Yesterday during my session at the PRSA conference in San Antonio, Texas, I was asked what hotels can do to increase review volume. First, I explained that hotels need to come out and ask happy guests to write reviews. The best time to do that is at checkout or in email, when the guest returns home. Then I remembered something that Daniel Craig says a lot and I told the audience that they should also “be remarkable”. In other words, give your guests something to write about.
Joie de Vivre has put a program in place around being remarkable called the DreamMaker Program. According to its Web site, the program “encourages our line-level employees to go the extra mile for guests in order to transform them from simply satisfied customers into genuinely loyal guests.” Read some examples of dreams that were made here.
A few days ago, one of our partners, BCV, forwarded me a link to a blog post written by a woman who had a remarkable experience at the InterContinental Hotel Times Square. A joint Revinate and BCV client, it was great to see how the hotel was using technology and old fashioned hospitality to surprise and delight its guests by monitoring Foursquare and other social networks, engaging and rewarding. And it’s proof that if you are remarkable to your guests, they will tell others. Read the first-hand account of the experience here.
I followed up with Victoria Zuffranieri at the hotel to get her thoughts about how Revinate helped facilitate their incredible service levels and she said, “Revinate is a great tool that allows a hotel to listen to the conversations that are taking place about their property as well others hotels throughout various social mediums. Understanding your customer and listening to their feedback are the keys to success and the Revinate tool helps to better deliver this valuable information to a hotel.”
Have your own story to share? Let me know in the comments below.
Hi Michelle, I wish I could take credit for the “Be remarkable” idea – essentially that the word remarkable takes on new meaning in the age of social media: it means “worth remarking about”. But I first heard it from marketing guru Seth Godin. I like to say that the gap between guest expectations and results is the “sweet spot” where positive reviews are incubated – now that you can quote me on, though it’s not quite as eloquent. 🙂 DC
I agree. Social media helps businesses expand. I’m glad that it worked well for you. Good Job!