In modern times when most of our shopping, grocery, booking and work everything happens through the internet, researching about things before paying for them has become like second nature to us.
This holds true except when it comes to travel and hotel bookings. Even though a hotel can have everything that the guests are looking for, still reading reviews about the previous guests is what one would always prefer.
The guests tend to get influenced by not just the reviews of others but also can make a big judgment about the hotel and its hospitality based on the response to it. Thus, let us find out the most appropriate way of responding to negative hotel reviews.
Why is responding to the reviews beneficial for the hotel?
When it comes to the importance of responding, here are a few reasons it can significantly make a difference:
i) Helps in Search Engine Position- The context of the reviews could be anything, but the replies and responses to them will increase the visibility of the hotel as well as the ranking of the hotel on the search engine.
ii) Help establish credibility- When you have a lot of reviews and their responses, it creates a positive image in your guests’ minds about the performance and credibility of the hotel.
iii) More conversion rate- Needless to say, the more reviews the hotel has where the guests were shown concern, the more are the odds to influence the potential guests to click the book button.
Now that you know the importance of it, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how it shall be done
How to respond to negative reviews:
1. Address them and show gratitude
No matter what review the customer has provided for the hotel, always start by politely addressing them by their name and say a thank you foremost to show that you care for their feedback and their time to write for it.
You must always empathize with their concern and their problems no matter what it feels like. In the end, how well you handle their concern will determine their perception of the hotel.
2. Apologize
Always remember there is nothing wrong to apologize even if you think there are no wrongdoings. Sometimes any gap in the service or the failure to meet the guest’s expectations can lead to a bad experience.
3. Show your actions
Once the apology is done and you have shown sympathy for their inconvenience, always mention what are the steps you took to make up for the trouble. Mentioning the actions will not just help your hotel to increase its service standard but also make the guests feel that they were important to you and their complaints were of utmost importance to you and your hospitality policy.
4. Evaluate and request for follow up
After this, also make it a point that you mention to invite your guests personally and also through reviews to visit your hotel again and perhaps review the area that they complained about and help you with the feedback on your improvement. This sort of response will not just help you to avoid losing out on your guests but also convince other potential guests about your hospitality
These simple pointers for your review response template will ensure that you never lose out on your guests even if they did not leave with a positive mindset about your hotel and will ensure that the hotel can maintain its credibility in all situations.
If you still are confused as to how will responding in this way will bring guests to your hotel then here are a few more reasons to consider. Whenever you share a review despite the fact that it was meant to criticize your hotel, then it will create an impact on your future guests in the following way.
1.It will clearly show that you have great customer service even after the guests leave your premise and will show how much you care about providing them with an experience where they feel they were cared for.
2.It will help you build relationships with the future as well as existing guests and will also help to maintain a good reputation.
3.This will eventually help you change the guests’ perception of your hotel.
4.And most importantly, gain insights about how the hotel has been doing and also be able to share the prompt action it takes with the world.
Thus, if you just stick by these simple tips then you will be able to ace the online reputation of your hotel and even work through converting the negative reviews into positive aspects. If you still find the process daunting, then book a call with the Expert team of Websrefresh and let them help you with online reputation management with their expertise
