Reputation is everything. It determines what existing and prospective clients think about your business. Statistics show that over 93% of bookers peruse online reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor before making a decision.
Another 53% won’t look twice at your service if it lacks another guest’s affirmation. Hence, in the hotel industry, maintaining a good business reputation is what prevents your business from fading away.
You see hospitality is a big word. What one customer might consider professional service, another customer may believe that it lacks the necessary flexibility to suit their needs.
This puts most hotels in a difficult position, but thankfully there’s no need to panic. Here are four reputation management mistakes to avoid to keep you ahead of competitors.
Lack of personalized customer experience
When it comes to hospitality, guests want to feel heard and cared for. To you, it may seem like you see hundreds of guests every day, but to them, they are experiencing your service for the first time. As they say, first impressions matter and keeping the little things in check can go a long way to provide a great customer experience.
Everyone loves a hotel that caters to their needs impressively. So, avoiding a lack of personalized customer experience can greatly maintain your positive reputation.
- Not asking for reviews
You have to make it happen. Appearing on popular hotel review sites presents your business is a good way before bookers but you must supplement this with recent, positive, and high numbers of reviews.Not all guests will be motivated to go searching for how to leave a review, so you need to develop professional strategies to ask and collect their reviews. Automate the process and make it seamless.
- Forgetting the value of touchpoints
Touchpoints are the areas at which your guests interact with you. They can include during bookings, when they arrive at the hotel, updates, calls, and using ads. Maximizing the power of these touchpoints helps you to have a long-term association with each client. It gives you the opportunity to engage and impress.Use various means such as emails, calls, SMS, and others to communicate with your guests. Keep engagement high and personalized with a human touch. The aim is to offer a full experience and build recall value for the growth of your positive reputation.
- Not using a guest review management strategy
There has to be an active strategy to keep your guest reviews in check. Have an experienced team that can respond professionally and interactively to all reviews. Gather intel from them to improve your services. Weigh what guests say about your service and what they say about your competitors. Analyze this information and make the necessary adjustments.Remember that these reviews shape people’s perception of your business and working without a management strategy can be dangerous.
To make avoiding these mistakes easier, contact a review company for review management services. The pros at The Review Generator will work with you to create a seamless online reputation strategy for your hotel business.