Business Website Advice

Negative comments warrant a quick- as in within 24 hours. Your genuine well written response will be a huge step toward combating any down side and can even earn you more respect and more business.

Use the public management response tool right there on Trip Advisor. Your reply will show up below the criticism. 

In my previous post I recommended private thanks to positive comments, no public replies on TA.

However, if you have something pointed out that sounds like a criticism -  be Johnny on the spot within 24 hours.

It can be daunting but get it right and you can bring in more business. People cheer those who try to do well. You must not sound arrogant or canned - same ol response to everyone. Don’t smack of  the insincere ‘Have a nice day’ category.  

Write a management response which:

1. expresses authentic appreciation for their comments as a way for you to improve - an ongoing priority of yours
2. expresses authentic regret
3. is written preferrably the people responsible and tells the way(s) in which the problem will be remedied
4. promise to welcome them back for an improved experience

Keywords above - sound sincere, genuine and authentic.  Why? To be believed. 

Since we were 5 years old we could tell when Johnny was fakin it, and we learnt to hold a grudge.  I’m sorry has to sound real.

Rewarded for trying. Even more business. Tell use specific steps that really show us you are thinking about it, what steps you are taking and how long it might take. 

When I read how you have responded to a situation that might not even be an area of concern to me, you will win my vote of trust.  I hear the message that if something comes up while I’m your guest, you will treat me well and do what you can to see things right.  I’m ready to book with you!

We don’t expect you to be perfect…just reasonable and customer focused.

Congratulations to all of you responding quickly and authentically. It’s not easy.

Please share your experience of venturing into the uncomfortable area of dealing with complaints.

I recommend no public response to positive comments on Trip Advisor re your accommodation, but yes do email your private appreciative thank you . 

Don’t tread on their space. It’s not the culture of their prime users. Why not write a management response on TA? It’s about how travellers use Trip Advisor - in the first place it is for them, user to user, not for marketing your business.  BTW you maybe encouraged  to respond to every comment, but I question the motive.

Leave good things be.  That was my response to an accommodation owner who asked my advice.  She had received several well written, detailed, thoughtful Trip Advisor comments and wondered if the TA ‘management reply’ was an appropriate response.  I told her write a private thank you, stay out of TA for positive comments.

Be seen as trustworthy, not a marketer. Because it is perceived as a highly trustworthy travellers’ site - a user to user advice forum  - Trip Advisor gets very heavy use. International and domestic US and UK travellers check in with TA before making their final arrangements with whomever that might be. I didn’t once in the US, got burnt, came home and wrote about the bad experience with believing over-hyped website content.

Before travellers buy, they usually consult TA for what ‘other people like me’ think about the place before parting with a deposit etc, because they’ve been burnt too often by the hype of one-eyed websites or their lies of omision.  

DO NOT RISK SOUNDING LIKE A HYPE MACHINE yourself, thus, unless you got A+ in writing thank you’s as a kid, leave good enough alone on the public forum. Send a private thank you to show your genuine appreciation for their positive report including a warm welcome back.

Sound authentic, genuine and human.  That should be easy, I’d bed that’s in part why they wrote you a good report.

Monitor daily.  Whether you encourage comments on your website, Finda in NZ, any other directory or Trip Advisor besure to monitor daily.  Yes daily.

Negative comments - they require a quick public response. If you do them well they can even bring you business.  See my next post.

Every business owner wants customers to leave glowing online reviews with the highest ranking possible.  What could be wrong with that?  It’s common knowledge that online buyers and travellers move from looker status to buyer/booker status from the nudge of positive reviews.  We want as many as we can get, right? Yes, but… 

Here’s a short case study for all business owners about being proactive and aware of your ranking status with your sector’s major online marketing directories. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve invited my overseas friends and family to be in to win 2 of the 15 pairs of free flights to NZ. I told them food and bed would be my shout.  I hope they’re lucky and come visit our awesome country.

Tourism New Zealand and Prime Minister John Key came up with The Great Kiwi Invite campaign to add a spark to tourism. He asks us kiwis to invite our friends and family to visit.  Scoop wrote all about it on launch day 31.7.09. I’m better late than never.  Good luck.

Suggestion:  business owners invite your overseas clients. The video is a positive, clever glimpse at good kiwi promotion.

Increased numbers of Kiwi travellers are staying home for their holidays. Here are some tips to tempt them your way.

Think newsletter or a dedicated page on your tourism website.

Perhaps you form a tourism marketing alliance with a couple other providers. Read the rest of this entry »

Like it or not, the number five most popular Google search in New Zealand related to accommodation is cheap accommodation. Number four is holiday accommodation.  

Here’s an easy to use tool to research keyword popularity by search terms, locations and time ranges.   Enter accommodation and see how Northland leads the pack of favoured regional destinations (a bit surprising) and peaks each January over the last five years (not surprising). Read the rest of this entry »

Have you done any holiday planning lately and seen sites using awesome video clips? New technology allows clips to searchers to give them a feeling of being there. Helps visitors see if the place is really as nice as the photos. Read the rest of this entry »

Business Websites Have Special Needs

Web site visitors in tourism come with very different problems to solve than site visitors looking for gourmet relish.  Do a good job at providing what they need to solve their problem and your’re on your way to creating a Sticky Website. Read the rest of this entry »

How to judge which directory to pay for a listing?

Typical Problem in All Types of Business - Tourism too.
From my experience with business owners, it’s common to be bombarded by directory companies sending emails offering deal discounts for urgent response and confusing statistics on how much traffic they get in your category. 

All of that can be intimidating if not a bit misleading.
Simple answer - do a Google search for the ‘keyword search phrase’ your customers use to find your service or product.  There is the answer to your question! 

What directory is listed in the top 8 Google rank for your keyword search phrase?  Can you afford NOT to be in that directory?  If more than one you have to choose. Only if your own URL is there in the top 8, would you skip having a presence in that directory.

Tell me about your experience - any tricky email marketing that tempted you?  Any first hand stories we can learn from?  Post your comments below.

Policies Help Make Online Sales

Research tells us that online buyers hesitate over that “Submit” button if the basic policies are not visible.

Online Buyers get fearful
Think about it. When we buy we need to know what we’re getting in for.  Sometimes we fear the worst, hope for the best. Read the rest of this entry »