53 – Responding To COVID-19 Online Reviews

Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

In this episode of the Suite Spot, we discuss what to do when your hotel receives an online review related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Host, Ryan Embree, is joined by review response expert and Respond & Resolve™ Product Manager, Kristeena Seckinger, who walks us through which COVID-19 red flags to watch out for in your hotel’s online reviews and how to handle them effectively and appropriately. Ryan and Kristeena describe how traveler sentiment and tone in online reviews have evolved since the beginning of the pandemic and the role that setting proper expectations plays in generating positive reviews online. They also share best practices on how to best prepare for the increase of online reviews as the industry begins its recovery. If you have any additional questions about your responding COVID-19 reviews online or would like more information on Travel Media Group”s Respond & Resolve™ solution, call or text 407-984-7455. Suite Spot Podcast · 53 - Responding To COVID - 19 Online Reviews Episode Transcript Our podcast is produced as an audio resource. Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and human editing and may contain errors. Before republishing quotes, we ask that you reference the audio. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot where hoteliers check in and we check out what's trending in hotel marketing, I'm your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot, this is your host Ryan Embree here for Episode #53. Very excited about this episode, we are going to be talking about responding to online reviews. So I know we've kind of had some of these episodes in the past. We've talked about COVID-19 and the impact that it's had on some of our other digital marketing channels: online reputation, social media, but we really haven't got into responding to online reviews. It's one of those things that this pandemic has changed so many aspects of the hotel experience, that new normal, that we're always talking about and hearing about. But one of the things that has stayed consistent is the importance of responding to your reviews professionally and in a timely manner, because this is the type of information that travelers are looking at more than ever when they're determining whether they're going to book with your property, or another property, or even necessarily book in general and take a vacation. So with me today, I brought on the expert of review response, she's joined me before on the Suite Spot, but this is her first time joining me from her remote office, so I will welcome in Kristeena Seckinger, she is our Respond and Resolve™ Product Manager. Kristeena, thank you so much for joining the Suite Spot. Kristeena Seckinger: Hi Ryan and thanks for having me again. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. So let's start with how you and your review response team have adjusted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kristeena Seckinger: Well, there's definitely been a lot of adjusting for everyone since the beginning of the pandemic and my team is no exception to that. I would say back in March, when all of this started, the review flow really slowed down drastically, which was definitely an adjustment for the fast pace that we were used to before. But since then, as the states began opening and everything started returning to almost normal, we have seen a huge increase in review flow again. And with that increase of reviews and everything that's going on, our team has continued to craft those customized responses that really represent the hotel's voice and message that they want to deliver to their guests right now. And one of the great things about our program, the Respond & Resolve™, is that our team understands that now it's more important than ever to make sure our responses are meeting those client needs and delivering that specific information to all of our guests and travelers. Ryan Embree: Absolutely,