DISQUS

Sheila · 1 year ago

I am really impressed how the manger is interacting! How proactive!

Sheila's last blog post..Hawaii Vacation New Roundup for April 15th

rcjordan · 1 year ago

You nofollow that link to your wife's site, Andy?

I don't allow reviews on my own travel sites, preferring to leave the quality time spent on lawyering up to others, but I do get a few requests from hotel managers trying to combat negative reviews on booking sites --actually, most are protesting their 2- or 3-star rating.

And while I think that positive reviews are still noteworthy for the general public, many savvy travelers I know deeeeply discount them as, well, manager spam. Note, too, that your post/response scenario looks very suspiciously like a tag-team spamming effort. I really only read negative reviews, and then cross-reference the reviews from 3 sources to see how they sync.

Jaan Kanellis · 1 year ago

I really love websites that offer client testimonials, reviews or customer feedback. Says a lot about them.

Jaan Kanellis's last blog post..Widget Baiting Gone Bad?

Andy Beal · 1 year ago

@rcjordan - one day you'll find something positive to say about some'n. ;-)

Brick Marketing · 1 year ago

Yes! We have seen this kind of interaction on CitySearch and think it's highly commendable. Not sure if too many business owners even know the effectiveness of such monitoring of reviews and how it can effect them. We'd be sure that they'd be far more "on it". The more customized customer service is... the better the effect for sure. We've seen it time after time and would recommend ANY business that has gone even slightly out of their way to accomodate us.

Brett Borders · 1 year ago

Such simple, great advice..! Advice that can make all the difference in the world for your online review reputation!

Mike Belasco · 1 year ago

Very good advice in this post. This way if someone sees something negative, they also see a positive reaction.

Jeff McNeill · 1 year ago

This is exactly how to do it. People need a forum to say both good and bad things. Responses by management are needed for both to be heard (and encourage additional posting. People seeking information need to see both the good and the bad. And the very transparent and public approach of seeing the responses by management increases the sense of trust that things which are not always perfect will be taken care of.

My only nit is the tone of the management, which is to my sensibility overly formal, but that may be the way the brand wants to be conveyed.

Great post!

Ken Savage · 1 year ago

Excellent way to give the customer the "time of day" rather than brushing them off as a customer and we already got their money. The Guest Service Manager was right to engage people even after their stay to assure them you appreciate their comment and ratings as well as criticism.

Ken Savage's last blog post..Good Times at Tonights Celtics Game

Dikili · 1 year ago

thanks

Dikili's last blog post..Tansu Gencer Doyamıyorum

Web Marketing Man · 1 year ago

Online Reputation Management is becoming a rapidly growing niche. There is no better marketer than a satified client, and the small touches are what gives one the edge in a competitive marketplace.

Everybody likes to feel special, and the hotels personalised approach will definitely stand them in good stead. Dealing with complaints in a positive manner also instills confidence in the quality of service offered by the establishment.

This article was a good contrast to the one about
cyber-bullying teens which highlighted the negative side to a bad online reputation.

Seologia · 1 year ago

Aloha! :P Very useful info on how to take negative feedback. Will keep in mind.

Seologia's last blog post..Google no es tonto, vos sí

Nicole · 1 year ago

This story needs to be circulated to the widest possible extent. What this small hotel will generate in word of mouth publicity from guests who have received such messages, is priceless.
Other businesses can learn a lot from such a wonderful practice.

Nicole's last blog post..Some of the Worst Commercials

Steve Teal · 1 year ago

This certainly is a great practice by this business. Not only is it time consuming but by responding to their guests shows great customer service. Seing a response to a negative feedback will show me (as a customer reading the review) that the business is customer service oriented and will put them in good standing in my eyes. ~ Steve

Ed Murray · 1 year ago

Great post highlighting a best practice! It's encouraging to see this kind of reputation management in action. At Kudzu.com, all merchants have the ability to respond to any review (positive or negative), and I'm amazed at the variety of usage I see, from not-at-all to reply-to-every-review. What I'm continually baffled by, though, are merchants who use the reply tool to respond aggressively or threateningly to a negative review!!??? Especially when it comes to "he said/she said" issues, even a simple mea culpa will suffice, rather than potentially tarnishing your reputation with a seemingly abusive response...

Piper · 1 year ago

Even if some of the reviews were negative, I think I'd be more likely to stay after seeing any kind of semi-professional response from the management. At the very least, it would tell me that they're involved enough to know and care about what's going on in the hotel.

Piper's last blog post..The Butterfly T-Shirt that Gives Me Butterflies

Glen Allsopp · 1 year ago

Great example of a manager who knows what he is doing; nice post.

Glen Allsopp's last blog post..Online Reputation Management Proposals: A Guide

Madigan Pratt · 1 year ago

Managing a hotel's online reputation is critically important today - especially if you are at a small luxury property. A comprehensive strategy is what's needed.

This is an interesting tactical approach that may not fit every brand or strategy. In the social media world commenting (some may say "intruding") on every comment can serve to interrupt the flow of the conversation. Particularly grievous reviews certainly warrant a Management Response.

Sometimes it's best to just let people talk. If someone posts a negative comment, oftentimes other guests will correct it in a subsequent post.

Whatever you do online start with a comprehensive plan.

Andy Beal · 1 year ago

@Madigan - some good points. If you let the community police your reputation, it can be more beneficial. However, in the hospitality industry it rarely happens that way.

Madigan Pratt · 1 year ago

Andy - interesting point which leads to a discussion of segmentation and why what might be good for the goose may NOT be good for the gander.

For small luxury hotels with a loyal following and high repeat rates, the community in fact does do a good job of policing their reputation.

A more proactive effort may be warranted for larger and/or less luxurious properties with a less loyal following. Which brings us back to the original point that hotels need a comprehensive social media strategy. And that should be based on the needs of a specific property not on what some other hotel that may have other needs is doing.

Madigan Pratt's last blog post..Where's Your TripAdvisor Strategy?

Jeff Zweig · 1 year ago

hey andy, great post. i hope you'll share even more useful, consise examples of reputation management with examples for businesses in other industries/scenarios.

jeff

ps i recently bought radically transparent from a bookstore here in malaysia and i'm enjoying the book very much so far.

here in asia, it's a hard sell to get companies to engage comments in public online due to a fear of potential loss of face in the event of negative feedback (i.e., loss of face for the company, for the CEO and for the person who makes the decision to engage in the first place)--despite the fact that the risk of not doing so is even higher.

fortunately, however, a recent political situation here highlighted just how powerful the malaysian blogosphere/use of youtube, etc. has become and this has generated new interest in how this force can potentially be harnessed to support a proper reputation management strategy.

pps i'm lovin' the commentluv!

Jeff Zweig · 1 year ago

dang, i meant concise! :)

Andy Beal · 1 year ago

@Jeff - I'll give some thought to other industry examples. Thanks for buying the book!

Fabie · 1 year ago

I am very pleased to read such a post with great examples that will be able to benefit small businesses. What I find is that many (very) small businesses are not even aware that past guests leave comments on trip advisor (one of my latest blog posts) so there is still a lot of educating to be done with regards to online reputation management!

Thanks, excellent post!

fabie

John Kerry · 1 year ago

Look at the publicity ResortQuest Wakiki Beach Hotel has received by taking a little time to check guest's comments.
If this standard of monitoring was widened to other areas within the industry, it could make such a difference in how the public view the word "hospitality" that is often not good enough.

Missy · 1 year ago

Excellent tips on "online reviews" of small businesses. I live in a tiny town and my father-in-law owns a bar and grill.

I wonder how this applies in my SMALL TOWN situation? I also wonder how many people here are wired, as in have online access? So many questions, so little time.

Thanxs for your tips. Will think about this some more.

Missy.

Missy's last blog post..FREE Woody-Licious DESSERT Coupon. Did you find Woody’s through the web?

Junior · 1 year ago

Nice article and i do recommend commentluv for use with wordpress all the time.

Junior's last blog post..Google Adsense Profits Mixed In With Affiliate Marketing

Olga · 1 year ago

This is a great way to respond to the negative reviews. When we added Review feature to our web site, we were so excited and looking forward to receiving reviews! Now we ran into 3 problems that we don't know how to deal with. Any advice is appreciated.
Here are our challenges:
1. Some businesses submit negative reviews about their competitors to bring their reputation down.
2. Other businesses submit numerous positive reviews about themselves to bring their reputation up.
3. And yet some other businesses, when receive negative reviews from their customers, send us angry letters asking how could we let somebody leave a negative review and demanding that we delete it.
I wonder if anyone has similar experience and how they deal with it…

banquet manager · 1 year ago

As a banquet manager, hopefully I'll never need your advice.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager
banquet manager's last blog post..Is The Store Room More Important Than Customer Service?

Rome · 1 year ago

I am a hotel manager. I really love this post. Thank you!

Andy Beal · 1 year ago

@Rome - you're welcome!

Anaokulu · 1 year ago

Look at the publicity ResortQuest Wakiki Beach Hotel has received by taking a little time to check guest’s comments.
If this standard of monitoring was widened to other areas within the industry, it could make such a difference in how the public view the word “hospitality” that is often not good enough.

payday loans · 7 months ago

Hi Andy..Such a great post for the people who run small business and hotels. I'm very much impressed with the notices from management response. Also the six steps to handle the negative reviews made your blog unique from others. I will sure take a look at your book Radically Transparent.
little league baseball family trip