers.
The second type of feedback is the indirect one. This is harder to find because you’ll never get it unless you put yourself and your customers in special circumstances. For example, a small talk on the terrace with an average customer will tell you what he loves and hates about the experience that your hotel brings.
Consistently monitor your hotel’s mentions
Use Google Alerts to receive instant updates whenever your hotel’s name is mentioned online. By consistently monitoring your brand’s mentions, your reputation is always “safe”. Even if you get negative reviews, you’ll be present and ready to acknowledge your mistakes. If that’s not the case, you’ll be ready to tell the truth.
Keep your employees updated
Let all your employees understand how important your hotel’s reputation is and how much influence they have when it comes to improving it. If your employees are aligned with your goal, they will do their best to improve the image of your hotel. To motivate them, promise benefits or rewards for whoever becomes more friendly, responsible, or productive.
Always reply to negative testimonials and reviews
Negative reviews are definitely something you don’t want to see. When your hotel’s reputation is attacked by negative testimonials, you must be ready to deal with it. Find the mention by leveraging Google Alerts, understand why such a negative review has been posted, and try your best to throw the best answer.
“If your employees are the cause of the problem, simply admit your mistake and promise that it’ll never happen again. Stay humble and modest and people will forgive you! However, if you don’t even bother answering negative reviews, your reputation will suffer a lot.” – Jane Grunges, Marketing Specialist at Essay Geeks.
Occasionally answer the positive reviews
You really don’t have to obsessively reply to all your positive reviews and testimonials. Keep it moderate. Reply to the comments and reviews that receive a lot of traffic, so you can lead some curious individuals to your professional website.
Don’t act too sales-oriented
Whenever you manage your hotel’s reputation through replies and answers, don’t sound “salesy”. That means you shouldn’t use “marketing” language that aims to convince other people to try your rooms. That’ll hurt your reputation instead of boosting it. Be friendly, professional, and concise.
Always be fair
Your hotel’s long-term success is significantly influenced by your overall “fairness”. So for example, if you know that one of your customers has been mistreated, you should never leave it like that. You need to be a true professional and be fair whenever you’re required too.
Did your customers miss the Wi-Fi benefits because the Internet was down for two days? Offer compensation. Did the customers wake up with bugs in their bed? Offer 10 times the price of their stay and beg them not to report you. That was exaggerated, but I think I made my point. Be fair!
Manage all your public listings
Don’t forget about your public listings. If you’re promoting your business on different platforms, you need to ensure that you keep those listings updated. You don’t want to cause misunderstandings or false hopes.
Have a great social media profile
Social media marketing is surely something you shouldn’t neglect, especially in the hospitality business. Develop a professional social media presence by building professional profiles on more distribution channels. For example, you should have a Facebook page, a LinkedIn page, a Twitter page, or an Instagram page that effectively showcases your hotel’s rooms, the external environment, the employees, and so on.
Takeaways
Managing your hotel’s reputation is often a complex task. There are many pretentious individuals who truly don’t care about anything but themselves. Therefore, it really has no point arguing or fighting with the “problematic” clients.
Be humble and keep your calm in every situation. Improve your customer’s experience and your ratings will also grow. Good luck!
