Wouldn’t you love to see your name under the TripAdvisor Success Stories headline? Insert your hotel name here: “Off the beaten path ___ hotel finds success.” It has already been proven that TripAdvisor directly affects revenue. Making it to the top of this list does not require a secret handshake nor do you need to pay a fee to a company to help you improve your rankings (although some staff training might be necessary-more on that later). You just need to pay attention, listen, and act. TripAdvisor even gives you the ingredients to the secret sauce.
In a recent article titled “Five properties in TripAdvisor top five”, the website spells out some of their suggested best marketing practices.
- Diligence in writing Management Responses
- 16-24 pictures uploaded to property page showcasing hotel
- Paid Business Listing with a featured Special Offer
- TripAdvisor widget with reviews embedded into the hotel’s websites. (Put those reviews on Facebook as well.)
Per TripAdvisor, the Popularity ranking is based on traveler feedback and reflects how a property ranks with competitors in a geographic area. The three most important criteria are: quantity, quality and age of reviews.
- Quantity: Focus on the quantity by encouraging guests to post their thoughts. There is a new free management tool called Review Express that enables you to email the guest and invite him to post a review. Embed TripAdvisor’s review widgets in your property website and add the app to your Facebook page. Another new widget will even allow you to collect reviews on your site. A training video here will give you hints on how to get more reviews.
- Quality: Wow your guests and it will give them the desire to post good reviews. More than 80% of prospects consider reviews important to the decision-making process.
- Age: New posts factor in more strongly than older ones.
Management responses:
“In a September 2012 survey, 78% of respondents said that seeing a hotel management response makes them believe that the hotel cares more about its guests. Over half of survey respondents also said that seeing a management response generally makes them more likely to book (versus a comparable hotel that did not respond to travelers).” 1
Responding to reviews gives you the chance to offer a sincere thanks and if there is a complaint-to set things straight.
Tips for responding:
- Positive review: Thank the poster for sharing his experience. In order to alleviate the canned response perception, personalize by referring to one of the comments. i.e. “We are so happy to hear you loved the Eggs Benedict. We do too!”
- Negative review: Respond quickly. Take the high road and be professional and courteous. 64% of reviewers feel an aggressive or defensive response made them less likely to book at that hotel. Thank the reviewer then relay your side of the story politely and without emotion. If a specific complaint is made, address it and explain what is being done to solve the problem. If the reviewer made any positive comments, acknowledge them. Also, this is a good time to mention any related services or planned upgrades so potential guests can see the positive changes you are making.
TripAdvisor here lists the “perfect” response to a negative review. I have to agree.
Tip: Pitfalls to avoid when writing responses. Ensure it meets the guidelines by avoiding giving personal information about the reviewer, do not include promotional links to your website and do not offer incentives to remove/change review.
The Business Listing seems to be worth the investment. Australia’s Peppers Broadbeach listing paid for itself within nine days. In two months time, it was returning a 10:1 Return on Investment. Additionally, they anticipate ROI by end of year to be 70:1. To top off the impressiveness of their successful campaign, the average order rate increased by $350 per booking and conversion rates doubled.
Here’s the deal though. Peppers Broadbeach GM, Adam Taloni, has responded to approximately 696 traveler reviews! Additionally, not only does he address the negative comments but he personalizes them and discusses how issues will be addressed and the services that are coming up. He is respectful but does not pander. I assume then that the issues really are addressed-given they are ranked #1 in their market. Big congrats to Pepper’s Broadbeach!
Is it clear by your reviews a little customer service training or management coaching is in order? Then, I highly recommend Stark Service Solution’s reasonably priced PACE Customer Service Training and Formula 10 Management Coaching programs. Within 6 months, Stark’s system helped a Holiday Inn Express increase their internal customer service ranking by almost 500 places putting them in the top 10th percentile and making them #1 in their market on TripAdvisor! This property is just one among many other PACE and Formula10 clients who have reached that coveted spot. The program is a low cost method for improving customer service and the ROI will be long lasting.
As you can see, the secret sauce to TripAdvisor success is not so secret or difficult. Being the hotel of choice in your area is achievable with some attention and diligence. Good luck.
Suppliers/Solutions
- Stark Service Solutions: PACE Customer Service Training
- Stark Service Solutions: Formula 10 Management Coaching
- More details…
About the author
Amy Bair is a Problematic Process Problem Solver focused on the Senior Care and Hospitality industries. Her company Business Process Excellence (BPe) partners with organizations to improve productivity, increase revenue and reduce costs. She recently worked with a hotel where together they created a method for saving over $30,000 in housekeeping wages annually. Sign up for her monthly newsletter here.
