With articles about people power and review sites dominating the travel media, we continue our series of review blogs by looking at the arguments for and against replying to all of the reviews you receive. To be honest we couldn’t think of many reasons not to.
+ Reasons you should reply to all reviews
- It’s polite. Replying enables you to thank your guest for taking the time to write a review.
- It reassures your guests and prospective guests that you appreciate their feedback and have listened; you take customer service seriously.
- It’s social! Marketing is all about making connections and putting people first. Responding to your reviewers helps build rapport and demonstrates you are open to conversation.
- It’s personable. Posting a response proves there is a real person behind the business, not a faceless logo.
- It gives you the opportunity to make amends if you receive a negative review. You get the chance to tell everyone how you are going to put things right, and when that is going to happen.
- It can help build trust, showing you are responsive and want to improve and grow your business.
- It encourages more of your guests to write reviews if they perceive that you value their opinion.
- Your responses become a part of your shop window; worded well they can be more important than the review itself. Replies provide the opportunity to communicate how adaptable and open to suggestions you are, and to showcase the things that you do brilliantly.
- A study of Holiday Lettings adverts conducted in 2012 showed that whatever the rating, advertisers that respond to their review got an average of 12% more enquiries than those that didn’t. (Source).
- 78% of TripAdvisor users agree that seeing a management response to reviews “makes me believe that it cares more about its guests,” and 57% of users agree that seeing a response generally “makes me more likely to book it versus a comparable hotel that didn’t respond to travellers.” (Source).
– Reasons not to reply to all reviews
- If you get a lot of reviews, it can be time-consuming. This is when it gets tempting to reply with stock answers (which is not considered good practice). However it doesn’t have to take up a big chunk of your time. By checking your listings daily and responding to your reviews as and when they are submitted, you can keep the time you allocate to writing replies to a minimum. Being quick to respond also demonstrates how responsive you are.
- It can be difficult to remain original and not become repetitive. You can make it easier, and help keep content fresh (which Google also loves) by replying promptly when a conversation you have had with your guest is still fresh in your mind. It is the time to mention their 4 year-old’s comment that your property looks like a woodland cottage from a fairy-tale; or how delighted everyone was with the chocolate-fountain you sourced for their family celebrations. Get help posting replies – the person who had the most contact with your guests or who has a story to share is the ideal person to reply. Adding personal snippets of conversation like this helps to maintain your relationship and show some personality. It also enables you to tailor your marketing messages to future guests, reinforcing the benefits you already highlight on your website.
- If you have a disgruntled guest there is the fear that engaging with them might just exacerbate the situation. However it’s not a good idea to keep quiet in the hope that they will go away. Posting a reply to say that you have sent a private email to discuss things further demonstrates that you do take their comments on board, and that you aim to resolve the matter. This removes the conversation from the spotlight on a very public platform without ignoring the facilitator. It helps to reinforce and maintain the reputation for good customer service you are continuing to build.
- The guest is happy, let’s leave it at that. True, but a brief and courteous acknowledgement thanking them for their comments and their time is always appreciated; and again it helps to maintain the relationship.
It is always a good idea to engage with your guests and to keep that conversation going. This includes replying to all of your reviews whenever feasibly possible. If you can get into the habit of checking reviews in the same way that a lot of people check their emails, their text messages or their Facebook page, it becomes part of your daily routine. Remember – all online conversations are marketing opportunities. They provide an additional platform to promote exactly what a holiday at your property fulfills, what expectations you meet and exceed, and how you are continuing to grow to add to that experience. This gives guests (both existing and future) a reason to book to come back again and again.
