Advice on How to Market Without TripAdvisor

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SkyLevash

SkyLevash

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I'm brand new to this industry - as green as they come, just hired on as the new GM here at Old Wheeler Hotel and soaking up as much information as I can from the Innkeeper's side of the desk. Initially my Marketing background had me chomping at the bit for feedback on TripAdvisor, due to my experience as a Consumer over the years and, quite obviously, my blatant naiveté. Can you say eyes wide shut?? I'm dumbfounded by the ability that the travel giant (not to mention monopoly) has to literally put people out of business with their unverified and otherwise abjectly acquired reviews. I've just met a gentleman (that's putting it nicely) who gives his guests 10% off of their stay if they review his Inn BEFORE their stay. The stories I have read about online today verify that these types of practices are alive and well, hurting not only Hoteliers, but in the end Travelers too. So, my question is this: What to do, what to do? As someone who is very new to this business, I'd love to get advice on ways to get honest, verifiable feedback from our guests, as well as how to expose the game that is TripAdvisor. Help!
Thanks! :) Kate
 
Welcome Kate! First thing to do is to not panic. The best thing you can do is to do your job well, continue the tradition of a quality stay. I actually know your property and the past reviews are excellent and your guests leave very happy.
You can't let the unfairness of TA stifle you or your policies. Never let someone blackmail or threaten you with a bad review just to cave into their unreasonable request or when they think your policies don't need to be followed.
Reviews will happen whether you promote them or not. Personally, I don't promote them for my property but that's my personal choice. There are others here who can share how they get reviews.
I just wanted to say take a deep breath. They are the 300 lb gorilla in the room, but they're basically manageable.
Stick around here on the forum. You'll have a great place to get some feedback.
 
Welcome! Sit down and exhale. You'll be fine. You have come to the right spot for advice, companionship, and fellow innkeepers. We are all totally different, unique, and can be crazy from time to time or all the time!
We do not ask guests to write reviews but we still get them. Sometimes a guests will say that they want to write a review, do we have a place we would like to have it on.
You might want to change your username so you can't be traced to your inn, etc. A nickname or in my case my pet's name.
 
The only people other than you who should run your place are the owners. Tell everyone else, "Publish and be damned." THEN if they do, write a management response that is a commercial for what you do and the activities of the area. Of you get a real butthead, file a heads-up possible bad review possible with TA in advance to head them off at the pass.
Welcome, One thing about us here, we are rarely boring.
 
gillumhouse said:
The only people other than you who should run your place are the owners. Tell everyone else, "Publish and be damned." THEN if they do, write a management response that is a commercial for what you do and the activities of the area. Of you get a real butthead, file a heads-up possible bad review possible with TA in advance to head them off at the pass.
Welcome, One thing about us here, we are rarely boring..
Click to expand...
Ha, good then I'll fit right in! ;-) Thanks for the advice, learning as I go!
 
Duff2014 said:
Welcome! Sit down and exhale. You'll be fine. You have come to the right spot for advice, companionship, and fellow innkeepers. We are all totally different, unique, and can be crazy from time to time or all the time!
We do not ask guests to write reviews but we still get them. Sometimes a guests will say that they want to write a review, do we have a place we would like to have it on.
You might want to change your username so you can't be traced to your inn, etc. A nickname or in my case my pet's name..
Click to expand...
Great advice, thank you! I've had several people ask about reviews since I've been here and I've always sent them to Trip Advisor. It's only been the last couple of days as I've dug into things there that I've really seen things from this side of the reservation desk. It's been very telling.... Also! Username changed - thank you so much! :)
 
Breakfast Diva said:
Welcome Kate! First thing to do is to not panic. The best thing you can do is to do your job well, continue the tradition of a quality stay. I actually know your property and the past reviews are excellent and your guests leave very happy.
You can't let the unfairness of TA stifle you or your policies. Never let someone blackmail or threaten you with a bad review just to cave into their unreasonable request or when they think your policies don't need to be followed.
Reviews will happen whether you promote them or not. Personally, I don't promote them for my property but that's my personal choice. There are others here who can share how they get reviews.
I just wanted to say take a deep breath. They are the 300 lb gorilla in the room, but they're basically manageable.
Stick around here on the forum. You'll have a great place to get some feedback..
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for this! You're right - that gorilla is a doozy, and a tough one to truly grasp how to handle from this side. I appreciate your wisdom- it is so helpful to have a place to bounce thoughts off of others who understand where I'm at because they've been/are there. And thank you for the positive feedback about our quaint little place here! I'm thrilled to be a part of it! :)
 
If I'm understanding you correctly you want to know how to use TA to your advantage while limiting the bad influence.
You can't remove the listing and because guests use it you really don't want to remove it.
So. Answer every review, good or bad. Thank the guest for taking the time. Use the management replies to highlight your property and encourage guests to return.
I don't know how many employees you have but generally you should be the voice of the property. Try not to assign anyone else to do the replies unless you have a script they are to follow - not word for word, but style wise. Use your real name and title in the response. But don't set up the account in your name, just sign the review with your info.
Read some replies from other properties to see what they have said. Write down replies that strike you both as appropriate and inappropriate. Design your responses to sound real, not corporate speak .
Never answer in anger. Always wait and discuss with trusted staff any bad reviews and have a real plan for improvements.
Find out what your employers want and what they've been doing. You may need to encourage a new way of responding.
 
As a property representative, you should have access to the "Owner's Forum," which is a great place to learn about the ins and outs of managing your business's relationship with TA. There are some very experienced owners there who can be very helpful.
 
KTLaurAsh said:
Breakfast Diva said:
Welcome Kate! First thing to do is to not panic. The best thing you can do is to do your job well, continue the tradition of a quality stay. I actually know your property and the past reviews are excellent and your guests leave very happy.
You can't let the unfairness of TA stifle you or your policies. Never let someone blackmail or threaten you with a bad review just to cave into their unreasonable request or when they think your policies don't need to be followed.
Reviews will happen whether you promote them or not. Personally, I don't promote them for my property but that's my personal choice. There are others here who can share how they get reviews.
I just wanted to say take a deep breath. They are the 300 lb gorilla in the room, but they're basically manageable.
Stick around here on the forum. You'll have a great place to get some feedback..
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for this! You're right - that gorilla is a doozy, and a tough one to truly grasp how to handle from this side. I appreciate your wisdom- it is so helpful to have a place to bounce thoughts off of others who understand where I'm at because they've been/are there. And thank you for the positive feedback about our quaint little place here! I'm thrilled to be a part of it! :)
.
Click to expand...
Also don't be shy with their pre-reporting option - if someone does threaten you make sure you report this to tripadviser straight away before they have a chance to do so - 9 times out of 10 this means it never shows up which is better than trying to fight it once its up and potential guests are reading it till you hopefully fight to get it down.
 
Morticia said:
If I'm understanding you correctly you want to know how to use TA to your advantage while limiting the bad influence.
You can't remove the listing and because guests use it you really don't want to remove it.
So. Answer every review, good or bad. Thank the guest for taking the time. Use the management replies to highlight your property and encourage guests to return.
I don't know how many employees you have but generally you should be the voice of the property. Try not to assign anyone else to do the replies unless you have a script they are to follow - not word for word, but style wise. Use your real name and title in the response. But don't set up the account in your name, just sign the review with your info.
Read some replies from other properties to see what they have said. Write down replies that strike you both as appropriate and inappropriate. Design your responses to sound real, not corporate speak .
Never answer in anger. Always wait and discuss with trusted staff any bad reviews and have a real plan for improvements.
Find out what your employers want and what they've been doing. You may need to encourage a new way of responding..
Click to expand...
This is hugely helpful, thank you so much! I'm learning as I go here, and have been very surprised to see the backside of things as opposed to viewing them from merely the consumer's perspective. (Also, thanks for the spammy advice - I'm not really familiar with using these types of forums - but I suppose that's pretty obvious! ;-) )
 
OnTheShore said:
As a property representative, you should have access to the "Owner's Forum," which is a great place to learn about the ins and outs of managing your business's relationship with TA. There are some very experienced owners there who can be very helpful..
Click to expand...
Great, I'll check it out! Thanks so much! :)
 
Encourage people who are going to write great reviews to do so. Put a questionnaire in your guest rooms and send emails to those that tick all the "excellent" boxes to get them to review. Clearly if someone was not happy you don't ask them to write a review.
 
KTLaurAsh said:
Duff2014 said:
Welcome! Sit down and exhale. You'll be fine. You have come to the right spot for advice, companionship, and fellow innkeepers. We are all totally different, unique, and can be crazy from time to time or all the time!
We do not ask guests to write reviews but we still get them. Sometimes a guests will say that they want to write a review, do we have a place we would like to have it on.
You might want to change your username so you can't be traced to your inn, etc. A nickname or in my case my pet's name..
Click to expand...
Great advice, thank you! I've had several people ask about reviews since I've been here and I've always sent them to Trip Advisor. It's only been the last couple of days as I've dug into things there that I've really seen things from this side of the reservation desk. It's been very telling.... Also! Username changed - thank you so much! :)
.
Click to expand...
I usually send them to TripAd, Yelp, or InnRewards when they ask about writing a review for us. So far the last three that said they would hasn't but one who didn't even mention it, wrote us a nice review on Trip. I hope you stay around and enjoy it here. We all started where you are now. I am going into my third season so I'm still quite a newbie!
sad_smile.gif
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know!
 
Highlands John said:
Encourage people who are going to write great reviews to do so. Put a questionnaire in your guest rooms and send emails to those that tick all the "excellent" boxes to get them to review. Clearly if someone was not happy you don't ask them to write a review..
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice! We do have a questionnaire that maybe 50% of our guests complete. I have yet to email anyone for reviews, but a follow up "thanks for your visit" email that included a request for it sounds like it may be a good option. I'm finding that people are leaving feedback on our Facebook page as well. I'm not seeing a down side there, but because John Q. Public seems to use TA when planning things, it seems like steering them there may be a necessary evil.
 
Welcome! We took the advice of some seasoned innkeepers and used our booking engine software to send out a Thank You email to all our guests three days after their departure. The letter contains a survey sincerely asking for constructive criticism. This gives the unhappy guest a place to vent their frustration without going to a review site. The survey also allows them to leave contact information if they want feedback from us. I firmly believe we headed off some less than 5 star reviews with this process.
 
HIghlands John also has a great point. When guests leave raving about our beds/breakfast/hospitality or whatever, we ask them to share their views on a review site such as Google or TripAdvisor. We also word it as "If you've had a 5-star experience, please leave us a review." Some people will be very very happy, but feel like no one is perfect and leave us a 4 star review. Or they rate us on a local restaurant or some experience they had outside the B&B.
 
My first tip is to forget Tripadvisor. They are terrible.
Try Booking.com
I get a lot of bookings from them and their customer support line is 24/7
Fees are better than any of the others!
Good luck!
 

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