Choose your Words carefully : Guest reviews - Hospitality Travel and Tourism

Choose your Words carefully : how difficult and potentially harmful the Guest Reviews are…

Recently I took part in a very interesting seminar regarding a thorny argument for the Hoteliers : the Guest Reviews…we usually read and hear through a very popular website…Tripadvisor 🙂

Who doesn’t know it ??

But I should add that, apart from Tripadvisor, all the reviews and complaints online are visible also on other websites, like Google+Local, Yelp, Expedia/Hotels.com, Travelpost, Travelocity, Social Networks (usually Facebook or Twitter), Holidaycheck, Qype (used maybe more in Germany than in other countries).

The words to say would be so many but I think we can summarize in some standard situations, this because the most of the guests we host at the various Hotels around Italy and over in general expect so or too much….

Hey, I could answer in this case : do you really think to be able to get the best of the best services without paying the right price ??

And do you really think that it’s possible for the Hoteliers to give you the best of the best quality without having anything in change ??

But it’s obvious that all the people working in this sector is aware that we couldn’t use such words even if we pretty often think this and more…

All the people working in this environment knows perfectly how important is to put your attention on the Guest Satisfaction.

Even if you don’t work in a super luxury Hotel, you should anyway put any effort to satisfy as better as possible the expectations of the guests who will stay in that moment in your Hotel !!

Not because of them, but expecially because of the other potential future guests…

Don’t forget that behind your guest are the others, friends of the friends…the Buzz is an incredible double-edged sword!!

Since the standard complaints you receive generally regard the following aspects such as poor Service, Staff not so helpful or friendly, cleanliness, availability of the food & beverage service, provided service and quality, I would try to summarize and explain what I think to have learnt 🙂

It’s always and anyway pretty important for your Image to put interest and care in every situation or comment you’ll have to face –> this means that you also have in this way the chance to thank the complaining guest for the feedback and apologize (not too much…)

Simply thank for the feedback you’ll share with your team, try to clarify without damaging in some way your reputation, highlight the positive aspects, specify how you’re following up…

Phrases like “thank you for your feedback, we consider pretty important to improve constantly our service and attention to detail ” should at least mean for the follower that you’re trying to give and offer the maximum…

Try anyway to express your professionalism giving a brief explanation of the bad situation complained, to apologize shortly and maybe to offer a future welcome back.

Even if you receive an offensive complaint against someone of the staff, avoid to approve the accuse but on the contrary feel surprised to hear similar behaviour from one the best employees…

All the bad situations you have to explain or excuse in some way have to be handled with sensitivity and positive feeling.

Never accuse of dishonesty, but for irrational or clearly offensive comments, you may choose not to respond or to contact the review site and post a response…

Just to close this post, everytime you have to handle a review or complaint, put your attention on it and respond simply (thanking, apologizing and following up), without using excuse or beeing defensive or repetitive, beeing as more transparent as possible and if possible offering a welcome back.

Apart from this kind of strategy, I sincerely think that for a property important is the Balance !

If you receive many complaints but also some reviews, this means that you’re not so bad or with a terrible service…you could try to get better and prove your availability at it 🙂

Thank you for the attention !

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Luisa Rellini

Virtual assistant in the field Hospitality and Web on behalf of extra-hotels facilities or web agencies in Italy or abroad.
Blogger on Httclub.com, which focuses on Hospitality Travel and Tourism or Web marketing.

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