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Whether you are the owner of a lavish hotel or the manager of a smaller one, paying close attention to your hotel reputation is paramount to see your business continue flourishing. After all, a positive perception of your hotel’s brand will ultimately take you one step closer to establishing yourself as an exceptional hotelier in this ever-evolving hospitality industry.
So, where should you start?
If you want to effectively improve and enhance your hotel reputation management, look no further as we’ll take you step-by-step through this exciting yet overwhelming journey. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Why is Hotel Reputation Management Important?
Hotel reputation management is the process of monitoring and influencing how one’s hotel is perceived by other people. It involves keeping track of reviews, social media engagement, and enhancing a hotel’s online presence, among others.
Nowadays, people meticulously research online for hotel reviews before making a booking; thus it goes without saying that top-notch services and a good hotel reputation will be a critical factor in the decision-making process of booking a hotel for travelers.
Moreover, the growing competition in the hotel industry makes hotel reputation management imperative for hotel owners to fuel the growth of their business, stand out from their competitors, and nurture solid relationships with new and past clients.
In fact, according to research, a positive reputation is the key condition of stakeholders’ support for a hotel in competitive relations, providing a sustainable competitive advantage.
Hoteliers, by implementing a well-curated strategy on how they manage their hotel reputation, will ultimately skyrocket their bookings and effectively maximize the revenue of their hotel.
So, if you wonder how you’ll achieve that, keep reading our guide as we’ve done our research and collected 6 ways to effectively protect and improve your hotel reputation!
6 Ways to Effectively Protect and Improve Your Hotel Reputation
To effectively protect and strengthen your hotel reputation involves being strategic and staying up-to-date with your customer’s needs and feedback. So let’s delve into 6 ways to enhance your hotel reputation and stay ahead of your game.
Way #1: Monitor online reviews
Monitoring online reviews is a fundamental way to improve your hotel reputation. In this demanding industry, customer reviews reflect how other people perceive your hotel; thus you shouldn’t ignore them or answer in a bad manner.
On the contrary, do your best to respond to reviews promptly and professionally. Answering to reviews appropriately, and thanking the reviewer for their comment and their time, will show that you value their feedback and that you’ll take actions to become even better.
Keep in mind to provide relevant customized answers and take your time to respond to each review accordingly; be sure that you’ll make a great impression and attract new customers.
The screenshot below showcases an example of a review answered in a timely and professional manner.
Way #2: Offer your guests unique perks
To provide a memorable experience for your guests at your hotel, consider offering them some unique perks. According to the type of travelers that will stay at your hotel, you can adjust your amenities to their needs.
For instance, in the case of business travelers, you can provide them with high-speed internet, an ironing board, and even a dry cleaning discount. On the other hand, if your guests are families with little kids, you could offer board games, puzzles, and a flexible check-in and check-out.
And speaking of flexibility, offering hotel luggage storage in your hotel before check-in and after check-out is a big plus. In many cases, when travelers visit a new destination, they have to wait several hours until their check-in at a hotel. Thus, offering your guests the choice of storing their luggage in your hotel will be a gesture of hospitality that will not go unnoticed.
Providing luggage storage in your hotel will also turn out to be a lucrative idea for your hotel. Becoming a host for luggage storage is a smart way to enhance guest satisfaction, increase your occupancy rates, and boost your hotel’s revenue.
So, how will you do that?
One company that allows you to become a host for luggage storage is our very own Stasher. Here at Stasher, we’ve partnered with hotels, cafes, and local shops in over 890 cities worldwide to cater to the needs of every traveler looking to store their luggage for a few hours or days.
Joining Stasher as a host, apart from being a quite simple process, provides a triptych of benefits:
- Extra profit for your hotel, as you can earn commissions on each bag that you store
- More traffic to your hotel, by getting free exposure to new customers
- Free and guaranteed luggage storage
And if you want to see how Stasher works in action, we’ve prepared the following demo for you!
Pretty simple, right?
Way #3: Offer exceptional customer service
Offering exceptional customer service is the cornerstone of successful hotel reputation management. To do so, try to provide a seamless guest experience by making yourself available during the day and being responsive from the moment the booking happens.
Consider personalizing interactions with guests to make them feel valued and appreciated, and offer a welcome note upon their arrival along with some treats. Also, always remember to respond in a good and professional manner and understand their needs and expectations.
When their stay ends and they check out from your hotel, you can send a post-stay email thanking them for their visit and kindly request feedback. This way, you’ll create a fertile ground for more bookings at your hotel and a positively reinforced reputation. Let’s head to the next way!
Way #4: Maintain a strong online presence
Maintaining a strong online presence is vital for a hotel’s success in today’s interconnected digital world. As a hotel manager, you can implement certain strategies to achieve that. Let’s show you how.
To lay the foundation for a successful online presence and generate commission-free direct bookings, you need to build a user-friendly website. Ensure that your hotel’s website is always up to date so that your potential guests will find with a few clicks the information they need to make a booking.
Also, consider optimizing your hotel’s website for mobile devices, since many travelers use smartphones for trip planning and booking. To stay ahead of the competition, it’s equally important to keep your social media and OTA (online travel agency) platforms such as Tripadvisor, updated with accurate information and high-quality visual content.
Way #5: Collect and analyze feedback
Feedback in the hospitality industry, either in a positive or a negative form, is a chance to become even better and maximize your hotel reputation, making some big or subtle changes. Once incentivizing your guests to leave a post-stay review, through automated feedback surveys or directly on your website, you can then proceed to the next step of collecting and analyzing it to make informed decisions.
To do so and save valuable time, you can leverage a plethora of online reputation management tools or automation software for hotels that are available in the market. To increase efficiency, you can also use helpful metrics such as review scores, which we’ll delve into in a bit.
Way #6: Implement eco-friendly practices
Last, but not least, in terms of building your hotel’s brand identity, you can implement eco-friendly practices. Going green will differentiate your hotel from the competition and aid you in shaping your brand identity and expressing your values.
Now more than ever, consumers seek green businesses that respect the environment and apply sustainable practices. To break it down for you, we’ve listed the following eco-friendly practices:
- Add a water bottle filling station in the lobby
- Furnish guest rooms sustainably
- Incorporate thermostats with occupancy sensors that adjust AC temperatures
- Provide vegan and vegetarian options on your menu
Now, after covering some effective ways to reinforce your hotel reputation, it’s time to take a look at some helpful metrics to monitor it.
How to Monitor Your Hotel Reputation With the Right Metrics
Let’s take a closer look at how to monitor your hotel reputation with the metrics below.
Review Scores
As previously mentioned, reviews play a pivotal role in shaping your hotel reputation. That’s why it is crucial to constantly measure your review scores by channel to know if you’re making progress.
Essentially, review scores are your reviews and ratings on various websites such as TrustPilot, Google, Booking, and TripAdvisor. And since numbers speak louder than words, according to research, “a one-point increase in a review score equates to a 9% increase in ADR”.
Social Media Engagement
Another equally important metric in the realm of hotel marketing is social media engagement. Social media engagement is a KPI of all interactions with your social media content and includes likes, comments, shares, mentions (either tagged or untagged), etc.
Satisfied guests tend to tag their hotels in social media posts and stories, comment, and share their experiences with others, building brand loyalty. Thus, keeping track of this metric and monitoring it using various analytics tools will help you have a better understanding of where you lack and what you should keep doing.
Direct Bookings
Online travel platforms play a big part in generating bookings, but so do direct hotel bookings; and even more! In Europe, according to Statista, travelers make most of their hotel bookings directly with the hotel. In fact, according to this survey, in 2021, 58% of hotel bookings in Europe were made via direct channels such as the online booking engine on the hotel’s home page, as well as more traditional channels such as phone calls.
Thus, it’s a no-brainer that monitoring direct bookings and troubleshooting any difficulty people encounter when visiting your website is of utmost importance.
Final Thoughts
In the demanding hospitality industry, effective hotel reputation management is imperative for a hotel’s viability and success. Incorporating these 6 strategies we discussed in our guide, you’ll have a well-curated plan in your arsenal to navigate the challenges posed by the changing market.
Focusing on delivering exceptional guest experiences and embracing feedback will differentiate you from your competitors and help you generate more revenue. And what better way to increase your hotel’s revenue than catering to your customers’ needs and providing them with the flexibility to store their luggage?
So, go ahead and become a luggage storage host with Stasher!
