The check-in was rather impersonal and the front desk clerk had to make a genuine effort to deliver a fake smile. After checking in, I went up to my room and was pleasantly surprised to find a well appointed room that was clean and nicely done. I thought to myself – “Must compliment the General Manager – Philippe (name changed to save my rear from being sued) on a job well done.”

But the thought pattern changed when I lay down to sleep at night. The mattresses were really bad. They weren’t lumpy or anything, but just… bad! I tried every combination (even put my head on the other side of the bed, but couldn’t find one spot that was comfy.

Fast forward to 9:00am and with just about 2 hrs of sleep, I groggily stepped into the lobby to be greeted by Philippe. He escorted me to his office and after the usual small talk, he popped the question. “So how do you like the hotel?”  As I wrestled to find the best words to give an honest feedback, I realized that the man sitting opposite me could take it two ways:

1. Thank me for the honest feedback and look into it.
2. Glare at me as if I just called his kid ugly. People don’t like it if someone calls their kid ugly.

Here’s roughly how the conversation went.

“I love the rooms… great job done there”. I began.
“Thanks” he beamed.
“But have you stayed in one of your rooms lately”
He had a puzzled look on his face. “No, why?”
“The mattresses look like they might be due for retirement”
“Really? They look fine to me”
“Looking is one thing, sleeping on them is another”, I briefly related my experience to him.

*Pause…*

*Uncomfortable silence…*

“I’ll look into it” came the terse reply.

I know what you’re thinking… How did he react?

Well, I’m happy to report that he did take my advice and stayed in one of the rooms to test the mattress for himself. He called me the next week and thanked me for the feedback. Have they changed the mattresses? I don’t know. And frankly, from the perspective of this post, it doesn’t matter.

As hoteliers, one can learn a lot about the guest experience simply by being the guest at the property. Simply reversing roles allows you to see things that you might take for granted otherwise. Alternatively, ask a friend (with a reputation for brutal honesty) to do it for you. In this case, he might suggest a training session for the front-desk staff as well. Admittedly, small to medium independent hotels have more to gain from this advice compared to established flag properties, but you get the idea.

Sometimes, putting your own feet to the fire can be a good thing.

Rohit Seth
Host – Hotel Marketing Podcast

Just a decade ago, reputations were built by way-of-mouth referrals, extensive advertising and good ol’ fashioned public relations campaigns.

Not anymore.

The landscape has changed… and Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor are changing the way reputations are made (or destroyed). The power of a single dissatisfied guest has increased exponentially as technology allows the conversations to traverse thousands of people in a matter of weeks. They also retain their permanence in the online arena.

So how do hotels cope with this? Clearly, we’re talking about a double-edged sword here. A good online reputation can deliver a ton of business your way and vice-versa, a bad one can do some serious damage.

Here are some simple rules that can help hotels along the way. I say “simple” because this is a vast topic and I don’t want to undermine it’s importance by claiming that a blog post covers it all. Call this “The Essentials of Reputation Management“.

1. Who’s talking about you?
   If the conversation is about you, wouldn’t you want to be a part of it? Set up a system where you get alerted to whatever conversations are taking place about you. Google Alerts, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google reviews… make the time to periodically check on these channels.
2. Get in on the conversation
   Positive or negative, you really should have an active say in the conversation. If the tone is positive, say “Thank you”. If it’s negative, acknowledge the person’s viewpoint and strive to see things from their point of view. Nobody is perfect. We all know that. But if you acknowledge publicly that there’s room for improvement, you’ve just done your reputation a huge favor. Quick tip – watch out for trolls.
3. Perhaps you can benefit from a negative conversation
   People who take to the social media to express their dissatisfaction with your brand have a latent qualification. If they are going to be so vocal about bashing you, they’re also likely to praise you publicly if you can resolve a matter amicably. It’s a great opportunity to turn a dissatisfied guest into a brand ambassador. As I said above, you will find a few clowns along the way… and you’ll just have to learn to ignore them.
4. Don’t take criticism personally
   People are generally more concerned about themselves rather than you. Agreed? They’re not on a mission to destroy you personally. Understand that and approach the matter in a non-judgemental way.
5. Don’t be modest!
   If you get praised, don’t blush and say “Aww shucks”. Revel in the moment. Respond back to show how delighted you are… Tweet it, post it on Facebook. Squeeze every ounce of mileage out of it. Heck you’ve earned it, so why not?
6. Too busy? Outsource!
   This can be a very real scenario. Yes, there are a ton of channels that one needs to monitor and you simply may not have the time to do it all. Look for companies that do this for you. Each week or fortnight, they can report to you about all the conversations/reviews they’ve spotted online. Now you can decide how you want to approach or deal with them. One tip – Never outsource the responses to reviews. Nobody knows your business better than you do. Take the time to address these issues yourself.

Hope these tips helped you with your plans to build a better reputation. Feel free to share this post with others who might benefit from it. It doesn’t just apply to hotels, you know… Use the links below.

Till next time…

Rohit Seth
Host – Hotel Marketing Podcast

I think the power of this email is underestimated. It can be a powerful ally in so many ways. And the best part is that it takes very little effort to harness it’s benefits. Here are a few ideas on how to use it effectively:

1. Customize it. This email marks the first step towards guest retention. Set the right tone for future interaction. Don’t use cookie-cutter statements that people know you don’t mean. Talk about how your property tries to personalize its services to its guests, and what major improvements are in the works.
2. Offer a channel for feedback. Give out the email address and phone numbers of the General Manager or the person in charge of guest relations and invite the guest to share their experience. Positive or negative, you WANT to hear what they have to say. It’s only going to help you along the way. If it’s a positive experience, good for you! Respond with an email requesting them to share their experience on TripAdvisor.
   If it’s a negative one, chances are that by providing a channel for them to vent, they wouldn’t feel compelled to rant on TripAdvisor or Google. People who feel validated are far less likely to post negative reviews. And even if they are, they’re more likely to be objective about the review. Either way, please make sure you respond to the guest via email or phone. If you care about guest satisfaction, this is “walking the talk”.
3. Highlight current promotions. If you have a special running, why not put it there so the guest is aware of it for next time.
4. Reward programs. Not all hotels have these, but if you do, you’d do well to encourage the guest to sign up for it. If they booked you via an OTA this time, they’ll probably want to book direct with you the next time. You could have just pushed your net revenue by 25% on the next booking.
5. Track your emails. Email tracking systems are beautifully sophisticated these days. If your provider allows, review key metrics such as % of opens and click-throughs to your website. That info is solid gold.
6. Use it as a tool for permission based marketing. This one is easy – invite the guest to join your mailing list.

So there you have it. 6 uses for a little-used feature that all reservation systems provide. In most cases you’ll only have to put in the effort once. Totally worth it!

I came across an example of a brilliant Post-Stay email and have to show this to you. Its from Shashank Nigam on Simplifying.com. The Hotel that sent this was CitizenM in Amsterdam.

If you’ve used this feature effectively in your organization, why not share your thoughts with others? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section below.

We talk about the 3 key factors that make a website successful – Aesthetics, functionality and search engine visibility. Does your site use Flash? You’d be surprised by what you hear.

There’s also useful information on how to select the right designers/developers to work with… something that is always a bit of a gray area for hoteliers.

Resources: Links to add your website to local search results:
Google Local Business Listings
Yahoo Local (only US listings as of now)
Bing (only US listings as of now)

Click to listen to it or you can subscribe to it via iTunes or your podcast aggregator.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-d9ee7bc7bcec1e7c49b1298397210a2d}

In this podcast, we discuss the impact that photography has on your bottom line. There’s a story of a hotel that’s lost over a million dollars over the past 3 years. Something they could have fixed by spending a couple of thousand dollars… But the problem is that they don’t know it.

We also talk about setting up budgets, deciding what to shoot, finding the right photographer, a bit of legal stuff to safeguard your rear-end and getting the most bang out of your images.

I have also provided a sample “Shot List” as a pdf for download.

Click to listen to it or you can subscribe to it via iTunes or your podcast aggregator.

This podcast gives you an overview of the essentials of e-Marketing for hotels and also outlines what to expect from future episodes.

It’s a great starting point towards a securing higher revenues at your property… both in terms of ADR as well as occupancies.

Click to listen to it or you can subscribe to it via iTunes or your podcast aggregator.