Online reviews have an enormous impact on potential guests’ booking decisions. Negative hotel guest reviews significantly impact a property’s reputation and the likelihood a guest will book, or a happy guest will return. According to one study by Brightlocal, 94% of consumers said they avoid businesses with negative reviews.
NB: This is an article from Fuel Travel
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And keeping your overall score high is important, with 57% of consumers only selecting businesses with 4 or more-star ratings out of 5.
It’s crucial for hoteliers to adeptly address and prevent negative reviews before they can grow – or before they’re posted at all! A powerful tool in hoteliers’ arsenal is a Guest Messaging System (GMS). A hotel GMS automates communication with your guests, ensuring better overall experiences, and proactive communication before the review goes live at all.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to respond to negative hotel guest reviews, as well as how a hotel GMS can help deal with and sometimes prevent them.
How to Respond to a Negative Hotel Guest Review
Bad reviews are unfortunately inevitable. Even with a deep commitment to excellent guest service and beautiful accommodations, things can go wrong. It’s important to know what to do when you receive bad reviews and have a plan in place no matter what.
As Benjamin Franklin once famously said: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” For hotels, this means avoiding bad reviews on public channels by preventing them from being posted. Send out a request for feedback every time a guest checks out to catch potential bad reviews before they happen – and push happy customers to review publicly.
A hotel GMS lets you automate this process. Create an automatic response to any low score, with the ability to remind staff to also reach out personally. Your response to any negative feedback of review should be prompt, personalized, and apologetic. Include in any response relevant contact details, an offer to keep the conversation going, and actionable solutions. When all of that is said and done, be sure to follow up and learn from the experience.
Respond promptly
Time is of the essence when it comes to responding to negative reviews. Responding promptly shows attentiveness and a commitment to guest satisfaction. Make sure to frequently check review platforms to ensure that you’re responding to reviews shortly after they’re posted.
Using automation ensures that you always start the conversation immediately, even if your staff is busy!
