Feedback, Reviews and Testimonials
I am always highlighting to my clients the importance of how to gain great feedback, reviews and testimonials. For those of you that have read my book ‘Star Quality Experience – The Hotelier’s Guide to Creating Memorable Guest Journeys‘ you will know that ‘Reviews’ is just one of the 7 Rs in my model that I share in that book.
Although it is not just about getting reviews, it is also about sharing the reviews you have with others. So I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some feedback that I received from one of my delegates on a recent WorldHost Customer Service course that I delivered.
In her comments this delegate says ‘Everything was excellent, presentation on slides, clear information, group activities.’ She also adds ‘This is the best trainer ever, very well organised, clear, professional and knowledgeable.’
It is very rarely that I receive such detailed feedback. Usually the feedback I get are along the lines of ‘It was all good’ or ‘Nothing to improve’ which is also nice to read although it is not very constructive.
The purpose of feedback is to find out what you are doing well, and what you can improve upon. It is really important that we ask our customers for this information. Whatever service we are delivering we need to remember that we need to be continually adapting and evolving to stay ahead of our competition and it is our customers who will tell us how to do that.
How to get great Feedback, Reviews and Testimonials
In your hotels there are several subtle ways that you can get your customers to review your property. The key is to get them to review straight away whilst their experiences are fresh in their mind. Hopefully all the experiences you have created for them are memorable. Here are some tips from my book:
- Leave little tent cards in their room prompting them to leave feedback by asking ‘How has your stay been so far?’ and have your social media icons on this so they are aware of which mediums to use to post to
- Present your guests with a short online questionnaire which they can complete on a tablet before leaving
- Offer an incentive to gain feedback
- Run a competition
- Thank them for staying in a post stay email and give them a call to action to review their stay
For more information on how to create memorable guest experiences and gain positive reviews, then read my book ‘Star Quality Experience – The Hotelier’s Guide to Creating Memorable Guest Journeys’ or come on to one of my courses to experience this first hand.