Hey, listen! We know the days of turning towels into capes and playing superheroes are way behind us, but don’t you just wish sometimes that you’d have a little extra help when juggling with so many responsibilities at once?

Often, we get so caught up in all the little details, operations, and tasks that a successful hotel business requires, that we forget to take a step back, look at the big picture, and just… listen.

It’s any hotelier’s goal to provide a perfect guest experience and showcase a spotless reputation; plus, the road to excellence is paved with good intentions. But while you focus on that, you might sometimes forget that simple solutions are often the most effective ones. So many different issues, misunderstandings, and shortcomings can be easily solved by simply listening more closely to what your guests have to say. After all, they are the ones that experience what your hotel has to offer and they are also the ones that dictate its success.

When managing a hotel’s service, don’t think of it as a monologue; it’s a constant and honest dialogue between you and your guest and it concerns both equally. You do the “talking,” market your hotel, attract travelers to it, give them the best experience that you can, and then listen to what they have to say about it. The best way to listen? Easy, through online reviews and guest surveys.

Before we dig into the best ways of actually listening to feedback, keep in mind this simple equation: more reviews = better online visibility = more chances of being noticed and booked by future travelers. Now that we got that out of the way, we should also mention that we have previously talked about the best and easiest way of encouraging guest reviews and you can read all the ins and outs of this topic.

After you get hold of a new guest review, you need to break it down, analyze it, and really listen. Unfortunately, many hoteliers are still turning their back on reviews and leave them scattered on dozens of online portals, even on their Google listing or hotel website, without ever paying attention or answering to them. That right here is a huge missed opportunity.

We know, it’s not about one review, not even just a few dozen, but we’re talking about hundreds and thousands of reviews, that keep on being published every day, all over the world wide web. It’s not an easy job to stay on top, analyze, and respond to them all; or better said, it didn’t use to be an easy job. The good news is, times have changed and it’s now easier than ever before, thanks to feedback management platforms.

Our solution allows hoteliers to gather reviews from hundreds on online portals, in one single inbox, which means that you can keep an eye on all the incoming feedback and even respond to it without having to sign into all those different sites. Not only that, but the TrustYou Reputation Management feature provides a complete and thorough overview and break-down of every single guest review. The semantic analysis used by the platform pinpoints those exact categories that your hotel is excelling in and those that need improvement. Keep in mind that what guests need and expect from a hotel might vary according to demographics and mostly according to regions, which is why we put together this useful infographic - access it to see exactly what are the most relevant impact scores in your particular region.

Once you make sense of every review, listen to what your guests are saying, and really take the time to understand their point of view, it’s not time to continue the dialogue. For this part, we always encourage hoteliers to answer to reviews, both positive and negative. The very act of doing so carries over the idea that you genuinely care about your guests’ wellbeing and experiences at your hotel, which doesn’t go unnoticed. If you need a bit of help when replying to guest feedback, check out our best practice guides on how to reply to positive and negative reviews.

You see, there are so many benefits to properly manage guest feedback, for your hotel business as well as for your guests. What might seem overwhelming at first glance can easily be managed with the aid of an effective and user-friendly platform. It can lead to improved operations, better guest feedback, and an excellent reputation - which in itself leads to more visibility and bookings.

Remember: not all heroes wear capes. With a small adjustment in your feedback strategy, through the simple act of listening, you can make a great difference and significantly improve your hotel’s reputation.

Start to experience the benefits of our all-in-one guest feedback platform by contacting our team of experts, by signing up for a demo, or starting now with a free trial!

Laura Badiu is a passionate bookworm and a gifted writer. Since joining TrustYou’s marketing team, she has embraced topics in the travel and hospitality sector with enthusiasm. Using her degree in Journalism, Laura creatively weaves words into insightful stories with a focus on reputation management.

www.trustyou.com