Conversational Capital is like marketing and PR, carried out free of cost, by the most credible of media – the customers.

"We had a fantastic time at the Royal Resort during the conference."
"Natasha went to Disneyland in the hols. When are we going, dad?"

Now, these are examples of Conversational Capital.

Much as it sounds snooty, and bragging right its hallmark, Conversational Capital IS a capital. It does not figure in the balance sheet of a property. Yet, it is a prolific engine for generating revenue. And that is why we need to harness this capital – by systematically creating and managing.

But there are certain basic differences between Conversational Capital and any marketing or PR activity.

To understand Conversational Capital, it would be useful to see its components and their interplay. The three major components are:

1. Strategic Intent
2. Marketing Communication
3. User Experience

In order to achieve Conversational Capital, the management has to make these three components lend their voice to sing the same song. The diagram below is a graphic representation:

Strategic Intent: For any property or tourism product, it is important for the management to clearly define the desired conversation of the user. What do you want the user to say about his or her experience? I have very deliberately chosen the word - the "user", and not the client or the customer.

For it is the "user", and not necessarily the customer or the client, who talks, who generates the Conversational Capital (or the liability – which is undesirable). Let me exemplify. A property may consider an out-bound travel agency or a corporate to be its customer.

But it is the "user" - the guest in the property - who talks, who writes, and thus generates the Conversational Capital. It is a worthwhile exercise to spend time to describe the "users" and put in the desired words in their mouths. It is a practice in visualisation that leads to self-fulfilling prophecy. And this is the first step any hospitality organisation should take.

Marketing Communication: There has been a proliferation of media in the last couple of years. Apart from billboards, expositions and the different forms of print media like brochures and advertisements in the print, the electronic media and its numerous cultural ramifications – the website, e-commerce, social networks, review sites, mobile browsing, tweeter, SMS, etc. – have invaded our consciousness, more importantly, the consciousness of the travelling populace.

The one major communication problem being faced today is to maintain consistency among all these divergent media exposures. There are far too many hospitality and tourism products where the quality of electronic media exposure (e-content and processes) do not match their print counterparts or website visual.

There are umpteenth websites with flashy visuals but poor design to capture the need of the customer and no robust process to respond to a query or book the order.

The two essential thumb-rules in designing marketing communication are:

a) Are all the channels of communication consistent with one another in quality, style and content?
b) Are they matching with the Strategic Intent?

User Experience: And finally, what the user actually experiences.

There is a whole new management science of User Experience emerging. Companies like Disney Hotels, Nokia, Amazon.com among others are designing their products and processes to offer user experience which drives both immediate profitability and long term return.

It is this User Experience, aligned with Strategic Intent and Marketing Communication, that make the user ‘talk' to others – the Conversational Capital - at the drawing room, in parties, in class-rooms and canteens.

Again, the web has become the most vociferous platform for the user to "talk." And since much of these happen in public glare, like in Facebook, Twitter or in review sites like Tripadvisor, they can no longer be ignored. My travel agent was about to book a hotel for me in Dubai offering a lucrative deal when a last-minute check at the Tripadvisor warned me – the hotel has a discotheque that bellows noise deep into the night. ‘If you want a good night's sleep, keep away from this hotel,' said a number of reviews – a Conversational Liability.

Electronic media has become so encompassing that how to manage it is a subject by itself. Suffice to say, the electronic media has made Conversational Capital all the more potent, and therefore more important to be understood and managed.

To create and manage Conversational Capital, the aim is to bridge the gap between the three components stated above – so that they sing the same song. Disney Hotels do it brilliantly with clearly defined strategy and well laid out plans. So do some of the other progressive properties. Some of them quite modest in size, which gives credence that creating this capital is within the means of every property.

It is no longer a choice for a property to create and manage its Conversational Capital. It is essential. So let's do it.

Ashis Dutta straddles the worlds of software, business process and hospitality and tourism. He is a consultant, trainer and researcher on User Experience. His research paper on applying User Experience in Hospitality and Tourism has been published in Conferences in Europe and Asia and reviewed by Texas A&M University in USA.  He can be contacted at ashisdutta@designing-experience.com