By now we all know that hotels live or die by their reviews on TripAdvisor: Evidence is ample that TripAdvisor rankings powerfully impact ADR and, in turn, occupancy and profits.

So why do many of us shrug a Gallic tant pis - that is, a resigned acceptance of whatever TripAdvisor brings us, good or bad.

Listen up: that's not acceptable.

Let's explode the myths that hold us back.

It's too hard to take charge of a hotel's TripAdvisor rating.

Nonsense. It is in fact easy to take charge of your TripAdvisor standing - and Yelp, too, if that channel matters to you (it is generally more influential on restaurants than hotels).

The key is to have a plan and to know the action steps. Keep reading to discover yours.

Here is your action plan: You want to comment on some of your TripAdvisor reviews, especially any that depict the hotel negatively. Never spar with a reviewer, quite the contrary. Look to take the discussion off line - call me directly at 123-xxxx - and always apologize profusely for any missteps on your end.

My advice: make a phone call or three to staff who may know the particulars of an incident before responding. Knowledge gives you power.

Do not condescend. I cringe when I read management comments that belittle a guest. Remember: the reading audience is the entire TripAdvisor universe. Write for all of them.

Come across as concerned, engaged, determined to please. This is the hospitality business. Show it.

You need an expensive third-party service to manage a hotel's reputation.

Maybe those services in fact are too expensive - so don't use a third party. I believe a hotel executive, in 15 minutes a day, can monitor his/her TripAdvisor landscape and take whatever actions are needed. A bonus is that you will also monitor your competitive set's standing on TripAdvisor.

How? I just use the browser to go to TripAdvisor over morning coffee. I look at hotels with whom I am working. I look at arch competitors. I read the new activity - usually only a review or two per hotel.

I do likewise in Twitter - where I use the free version of Hootsuite - and also Facebook.

Total time elapsed: rarely over 15 minutes. Maximum 30 minutes.

Guests do not want to write reviews.

Don't be silly. We seem to love to write and post reviews and photos of our vacations, meals, hotel rooms. Maybe we are show-offs, maybe we sincerely want to share our travels but, either way, travel seems to be a prime area for sharing opinions.

Guests want to share.

So why don't more of them share more often?

Good question, especially because most experts believe that frequency and recency of guest reviews play a part in how high a hotel ranks in TripAdvisor. (The company is secretive about its algorithms. So we don't know for a fact.)

How to get more reviews? Ask guests to post them.

We are past the point where we can close our eyes and hope TripAdvisor goes away. It won't. It has a market cap of $11.3 billion. That is a massive company.

Some hoteliers resisted asking guests to review because they ardently hoped TripAdvisor would vanish but that is not happening.

Accept the reality and ask.

Especially at independent and unique hotels, guests seem to understand the why of the request and often will do exactly as you ask.

Train staff to politely request reviews and watch what happens.

Reputation management needs to be the job of one executive.

Yes, kind of. I believe there needs to be a reputation czar where the buck stops, probably the head of PR and/or marketing. So this is not entirely myth.

Some of it is myth however and plain wrong.

Where a push for stronger TripAdvisor ratings gains velocity is when every employee on property has gotten behind the push.

When a guest is obviously unhappy, don't ignore it - fix the problem. That may transform a probable negative write-up into a strong positive.

"Everybody is a reviewer. Act accordingly." Front desk staff, waiters, housekeepers, bartenders, call center employees - everybody has to get that.

Management needs to sing that song loudly - and be sure the rank and file get it.

An engaged, caring, trained workforce may be the ultimate secret for higher rankings on the key review outlets.

But isn't that exactly what every hotel has always needed to really succeed?

Babs Harrison
Babs Harrison + Partners
Babs Harrison + Partners