Hot off the press: Today, the well-known tech blog Mashable.com published a piece that highlights a subject near and dear to our hearts – “How to Solicit Customer Reviews without Pissing People Off.”
The article demonstrates the importance of encouraging online customer reviews – a subject that hoteliers also grapple with.
It also cites some interesting new data from a survey conducted by market research firm Dimensional Research on behalf of software firm Zendesk. According to the study, a staggering 90% of respondents said that positive online reviews influence their buying decisions, while 86% said that negative reviews have a direct, negative impact on purchase choices.
These statistics emphasize the importance of striking a positive review balance in today’s age of empowered online consumers. “In many cases,” the article says, “the biggest obstacle that small businesses have with online reviews isn’t getting negative ones — it’s getting them at all.”
You can read the full article on Mashable.com, but here’s a summary of tips suggested for someone in any type of business to overcome fear or reluctance to request reviews:
- Make writing a review as easy as possible
- Be present on multiple review sites
- Be candid
- Tread the incentives line carefully
- Consider your demographics
- Turn reviewers into brand ambassadors
- Don’t ignore the negative reviews
ReviewPro has written extensively on this subject.
Check out ReviewPro’s free guide: How to Encourage Guest Reviews for your Hotel, which includes useful advice, case studies and sample review requests to make the process as painless and straightforward for you as possible.
- Guide highlights include:
- Why online reviews are important
- Increase your revenue with more reviews
- Understanding how to ask for online reviews
- Examples: Asking for reviews by email
- Examples: Creative ways to increase reviews
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Advice from hoteliers
- Case studies
