Why are customer reviews essential for a business?

Customer reviews have become a crucial element in marketing a tourism property. They have a significant impact on the decisions of other potential guests, but also internally, for improving the property’s offering. Find out below why, and how to use them to your advantage.

The impact of customer reviews

With new technologies, it is easier to share information online, which changes your customer’s buying journey. Did you know? 80% of consumers do some research before buying a product or service. 88% read online reviews and 96% of French people are influenced by a brand’s online reputation.

1. Online reputation

Customer reviews are considered a reliable and objective source of information by travellers, because they reflect the real experience of people who have already stayed at or visited the tourism property. They can help future guests form an accurate idea of the experience they can expect in terms of service quality, comfort, cleanliness, safety, activities, etc. The more reviews and the stronger the online reputation a business has, the more customers will seek it out.

To build a good online reputation, it is very important to respond to every comment. Google makes the most credible businesses visible to consumers. Responding to comments helps prove your credibility.

2. Feedback

Customer reviews are a valuable source of information for property managers, because they can help them correct mistakes or problems, adjust their offering to customers’ needs and expectations, and improve their reputation. They also make it possible to set up an after-sales service tool. Gathering essential information from your customers will allow you to modify existing strategies or implement new ones.

3. Search engine ranking

Customer reviews can also have an impact on the tourism property’s ranking in search engines. Google’s algorithm gives great weight to positive comments. The more good reviews a tourism property has, the more likely it is to appear on the first page.

On your website, they make the page more credible. According to one study, they account for 10% of your page’s ranking. As for reviews on your “My Google Business” listing, they increase your visibility, especially for local searches.

4. Return on investment

Indeed, by improving your brand’s online reputation, increasing its visibility and receiving good customer feedback, you increase the number of visits to your website and, above all, the number of sales.

A little tip: according to a Google study, displaying star ratings can increase the click-through rate by 10%.

How do you manage reviews?

To moderate customer reviews, the algorithm of the platform you use relies on 3 criteria:

• the date of the review;
• the quality of the review;
• the number of reviews.

Rather than deleting negative comments, it is better to understand the reason behind them and know how to respond. If you have none at all, this may be perceived as purchased or “fake” reviews. Responding to them or solving the problem shows potential customers that the business is proactive and cares about customer satisfaction.

6 tips for responding to negative reviews

It is not always easy to respond to negative customer reviews, yet it is vital to do so! You cannot leave a comment unanswered; it would not look professional for the business.

Here are the 6 methods we recommend:

1. identify the reason for your customer’s dissatisfaction;
2. recognize the type of customer you are dealing with (aggressive customer, loyal customer who often complains);
3. respond quickly to complaints;
4. show empathy;
5. offer a concrete solution;
6. propose an improvement to the service.

In short, managing your tourism business’s customer reviews is important to maintain a good reputation, identify problems and gather positive comments that can be used to promote the business.

What are the next actions you can put in place in your business?

Julie
Communication Manager
In partnership with Jennifer Therond