The Importance of Good Reviews and How to Source them

As a consumer, do you tend to Google a product for reviews before you proceed with a purchase?

If so, you’re not alone — many consumers Google products in search of positive or negative reviews before proceeding with a purchase. Consumers find product reviews to be trustworthy and credible to help them make a purchase decision.

In any case, positive or negative reviews will either make-or-break a business, generating an increase or decrease in sales. Not to mention, having no reviews can be just as harmful to a business than having poor reviews. Gain a consumer’s trust and business in the future by striving for positive reviews.

Similar to other industries, maintaining an exceptional reputation in the vacation rental industry is vital. It’s essential to gain and maintain profitable homes and increase bookings. I.e., a property management company must maintain every aspect of the homeowner’s rental property and provide excellent customer service to current owners, potential owners, and guests. The effort must be not only to maintain their exceptional reputation but also, remain profitable by scoring repeat business.

How and when should I source reviews?

Word of mouth is a resourceful method to increase sales and boost profits. Nevertheless, go the extra mile when sourcing for reviews to achieve a better outcome. If you provide exceptional customer service and a great product, the consumer will be more inclined to give a positive review. Keep in mind, asking for a review from a customer must be done at the right moment – you want to capitalize on their positive experiences to ensure that they are reflected in a review. You also want immediately to seize on negative experiences and do everything you can to change course before asking for a review.

Your property management software is a great resource for helping ensure positive guest experiences and capturing reviews at the optimal time. Increasingly, some sort of online, mobile tool for guests is becoming a must-have expectation. For CiiRUS users, GuestPass is a built-in tool that allows your guests to take control of their stay and alleviates pressure on the management company. Guests can live chat with you remotely, request upgrades, purchase attraction tickets, pay balances, view codes for Wi-Fi, alarm, gate, lockbox, and more, all from a convenient application.

Anecdotally, user-friendly, high-tech experiences are impressive to discerning guests. Making good use of a tool like GuestPass by CiiRUS can also impart a lasting impression of your direct brand with the guests. Providing memorable experiences like this to guests who booked through an OTA may encourage them to seek you out directly next time.

You can also apply the CiiRUS CRM to increase your chances of scoring a review and earning repeat business. The system can be configured to automatically contact guests a fix amount of time after departure and ask them to book with you again directly. It can create promotions and discounts to give repeat guests even more incentive to return. You can also trigger automatic emails to send a fixed number of days after departure with a link for the guest to leave a review. Half the battle is remembering to ask for reviews. These tools make it impossible easy. You can even categorize your guests, and have problem guests or those with poor experiences excluded from feedback requests.

As always, we suggest contacting CiiRUS or your software partner with any questions about how your existing technology can help you achieve growth and improve guest experiences. Guest reviews are just one piece in the ever-changing puzzle that is maintaining business growth and efficiency in our industry.