RM session 4

Online Session 4:

 

Both companies strongly recommend answering ALL guest comments - in review sites + social media

• Do you agree / disagree ? Why?I agree with the fact that it is important to answer to all the guest comments on the social medias or review sites from the moment where the comments are respectful and constructive.
  Indeed, sometimes, some comments are completely disrespectful and do not require any comments because the most of these comments are irrelevant and not take in account by the other people or potential guests.
  However, for the other comments, it is important to answer to their sender even if these comments are negative. That shows your professionalism and your comprehension when there is a negative comment. The most important point for me is mainly to answer with your own words according to the comment to show to the guests, you engagement and consideration toward them rather than to use automatic sentences.
• How can this activity add value for the hotel's guests?For my opinion, this activity shows a respect, a consideration and a proof of quality toward the hotel's guests. Indeed, thanks to its activity the hotel's guests have an overview of the hotel and its accommodation and facilities. This activity is an added value for them because it can provide them advices and recommendation for some activities or facilities to do and also eventually to avoid the traps of the hotel thanks to the negative comment let by the previous guests. It is an important point to take in account when you travel and choose to stay in hotel.
• Who in the hotel, should be responsible to this activity?For my opinion, the guest relation should in charge to do this activity because they are in charge of the customer care from the beginning of their stays until the end and even after.
  However, sometimes it is the communication and marketing department which are in charge to the social medias. That's why, it could be responsible too according to their tasks or situation.
• How could the hotel measure the impact of response actions?
  The hotel can measure the impact of response actions by the increase of booking and especially via internet. Indeed, the most of people who see the review site or the social medias for the comments of the hotel book via internet. That's why, it can be interesting to compare the way of booking to become aware of the improvement thanks to the response actions. Moreover, your rank and score on Tripadvisor or on the social medias should increase too.
  
  
                                          Trust You Stars
• What is this? How does it work?Trust you Stars is a guest feedback platform use by the hotels to collect the information they need to improve your service and product. These surveys are directly displayed on their own website and at the disposal to the hotel's guests. The previous results of guests are visible with a score and comments. The guests have then the availability to share on the social media to improve the brand image and reputation of the hotel and attract new guests.
• Can a hotel incorporate their own survey questions?The goal of Trust you Stars is to allow to the hotel to create their own survey questions to collect the information and date they need. That's why, it is important to take care to choose and formulate the right questions to get relevant information.
• How could this tool be used to collect feedback before the guests leaves?This tool can be used at any moment of the guest's stay. That's why, if a guest decides to give his opinion about the welcome of the hotel at his arrival he can do it. The hotel can then collect its feedback, take in account the notes about that and improve the guest's experience during his stay. It avoids to wait the end of his stay to incite the guests to come back later to improve this point.
  
  Lodging Interactive Commingle service offers hotels the possibility to outsource responses to guest comments and reviews
•  Should hotels keep this activity in house or get outsourced help?For my opinion, I prefer to do this activity in house because it is more personalized and you can add a personal touch in your responses. Moreover, you can react actively and you know very good the hotel and its operations. Whereas, with outsourced help, the responses are often automatic and the same for everybody. Moreover, in the big hotel, there are enough employees to be in charge of this task. However, for independent hotels, there are less employees who are already polyvalent. That's why, they could save time to use outsourced help to do this task.
• Is there a combination of both that could work well?I think the combination of both methods could be interesting especially if you have lots of review sites and social medias. Indeed, for example on Facebook and twitter, there are lots of followers and sometimes you can have too much comments or feedback to answer in one day. That's why, the help of outsourced help for the most common review sites or social media can allow you to save time and improve your reactivity toward your guests. Some other review sites or social medias are more complex to understand and use and take time to answer. Like the previous case, an outsourced help can be relevant and useful.