How To Manage Hotel Guest Reviews Online

What’s in it for me?

I have 780 reviews!!! Things don’t stop there! While review collection is important, it is equally important to manage those reviews- handling them properly, responding to them adequately, maintaining a professional tone, etc. for seamless online reputation management. This post gets as real as providing you with some practical tips and tricks that will help tread the meandering path of review management and will simplify the process by giving out some practical and right-off-the-bat solutions.

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Reputation is not bought but earned. This is the essence of the hospitality industry, and modern hoteliers are now recognizing the value of online guest reviews, especially positive hotel reviews. Today’s facts speak about how 77% of consumers read online reviews for a hotel in consideration, and 89% are very likely to book a hotel that responds to their reviews, based on hotel website reviews. These stats have invariably proven how managing customer feedback, in the form of well-written responses to ratings and reviews influences potential hotel bookings and sets the scene for more reviews. While online reviews play a monumental role in improving a hotel’s popularity, online reviews management is equally essential. To manage hotel guest reviews through tactfully crafted responses is the X factor that prominently attracts more customers. Consumers trust other consumers to place their confidence in your hotel and so should you, by actively responding to their feedback.

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How Do Online Reviews Help Hoteliers?

The Traveler Survey by TripAdvisor is a testament to the fact that a grand majority of bookings are made after reading the customer feedback in hotel industry. This is why it is essential for hotels to collect and manage customers’ feedback. Guest reviews are an asset to every hotel, motel, or lodging facility, be it positive, negative, or average. Hotels responding to reviews allows them to engage with their guests and acknowledge their gratitude for posting the review. These responses not only connect the hotel with the reviewers but also with potential customers who are seeking out their best options for quality accommodation.

Consequently, it is the need of the hour to stay updated in the digital ecosystem by making it a point to manage hotel guest reviews. You can do this by consistently delivering excellent services, collecting and managing online reviews, and replying to them suitably in order to advance your hotel brand. In terms of managing online reputation business, this approach helps improve online reputation of your organization by highlighting you as a provider of top-notch services in the hospitality industry.

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Understanding The Consumer Research

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Let us consider the process when a curious consumer looking to make a booking views your hotel. The hotel’s rating is the first indicator of your quality in their eyes. A good score prompts them to open up and read through your Reviews section. Excellent reviews, especially a positive hotel review at the top of the list are an important deciding factor, and thoughtful responses from your side along with an efficient hotel review management allow the leads to determine the level of hospitality and comfort they can expect at your establishment.

In short, human instinct tends to search for the highest rating with the most reviews. A high review count and an above-average rating can help your hotel get easily noticed. If the guest’s needs align with the service your hotel offers, that’s a match! That is why it is crucial that you are putting in efforts to manage customer reviews and optimize your reputation management strategy, along with offering impeccable customer service and delivering a worthy guest experience.

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How To Acquire Customer Feedback To Manage Hotel Guest Reviews – Directly And Indirectly

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Guests may not always take the time to rate a hotel’s services or leave hotel review. Letting them voluntarily post a review is also a part of the hospitality you promise to deliver. It’s like a dedicated way of telling them that your hotel values reviews and feels it’s necessary to procure them. In fact, feedback does not point only to online reviews. Every comment from your guest, from check-in to check-out, is a review of your facilities and services. However, online reviews are a vital part of brand recognition, even more so in establishing the quality of contactless hospitality that you provide. Therefore, you can look into encouraging your guests to submit feedback through a few direct and indirect tactics.

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Direct methods for guest feedback:

• Request your guest gracefully to post an online review through face-to-face interaction, such as during the check-out.
• Offer them to undertake a survey about your services.
• Ask directly to write a hotel review by providing review links through communication tools such as guest messaging.
• Placing comment cards in the room and asking for mid-stay feedback and guest comments is effective, as it also convinces your guests that you care about ensuring their comfort.

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Indirect methods to manage hotel guest reviews

• Guest messaging is transforming the hotel experience for good, and it offers a perfect platform to appeal to your customers for an honest assessment.
• Modern-day digital techniques like sharing review links and QR codes have made it easier for guests to leave short reviews and comments at their convenience.
• Training and developing staff responsiveness to customers’ needs is a guaranteed measure to win their visible satisfaction.
• Using an effective hotel reputation management software that makes review collection and management easier.

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Amongst all these strategic methods and techniques for gaining and managing online guest reviews at your property, there is one fundamental step that guarantees words of appreciation – exceptional customer service. When all aspects of customer support at the hotel are designed and operated for guests’ satisfaction and comfort, you automatically get a good hotel review in your books.

The present scenario in the hospitality sector demands that hotels take the initiative to transform to contactless hospitality, which is today’s top standard. The aim of this standard is to ensure your guests’ safety and wellbeing without failing to deliver the premium feel of a hotel experience in all aspects.

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Utilizing Your Online Reviews

Feel free to explore how beneficial your online reviews are. Each guest assessment presents numerous development opportunities for the hotel. With these reviews, you can:

1. Assert the credibility of your services by:
2. ensuring reviewers’ satisfaction through personalized responses
3. confirming the positive notes and acknowledging the negative ones in the reviews
4. Identify areas of improvement to:
5. recognize the core issue behind the complaints
6. resolve them without disturbing your customers
7. take action to make sure such problems do not repeat
8. Use them as a marketing tool to:
9. rise through hotel rankings to the top
10. welcome back reviewers for another stay
11. impress potential customers
12. promote your hotel facilities and services
13. Improve online visibility through social media by:
14. posting these reviews with the reviewer’s permission
15. sharing verified guest testimonials and tagging their handle
16. boosting your website with enough social proof by means of a review widget or online badges of honor

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Respond To Every Piece Of Feedback Coming Your Way To Manage Hotel Guest Reviews Seamlessly

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Each guest review matters. It is not just the positive reviews that need to be recognized and validated. You need to appreciate even a bad review of hotel and express gratitude to each guest who took the time to review your services. Most assessments contain both pros and cons of a hotel experience, and your responsibility is to be conscious of your hotel review responses.

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The Art Of Handling And Managing Guest Reviews

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“How to manage online reviews” is an industry-wide question. Responding to guest reviews is a mode of engagement that creates a direct connection between the customer and the hotelier. Each review is an action that directly addresses and indirectly markets a hotel, while each response is a reaction that acknowledges the review and assures the customer. Hotels need to take care when handling feedback, as these responses mold the impression of your hotel in the minds of potential customers. Your replies must be carefully crafted by respecting the review, the reviewer, and the impact these combinations create- thereby allowing you to manage hotel guest reviews effectively:

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1. The Need For Appreciation And Criticism

Take a look at this survey and the statistics presented below:

• 67% of consumers consider posting a review for a superior guest experience, while only 40% feel the need to submit a review for a negative experience.
• Around 90% prefer booking a hotel that responds to every online review, whereas 57% are not inclined to choose a business that does not respond to guest reviews.

Despite the nature of the guest experience, it is in your best interest to obtain the most reviews from your guests. Positive reviews amplify your credibility and reputation, and negative feedback helps you figure out areas for improvement. Your excellence in crafting an effective hotel review response is the trump card to win over consumers considering a stay at your hotel, as displayed by the final stats. All these facts point to the relevance of collecting ample guest reviews and submitting timely responses.

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2. Maintaining The Tone Of Your Responses

The most significant benefit of guest reviews is getting to know how things are really working in your hotel. From facilities to services to staff behavior, honest customer feedback is a revelation for the management about their quality of functioning. So, it is important that any appreciation of your services by the reviewer is reciprocated, and any criticism is acknowledged with a resolve to be dealt with.

By maintaining a professional relationship with your guests, you are sustaining the possibility of hosting them again and gaining good recommendations for your establishment. Even if a customer crassly crafts a fake review of their stay, it is up to you to respond professionally through personalized replies without attacking the reviewer’s words.

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Below are a few hotel review response examples to manage hotel guest reviews for your property:

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Positive Review:

Rating 5/5

By: Julia

“Great service, clean and secure. Super close to downtown L.A., all in all a great small hotel”

Dear Julia,

Thank you for your precious review and ratings. We’re glad that you had a clean, secure, and comfortable stay in our establishment. Our location is super convenient which makes going out and about the city seem like a breeze. We hope to host you again on your next visit to LA!

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Negative Review:

Rating 4/10

By: Edward Smith

“TV/ remote was not working. Sink light was not working.”

Dear Mr. Smith,

Thank you for making us aware of the faulty amenities through your review. Such mishaps are a common occurrence in properties sometimes due to mishandling and we apologize that you had to deal with this. We will surely get these fixed at the earliest and we apologize for all our shortcomings. We hope to improve your next stay with us!

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3. Thoughtfully Craft Your Responses

For starters, let’s begin with a few guidelines that’ll come in handy when preparing responses:

• Thank the reviewer for staying and writing a review
• Acknowledge their appreciation and criticism
• Apologize for any disturbances or discrepancies
• Offer an explanation, if required, without being defensive
• Reassure them about resolving problematic areas
• Express your joy in hosting them again

Despite the nature of the rating and the feedback points mentioned in the review, the response should exhibit a professional touch and diplomatic approach rather than lash out or refute feedback.

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4. Professionally Manage Your Hotel Guest Reviews And The Responses

This is the trickier part of a long list of actions to be done. Managing responses is no trivial job and must be handled with due significance. Take a look at these pointers for your staff to skillfully manage online guest reviews:

• Respond to reviews as early as possible. Time is of the essence, and your delay in competently replying to guest reviews will be reflected in the aftermath.
• Be understanding of the ratings and reviews. It is crucial to your reputation that your replies are polite, considerate, and sensitive to the reviews while also being informative and appreciative if needed.
• Maintain the tone of your responses. You should collectively keep up a tonal balance to your responses so that it doesn’t feel jarring for a consumer going through your hotel reviews. One method of ensuring this is to assign this duty to a single staff member.
• Prepare templates for different responses. Even though an individual submits each review in their style, you can create common responses to a few comments that are often repeated. This helps save time and maintain your style.
• Make use of a modern reputation management solution that aids in collecting and managing reviews across various platforms in one single dashboard.

Well-crafted responses help hotels maintain relationships with their guests, effectively leading to potential revisits and recommendations. In case of an overtly hostile review or the negative impact of a misunderstanding with a guest, you can always try to initiate further communication offline to solve the matter amicably.

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5. Find The Best Solution To Your Needs

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As you may have comprehended, managing online guest reviews is not an easy task or a one-time job, mainly when the bulk of your reviews are compiled from multiple channels and online travel agencies. Establishing a good relationship with your customers during their stay at your hotel takes time, effort, and energy. The same standard of dedication is expected to be maintained for responding to online guest reviews perpetually.

Many hotels find that to manage hotel guest reviews they have to do a lot. It is a difficult and demanding duty, undoubtedly. But it’s almost a necessity for survival and success in the present scenario. Online reputation management of your hotel is as relevant as the hospitality management norms followed in your establishment. Hence take the necessary measures to step up your game and rise to the next level.

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6. Adapting To The New Normal

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We have gone through the necessary guidelines to follow for thoughtfully creating responses to online reviews and professionally maintaining the quality of this approach. This requires effective hotel reviews management skills and continuous manpower. The one-stop solution to your requirements is to opt for a new-era reputation management solution.

Hoteliers can safely hand over their reputation management duties of responding to online guest reviews without losing track of them. These services offer you the chance to view and handle all your reviews and responses in a single platform, thereby helping you track the progress of your average rating, response ratio, reputation, and overall likability. In addition, you can even decide whether the prepared responses are ready to go or requires approval from your side.

Much like how contactless hospitality has revamped the industry model of receiving guests and providing services, reputation management has now evolved into a superior responsibility. Hotels must be able to adapt to these inevitable upgrades and embrace the new normal.

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Conclusion

In the eyes of a consumer researching hotels, your response defines your level of hospitality. The responsibility to manage hotel guest reviews is integral to your goals and instrumental to your hotel’s growth. Time and tide have changed the course of action followed by hotels over the years. The industry was struck massively during the pandemic, and now is the time to bounce back to tremendous success. There has been a drastic difference in the way accommodation services are provided by hotels and perceived by customers nowadays. The age of contactless hospitality is the new normal, where the inflow and proper management of online guest reviews pave the way for consistent business and growth.

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With GuestTouch, Collect And Manage Your Property Reviews On The Go… All In A Single, Attractive, And Easy-To-Use Dashboard

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Collect 5x More Reviews | Prevent Possible Poor Reviews | Obtain Guest Feedback | Monitor & Analyze Your Progress Objectively  | Enable Smart Review Respond | Indulge in Reviews Marketing | Deploy PMS Automations | Get Objective Intelligence Reports

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