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Seeking Online Feedback from Customers: How Proactive Can It Be?

Online comments can significantly influence customers’ purchasing decisions. Some hospitality companies have created full time positions to monitor and respond to online reviews. My question to hospitality companies is: Are we proactive enough in promoting positive feedback while responding to negative comments?

Last week, I ordered a small gift online. It states on the receipt that:

Please take a moment to leave us
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
(a score of 4 or 5)

Please contact us at *** (e-mail address)
or *** (phone number)
before leaving any negative or neutral feedback.

(Followed by a coupon code for next order online)

I give this retailer two thumbs up because this statement (company) not only encourages customers to post positive feedback but also proactively reacts to customers’ negative or neutral comments if there is any before they publish anything negative online. I stay in hotels several times a year, and I eat in restaurants quite often, some of which have my e-mail address on file. However, I have never received any e-mails or inquiries with similar content directly from hotels or restaurants --- even though I received requests for online reviews from TPIs or OTCs (“third party intermediaries” or “online travel companies”) such as Expedia or Orbitz. I have never seen any restaurant or hotel receipts with similar statements either. I believe hospitality companies can also be as proactive as this retailer in seeking customer feedback. What are you suggestions in promoting positive feedback from customers?

For relevant discussion, please check out the following posts:
References:
Picture was downloaded from http://www.nprove.co.uk/page9.htm

Comments

  1. Those operations in service industry such as hotels and restaurants, should do something to have positive comments from customers, not just seeking customers those who are satisfying their services. In other words, the hotels and restaurants should make customers feel the service was worth to give positive feedback.
    Customers want good service the most, and then price or other things etc. To promote positive feedback from customers, they should provide good services including a great quality in food and taste, and good price.
    As a customer, I would be pleased to give a positive feedback if a good service is provided even if they do not ask me for.
    Also, I do not think that accepting negative comments is bad idea. It sometimes might be more helpful to the operations to develop in better shape in the future. If they only accept positive views and comments, there will not be any movement forward.

    ReplyDelete

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