How Should Hotels Respond To Negative Online Guest Reviews
Ignoring deleterious internet reviews as a hotelier is the worst thing you can do for your business. Negative hotel reviews happen no matter how good your service is. It’s possible that you have a difficult visitor, or that anything went wrong during their stay. If you receive a poor internet review, do not be dismayed or dismiss it.
Hoteliers must respond to negative complaints, but doing it correctly is critical. A negative review harms your reputation. A smart response to a negative review can help you in two ways. It may help to restore your reputation by making potential visitors think more highly of you, as well as heal your connection with disgruntled reviewers.
Remedy A Bad Review Before It Is Commented Online:
When a guest checks out of your location, your staff should make an effort to solicit feedback from the guest to correct a likely negative review.
Now that you’ve persuaded them, they’re more likely to tell you about the problems in person. This is your opportunity to respond quickly to remedy the situation and make the visitor feel less dissatisfied. This might be as basic as an apology or as elaborate as providing them with a discount on their next stay.
The guest may elect not to publish a review at all, or they may express the unpleasant part while still highlighting your favorable responses. This will make your review stand out to other guests who are reading it, and it will cancel out the bad with the good.
Apologize For The Inconveniences And Thank The Guest:
An internet review, whether positive or bad, is a significant tool for your business. So the next step is to express gratitude to the visitor. After all, the guest has taken the time to offer feedback to you.
Of course, apologizing is a critical component in determining how to respond to unfavorable hotel reviews. It may appear apparent, yet it is frequently overlooked. Remember that even if you believe the visitor is being unreasonable, you must still apologize whether you agree with a guest’s bad comments or not, as Hotelier you promise your guests an excellent experience that they didn’t find in your hotel.
Make Improvements & Resolve Issues:
It is one thing to thank a guest for their comments; it is quite another to incorporate it into your improvement strategy. Resolve specific concerns and achieve changes on a larger scale.
If one of your guests has written a bad review about something, write a public response to them and then contact them privately as well. the more effort you put into resolving issues, the less bad internet word-of-mouth you will have.
Respond To The Reviews Quickly:
Don’t take too long to respond to a bad review. It is advised that you react to unpleasant hotel complaints within 24 hours or a few days at the very least. When potential visitors notice that you haven’t reacted, it gives them the sense that you don’t care, which leads to a negative opinion of your hotel.