DOS DONTS 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.

DO’S

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Manage guest expectations: Ensure property review and OTA page content accurately reflects what guests can expect during their stay, managing their expectations effectively.
Guest experience strategy specialists: Ensure your vendor offers specialists who provide quarterly business reviews, highlighting performance areas and suggesting improvements to enhance guest experience.
Benchmark against competitors: Select a vendor allowing you to benchmark performance against competitors at both property and brand levels across various key metrics.
Technology investment: Choose a vendor investing in technology to stay ahead, as most travelers believe advanced tech enhances safety and personalizes travel experiences.
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.
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.
Respond to reviews strategically: Implement a management response strategy to address reviews effectively, considering their influence on prospective guests' booking decisions.
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.
Understand different guest segments: Analyze guest segment preferences and complaints to support both operational and commercial teams, ensuring tailored experiences and improved satisfaction.

DON’TS

Vendor investment and adaptation: Don't choose a vendor that doesn't invest in their solutions and adapt to hoteliers' needs, like an impact analysis dashboard for understanding positive and negative impacts on guest experience.
Client feedback in development: Ensure the vendor builds their platform with client feedback. For example, Clermont Group helped Shiji ReviewPro create a 'To Do' page for their Case Management Solution based on maintenance team needs.
Identify strengths and weaknesses: Leverage guest review solutions to identify strengths and weaknesses, improving guest experience. A Harvard study shows a 1-star increase can contribute to a 5-9% revenue increase.
Unlimited user access: Choose a solution provider offering unlimited user licenses at no extra cost. Everyone, from owners to housekeeping, should have access to the guest experience platform.
Value of negative reviews: Don't assume all negative reviews are bad. They make positive reviews more trustworthy and allow you to respond with context, focusing on areas needing improvement.
Tailored training for team members: Provide all team members with training on the guest experience platform, tailored to each department. Choose a vendor offering premium account management support.
Significance over volume of mentions: Don't assume the volume of mentions is the most important metric. Few complaints about dirty bathrooms are more significant than many about cocktail prices.
Flexible account configuration: Choose a vendor that provides flexibility in configuring your account to match your business setup, whether regional, by brand, or by cluster GMs, essential for brands and management companies.
Timely review responses: Respond to reviews in a timely manner. Sixty-eight percent of TripAdvisor's website traffic would choose an establishment over another based solely on management response.
Align marketing with guest data: Don't launch marketing campaigns without aligning them with guest satisfaction data. Avoid promoting bed quality if you have negative bed reviews.
Avoid generic review responses: Don’t respond to reviews with generic responses; it's not a tick-box exercise. Personalize responses to address specific guest feedback and concerns.
Use workgroups for guest intelligence: Utilize workgroups to funnel guest intelligence to the right teams for actionable insights. For instance, create a housekeeping case for every negative review mentioning "dirty."
Significance of review volume: Review volume significantly impacts ranking algorithms on OTA and review sites. Don't underestimate its importance in your online presence and reputation.
Leverage guest intelligence across organization: Share guest intelligence beyond operations. HR can celebrate staff mentions, procurement can monitor supplier impact, and IT can assess technology's effect on satisfaction.
Monitor sustainability mentions: Don't ignore guest feedback on sustainability. Mentions of sustainability have increased yearly since COVID ended, reflecting its growing importance to guests.

Effective review management not only addresses guest feedback but also integrates valuable insights into operations and marketing strategies. This comprehensive approach ensures that hotels remain responsive to guest needs, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and excellence in service. Adopting these practices will help hotels maintain a competitive edge, build stronger relationships with their guests, and drive sustained success in an increasingly dynamic hospitality industry.