Customer reviews: How to ask for, respond to, and use them

Online customer reviews are of important significance to many consumers, and this is especially true for the hospitality and tourism industry. Travelers expect to read reviews about your accommodation through sites like Tripadvisor and Booking.com. It is increasingly important to maintain a good online presence and reputation. With social media becoming a more pivotal role in marketing, the platform not only allows you to communicate directly with your customers, but also allows your customers to communicate with each other.

We give you an overview on how to ask for, respond to, and use the reviews you get, and an example of what to say in each of those instances.

GET REVIEWS

A range of reviews is not a bad thing, as it adds legitimacy to your hotel. To get these reviews you could ask customers to leave a review when you check them out. Alternatively, you could also send out a post-stay email thanking the customer for their stay and asking them for any feedback and a review on some sites. You could also publish some social media posts, reminding guests to review their stay.

What to say: We’d love to hear how your stay with us was! Leave us a review on these websites <insert links>, or send us an email with your feedback.

RESPOND TO REVIEWS

It is extremely important to respond to guest reviews. Engage with both positive and negative reviews in a professional and friendly manner. Make sure your responses are genuine and always be appreciative of the feedback and the time it took the guest to leave the review. While negative reviews are not ideal, responding to them in a friendly, professional manner is essential to maintaining a good relationship with the guests, without losing potential customers. It is important to apologize for their negative experience and address how you will do better in the future.

What to say: Thank you for taking the time to leave us feedback, and we are extremely sorry for the negative experience you had with us. We are always working on improving, and in the future we will <insert improvements you will make>.

USE REVIEWS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Reviews can be extremely effective in your marketing and to know where you need to improve. Use the feedback you receive from customers to improve on your services or facilities. Use the positive reviews to help with marketing, let potential customers know how good of a time people have had when they’ve stayed with you. Use them on social media, and through your marketing emails. Showing consistently good service and reminding people of the wonderful time they had with you, will also encourage repeat bookings.

What to say: What our guests have to say about their stay with us: <Insert review>. Or See what others have to say: <Insert review>.