How much your guest comments are important for you and do effect on your service quality? Undoubtedly, your answer must be 100%, because you work for your customers' satisfaction and they pay for that, so they will have the best judgment.
But how much of these comments are getting directly? If you are one of the hotel managers who only care about OTAs and Tripadvisor comments or if your feedback forms are a mere formality, studying these tips is not necessary. But if you are looking for effective use of getting your guests' feedback directly, there are some helpful tips here.
Why the feedback forms are useful?
Perhaps, you’ve asked yourself why the feedback forms in hotels are important when you can read your hotel guests' comments online in travel/booking websites or even in social networks?
But there are some important points about using feedback forms:
Firstly, asking your guests' comments and opinions will be considered as a value and respect by them because they will understand their comments are important for you. Secondly, you will be aware of negative comments and perhaps you may be able to prevent them from being published. And most importantly, by feedback forms, you can also transfer comments to all of your team members to make them more sensitive to the importance of their roles. But in order to be able to achieve all of the above points, it is better to apply the following recommendations.
Do not expect your guest to write an essay
It is not logical expecting the guests to write an essay for their comments, because they do it on your request not on their will as well do on Tripadvisor or social networks. Therefore, targeted prepared or multiple choices answers can help you better meet your goals, in addition to saving the guests' time.
Be opportunist for asking comments
It is vital to ask customers to announce their comments as long as they are staying in the hotel. Losing the chance of getting guests' comments or reducing the probability of receiving the detailed ones are due to not understanding the right time.
For example, if you get the comment from a guest who is going to stay 3 days on the second day, it will be a risk to miss an eventually point that maybe happen on the last day or even last hour of his staying !
So receiving the comments at the last minutes of his staying in the hotel can be the best time, but check-out and account settlement processes are very important. We cannot expect from a guest who is in rush to leave or has been kept waited for check out to spend his time for filling out the feedback form. So, it is recommended to ask him to fill in this form and put it in the box between the time he requests the bill and you prepare.
Ask the questions carefully to get answer precisely
If you want to ask the costumer to fill out your feedback form while the bill is preparing the number of your questions must be limited and clear with accurate answers. So first of all it is necessary to determine the guest's opinions about which service or department is important for you? Your restaurant dishes quality or breakfast quality and its service? Remember that the number of questions should be limited, so specify your priorities.
Ask your questions as short as possible and clear
For example, if you are asking about reception, clearly state that you mean check in and check out procedures or front desk personnel. (it is possible to have a very warm relationship with the clients, but due to some irregularities, check in/out process is boring and long)
Choosing the accurate answers options is the next important step. It is the fact that "yes or no" or descriptive responses such as ‘’bad, weak, good, or excellent’’ cannot clearly indicate the customers' intent. So, it is better to use the grading system. In this case, if the range of the scores are going to be between 1 and 5, the results will not be as clear as you want. So it is better to choose the range between 1 and 10. In this way you can get a better assessment of the considered sections by averaging the points in different periods.
Follow the feedbacks results
Increasing the guest satisfaction by knowing your weaknesses and strengths is the whole goal of feedback, So, if you cannot reach that, you are just wasting your time and customers’..
But how these forms can be used effectively? For this purpose, it is necessary to devote special time for concluding comments, For example, in addition to controlling the comments daily to check if there is something emergency, conclude them at the end of every week and note the average point of each section to discuss with your personnel in weekly meetings.
There is a direct relationship between how much importance you give to the feedback forms and staff comprehension. So, in your weekly meetings inform your personnel about these averages and discuss them for some minutes. For example, if the average point of check in or check out procedures is low, you can look for the reason of that and find the suggested solutions.
It is also necessary to review the forms periodically and make some essential changes. For example, there is no need asking guests’ comments during the winter about services in outdoor restaurants and bars that are closed! The existence of these questions in the form means they are not updated because you do not care.
You should collate different periods results, too. For example, comparing the breakfast quality average in the summer and winter or last year at the same time helps you better understand costumers’ tastes as well as changes in products quality. About the service, also helps you get the same recognition from the possible changes that have been made by you in your hotel various departments work teams.
About the author
Dariush Alagha is a freelance journalist and blogger in hotel industry. More than 100 notes,, articles, and interviews of him have been published in Iranian hotel and tourism magazines, in Farsi. In 2011, he launched the first Iranian online hotel news website www.bazarhotel.com. He is still this website editor. Since 2014, he has started working practically in Italian hotels.
