Now that Dialogue has been working for clients for a meaningful period (since 2011) we have conducted a survey of those that have had the most outstanding results to ask them what, in their opinions, are the 'secrets to their success'; some of what we detail below may be obvious, some less so, but what we can say with confidence is that if you follow these guidelines you will...
- Get a great response rate
- Achieve your objectives: a substantially better image on TripAdvisor, Booking.com and the other OTAs and on social media - Facebook, Google+, Twitter and review sites like Yelp as well as more direct bookings
- Engage with your guests early on (at check-in if possible): tell them that you will be inviting a review after their stay, tell them that their review will be published
- Get their email address - some clients are now achieving near 100% success at this
- Make sure all your staff are 'on board' - that they know that the guest will be writing a review and that they should refer to this at appropriate times
- Ensure that all guests are invited to post reviews - this is core: cherry-picking will not deflect negatives away from public view
- Invite reviews as soon as possible - as close to check-out as possible. We have clients who do this on the morning of check-out and are therefore able to refer to the invitation at check-out
- Personalise the invitation - response rates are demonstrably higher if the invitation is signed off by a member of staff (preferably the GM) rather than simply the XYZ hotel
- Identify extra-happy '5* guests' during their stay and make an extra effort to ensure they will respond to the invitation - this works really well
- Think about rewarding guests for posting reviews through Dialogue - you must offer the reward for all reviews, not just positives
- Respond to all reviews - this really impresses potential guests. It also has a proven impact on the quailty and star rating of subsequent reviews. If this is a problem think seriously about using Feedback Manager to do this for you
- Speak to your Business Member Advisor at HelpHound (no 'live help' here!) - they have access to a massive store of expertise and experience
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