DO'S & DON'TS for Selecting and Managing Online Reputation Solutions

Effectively managing hotel reviews is critical for maintaining reputation and enhancing guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Reviews have a significant impact on everything from guest perception to revenue, making it essential for hotels to manage them efficiently. The process involves addressing diverse needs across the industry, requiring systems capable of handling extensive data, integrating with various platforms, and providing actionable insights. Additionally, the growing emphasis on personalized guest experiences and prompt responses to feedback necessitates strategies that are solid and adaptable to industry changes. The following practices are a must, for hotels to significantly improve their guest review management and with that their overall guest satisfaction.

  1. Implement a guest experience/reputation management solution: Drive efficiency and ensure guest satisfaction is central to your business with a solution providing tools and strategies to enhance guest satisfaction and streamline operations.
  2. Source a partner, not just a vendor: Choose a partner who shares best practices, sets strategies to improve guest experience, and supports you throughout the journey, not just a vendor.
  3. Choose an industry-specific platform: Ensure the platform is tailored for the accommodation industry, as its needs are distinct from retail or banking, providing relevant tools and features.
  4. Look for a vendor who provides great educational content: Select a vendor offering valuable educational content, like industry benchmark reports, to keep you informed about best practices and industry trends.
  5. Ensure the provider you work with stays updated on industry changes: Opt for a vendor that monitors industry updates, as online reputation management evolves rapidly, ensuring you stay current with changes.
  6. Great UI experience and mobile app: Choose a vendor with an intuitive user interface and mobile app for staff, enabling easy navigation and quick access to detailed guest data.
  7. Manage guest expectations: Ensure property review and OTA page content accurately reflects what guests can expect during their stay, managing their expectations effectively.
  8. Guest experience strategy specialists: Ensure your vendor offers specialists who provide quarterly business reviews, highlighting performance areas and suggesting improvements to enhance guest experience.
  9. Benchmark against competitors: Select a vendor allowing you to benchmark performance against competitors at both property and brand levels across various key metrics.
  10. Technology investment: Choose a vendor investing in technology to stay ahead, as most travelers believe advanced tech enhances safety and personalizes travel experiences.
  11. Provide relevant data to relevant users: Ensure your solution delivers pertinent data to appropriate users through customer views, reports, and filters, maintaining engagement and focus.
  12. Set goals and KPIs: Establish clear goals and KPIs, like guest satisfaction scores, to benchmark performance, drive improvements, and tie them to incentives such as GM bonuses.
  13. Respond to reviews strategically: Implement a management response strategy to address reviews effectively, considering their influence on prospective guests' booking decisions.
  14. Leverage guest feedback for Cap-Ex decisions: Use guest feedback to prioritize capital expenditure decisions, such as refurbishments, by addressing areas with the highest negative mentions.
  15. Understand different guest segments: Analyze guest segment preferences and complaints to support both operational and commercial teams, ensuring tailored experiences and improved satisfaction.

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The Hotel Yearbook Technology 2024

The HOTEL Yearbook Technology 2024 delves into the transformative power of data in the hospitality industry, exploring how the "everything-data decade" is reshaping the landscape. This year's edition emphasizes the surge of data-focused innovations and products with open architectures for seamless data exchange and micro-applications embedded in diverse tech stacks. As data, often dubbed "the new oil", becomes pivotal for hotels to refine brand identities and the struggle to offer hyper-personalized services, it also plays a critical role in managing labor and energy resources efficiently. The publication provides essential insights and recommendations into harnessing data for superior service delivery, agile resource optimization, robust data security, and crafting extraordinary guest experiences.
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