If you did a web search for responding to negative reviews on TripAdvisor, you would get pages and pages of results with articles talking about how important it is. While I agree with these articles, just responding to only negative reviews should only be one part of your TripAdvisor strategy.
One of the most commonly overlooked parts of a TripAdvisor strategy for hotels is responding to ALL reviews. Just as with negative reviews, you need to take great care in crafting each response to ensure that you do not come across canned. You want your responses to be genuine and authentic.
Back in 2010, I took over an internationally branded franchise hotel which was performing extremely well, financially anyway. The hotel struggled with service and cleanliness and this was translating to a horrific online reputation. It was clear, before I even arrived, that the hotel needed some serious help.
Of course, I started immediately fixing the issues within the hotels, however at the same time I started pounding away on the keyboard responding to all the old TripAdvisor reviews from before I arrived, good and bad. Now, a lot of people will tell you this is a big mistake as it opens old wounds. I counter that by saying it is an opportunity to show past dissatisfied guests that there is new leadership and that you want to make things right. It also shows new guests that are evaluating your hotel that you are owning the issues and trying to make it right.
A couple weeks after I started, I received a hand written letter in the mail from a guest that said she had a reservation coming up and she was worried about having a bad stay. She told me in the letter that she had read the reviews and even had a friend tell her how bad the hotel was. She went on to tell me that she was impressed that a manager at the hotel was now engaged on TripAdvisor and because of that, she was going to give us a try.
I was excited that this guest was going to give us a chance and boy did we roll out the red carpet for her! She had an amazing stay with us and later posted a new review on TripAdvisor telling the world how impressed she was. But wait, there's more! A few months later she contacted me about bringing a group to the hotel with guest rooms, meeting space rental, and banquet revenue! Responding to all reviews (good and bad) ended up generating almost $10k in revenue from just this one guest!
The moral of this story is that responding to all guest reviews not only shows the traveling public that you are engaged and care, it will help to build loyalty among your more loyal guests and even build bridges to guests who may not have had a positive experience. It doesn't take a lot of time and the return on your time is immeasurable.
Aboutthe author
Kevin Boudreaux is the co-founder/Chief Executive Officer of Foundations Hospitality, a hotel management and consulting company based in Orlando, Florida. With over 100-years of combined experience, the Foundations Hospitality team brings a unique blend of leadership experience to bear to help clients outperform the competition all while delivering world-class guest experiences. Learn more about how Foundations Hospitality can help take your hotel to new heights by visiting its website at http://www.FoundationsHospitality.com. You can also connect with Foundation Hospitality on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/guestservice360); Facebook (http://www.FoundationsHospitality.com), or on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/3251223).
