How to Deal with Guest Reviews
Wednesday 30th October, 2019 by Host & Stay
Guest reviews are integral. With positive feedback and glowing appraisals, your potential guests are more likely to make a booking. The number of little gold stars therefore play an important role when it comes to boosting your bookings and revenue.
By encouraging your guests to leave a review, it shows you’re a responsive and caring property owner. You want to know how their stay went. Did they think your apartment was clean enough? Did your house have everything they needed for their stay? Did they have enough details for a smooth check in and check out process?
Reading a positive review makes all of the hard work worth it. It’s so rewarding to hear that your guest wants to return again. You’re left feeling happy and upbeat. But then it happens. A guest has left a negative review.
You instantly feel deflated. Was their experience that bad?
It’s easy to take it personally. However, it’s important to understand that not everyone has the same expectations. In these circumstances, it’s imperative to handle the situation as calmly as possible. You may want to defend yourself and let them know you don’t agree at all with what they’re saying but think how this could look when another guest reads it.
Instead, take a deep breath and follow the below instructions.
#1 Communicate with the Guest
In an ideal world, your guest would contact you direct before posting a review to talk through their negative feedback. However, this isn’t always the case. Even when a bad review has been published for the world to see, it isn’t too late to try and resolve the situation directly with the guest.
Reach out and listen to what they have to say. Once you’ve listened, you can process their feedback and calmly begin making amends. Explain what went wrong and why. More often than not, a bad review is simply a misunderstanding and lack of communication.
By speaking directly with the guest, you’ll be able to help mend any feelings of neglect and resolve the situation peacefully. The aim is to come away from the call and feel as though you’ve provided the best customer service possible. Does your guest feel happy with the outcome? Hopefully so. In some cases, the guest will even voluntarily remove their review (which is the dream outcome).
#2 Apologise (even when you don’t want to)
Say you’re sorry. Remember that this is your business and as much as you don’t want to, it’s best to adopt the ‘customer is always right’ approach.
Apologise. Let them know you genuinely feel bad for the negative experience they’ve raised. Show understanding for their complaint and that you care. If absolutely necessary, defend your business but always remain calm and professional.
#3 Respond, But Don’t React
Always publish a reply to your reviews. No matter how your conversation has gone with the guest, follow it up with a reply. Apologise publicly to show you care. Reassure the guest that this is a rare occurrence and that this isn’t the standard for your company.
More than anything, this response will show other guests how seriously you take hosting your property and that you genuinely want to resolve the issue. This will also help maintain your response rate.
#4 Always Remain Professional
No matter how awful the review may be, you need to keep it professional. The best way to maintain your credibility on a public and permanent forum is to take the high road. A hostile response from you could do more damage than the review itself.
You don’t want to deter other guests from staying with you and responding to the review in a negative and defensive way is likely to do just that.
#5 Turn it into a Positive
Most negative reviews aren’t meant in a spiteful or hurtful way so always approach a bad review from a constructive approach. Turn the negative into a positive to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
If the review states there isn’t enough cutlery for the number of guests, make sure you check this and buy more cutlery if it’s needed. If the guest struggled to use an appliance, check the instructions you’ve provided are clear and easy enough to follow. If the guest has mentioned the property wasn’t clean enough, follow it up with your cleaner to ensure the correct standard is set.
#6 Don’t Lose Sleep
Yes, a bad review is upsetting and deflating but try not to dwell on it. By taking the above measures to protect your business, you’ve done everything you can. Read the review, fix the situation as best you can and move onto the next.
With our fully managed service, we can take away the time-consuming, stress of dealing with reviews. Our in-house team will ensure that each review is addressed in a professional and calm way.
Want to know more? Contact us today!