Best Hotels In The World: Got a bad review, and what?

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010Got a bad review, so what?

In this world, we're living a time where it is impossible to control the message and quite possibly the messenger.

With the Internet of today, everyone can give his opinion of anything at anytime.

The most common platforms that people can use or abuse are the ones that are easy to access and shared by friends and family.

Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor, YouTube, Qype, FourSquare, Google Place are among the most popular sites and applications where you can give your latest impression of a book you read, or rant about a restaurant you've been to recently or complain about a poor service you had with your bank or simply praise the London Underground staff that helped you to go A to Z without searching the complex Tube map.

Yes, reviews and opinions can be sometimes daunting and hit you straight to your heart , especially if you own your business or if you're passionate by what you provide.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for us consumers), reviews and opinions online are here to stay whether you like or not.

So what should I do with this bad stinky review of my product? Nothing.

Apart of responding to the consumer opinion through the platform, there is nothing to be done. Unless you think there is some genuine improvement to be made to your product, service delivery, there is absolutely nothing you can do about people giving their own opinion and share this with the world.

As Seth Godin writes in his book Tribes "One bad review doesn't ruin my day because I realize what a badge of honor it is to get a bit of criticism at all...The lesson here is this: if I had written a boring book, there's d be no criticism."

So the thing you should concentrate on is to have an exciting product or service that people can relate to emotionally and fee the envy to share with others.

If you think you do things right, there is nothing to worry about this old bad review.

Posted at 11:22 AM in Marketing | Permalink

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Guillaume
Well put! Its one thing to listen and monitor what being said about your brand/organisation/hotel. But its another to jump on a single piece of feedback and change what you're doing.
I've used a snippet from your posting to illustrate a similar point I was going t make on my own blog... One Swallow Doesn't Make A Summer! http://press20.blogspot.com/2010/08/one-swallow-doesnt-make-summer.html
Hayden

Posted by:Haydens30 |Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 04:06 PM

I agree as well. I actually look at getting reviews via social media or online travel agencies as a gift (whether they're good or bad)... at least it's giving customers the opportunity to just come right out with what they think about our product or service. Really goes far beyond the obligatory and vague reviews sometimes left on guest surveys. No property is above receiving a bad comment from time to time, but the trick is to watch for similarities between complaints, and then re-evaluate that portion of business if necessary.

Posted by:Rich Paxton |Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 06:24 PM

Hey Guillaume,

Agree with some of your thoughts and Seth on this one - I think commentary is a good thing...it simply means your product or brand is worth making a remark about.

I guess the response/action really depends on the nature of the comments - the brilliant thing about online reviews is that given appropriate volumes and filters they're an excellent source of honest critique (or praise) of your product.

If the same issues keep cropping up over and over again then there's something fundamentally wrong and it needs to be fixed. Given the multitude of guest & poster profiles, needs and attitudes the odd "off" review now and then is ok...acknowledge it and move on (or set the record straight if the facts are wrong)

Posted by:Hotelemarketer |Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 07:58 PM

@Hayden - great minds think alike. Good post on your side as well. I strongly believe it's better to focus on your fan base and loyal customers that get terrified by one terrible comment

@Rich - thanks for your comment. It's true that there is not enough emphasis of patterns of reviews (good or bad by the way). Look at the reviews and see whether there is some common denominator and act on the issue. Example: if you hear often that your breakfast is rubbish, change it instead of complaining about bad reviews.

@Jitendra - thanks for your thoughts.See my response above. Let's not forget that not everyone is evil and take pleasure by commenting badly on the product they experience. If you see 10 consecutive bad comments, it's probably because you had a bad product. Have a look at some hotels in the Earls Court area in London for instance.

Posted by:Guillaume Thevenot |Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 10:37 PM

Great! It's really unique and beautiful! and soooo vintage. love it!

Posted by:Jordan Hydro |Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 04:05 AM

Everyone obviously needs to remain thick skinned and can't get upset by the odd bad review.
However the likes of Trip Advisor have to act more responsibly in the way the reviews are policed and monitored.
The cases seem to be appearing more and more now of Trip Advisor taking off good reviews as well as allowing ones on that are fake and can ruin people's businesses.
I propose a code for everyone that visits a hotel which comes with their receipt that they need to enter into Trip Advisor.
This way pretty much guarantees they are a paying guest.
Last week I wrote a piece on how TA need to be more responsible and had a barrage of comments on their bad customer service.
TA did respond to their credit but it din't really answer any questions.
http://bedandbreakfastclub.co.uk/trip-advisor-sort-yourself-out-once-and-for-a

Posted by:Paul White |Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 10:55 AM

Comments are always good, because if it is good, you keep going, but if it is not, you can use it to improve your hotel in genral, customer services, prices, etc.

Posted by:Justin |Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 03:53 PM

@Paul - great to hear your view. As mentioned on Twitter, I won't comment specifically about TripAdvisor due to the nature of the relationship I have with Expedia Inc. (eg, I work for TripAdvisor since February 2010).

However I genuinely feel that your proposal of giving a receipt you need to input to post a review will put off most people to comment on anything.

Are you also thinking that I should only comment on a book I read or a CD I have listened if I have given proof of my consumption.

Who said that you are only allowed to comment on a product that you only purchased?

If that's the route we need to go to...I am afraid Amazon.com got it all wrong for more than 10 years then....
What about all these critics about film fans that spread across the web via Twitter/ Facebook and other social media platforms. Do the platform need also to get verify these comments whether people actually have seen the movie.

Or should the hospitality industry be considered differently? For what reasons then?

Happy to continue the debate.

Posted by:Guillaume Thevenot |Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 10:55 PM

Exactly. Bad reviews are part of the game and any hotelier is trained to handle them. Even the best hotels will get some from time to time. It is inevitable. In the same way that the web has revolutionised the hotel rates policies where multi layered rate segments have been replaced by rate parity, the web, and social media in particular, have put guest opinions and feedback on the public scene. There is nothing you can hide and no room for secrets so, as one said, "if you can't fight it, embrace it". I've always admired hotels who dare to embed their Tripadvisor live feed directly on their own website homepage. It shows a great deal of self-confidence and transparency. Too bad the tripadvisor logo and colours don't always blend well with a hotel homepage look-and-feel... I know some are reluctant to do it because of it.

Posted by:Fabrice Burtin |Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 01:38 AM

I own a B&B and think you should respond to reviews. Ignoring them is the wrong message to give, not only to person who wrote the review but more importantly to other people that might read the bad review in the future. I think there was a great article written recently about how to respond to bad reviews properly which I take to heart instead of ignoring them.
http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/the-art-of-responding-to-review-sites-for-restaurants-and-lodging/

Posted by:Mariana Defrese |Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 04:40 PM

This is nice post. Thanks for sharing this post with us.

Posted by:Renta Casas |Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 08:45 PM

Good reviews is my every day challenge.

Internet comments have had a very positive impact in my little business so far. Constructive comments push me to improve our hotel property and services. It happens that some reviews can be very unrelevant, taugh and unfair. I agree with Paul, someone that does not stay in your hotel should not be able to write a comment.

Customers look at your reviews, competitors too, potential employees, potential hotel buyers, your banker, stakeholders, your dad, your grand-mother...
Big brother is watching you, "c'est la vie".

Posted by:Anthony COSTE |Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 10:59 PM

The problem isn't so much the bad reviews but rather the evil reviews, a bad review that is factual is helpful. A bad review which is just a bunch of hate isn't only unhelpful, it demoralizes staff.
The good thing is that other users see through the these reviews as well.
The future is definitely full of reviews. It keeps us hoteliers on our toes and ensures nobody gets too carried away by their success and keeps an eye on their clients.

Posted by:Martin Soler - Hotel Marketer and Hotelier |Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:52 PM

Tripadvisor can be hit or miss. That's the power of the internet! Everyone is going to get a few bad reviews but you've just gotta make the good ones shine out more!

Posted by:Hunter Valley Accommodation |Friday, September 03, 2010 at 04:40 AM

We have different opinions and we don't have control to each opinion whether it is good or bad. If it is bad then let's just accept it positively.

Posted by:Outsourcing Philippines |Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 03:08 AM

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