Five Touch Points for Customer Feedback

Real, honest customer feedback is hard to get, probably harder than getting a 7 year old to eat his peas (especially when it's peas in Indian food, in my son's case). As business owners and/or general managers, we often try to do whatever it takes to satisfy the needs of our guests. More often than not, they leave our establishments happy, yet they do not offer their opinion of our products and services. Why is that?

The truth is, we never asked them for it.

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Asking is the first and key step in acquiring customer feedback. And it's not just once, rather a few times. In fact, research shows that on average, it takes five interactions with your customers to finally convince them to go out of their way to share their experience. Side note - Kind of like that time I asked that girl (now my wife) to go out with me and she denied me the first time. I stayed persistent and after a few attempts, she eventually said yes! Don't be shy, ask!

These touch points will vary depending on your operations and marketing strategies. However, if you’re looking for general guidelines, below are five of the most common touch points that can get you started. I'll use my industry, hospitality as an example.

1) During Check In
Some might think that it’s weird to ask hotel guests for feedback during check in. I'm not saying that you ask them to publish a review right there and then. You want to spark up an ice-breaking conversation. Ask them...

• What brings you to the area?
• Are you here on vacation?
• How was your flight in?
• Can you tell me something fun about "Guest's City"
• May I suggest my favorite local restaurant.

Once you get to personally know your guests, assure them that your accommodations will meet their needs (business's promise) and that you are here to assist them if a need arises. Also seed the importance of their feedback and that you will appreciate it if they can post a review about your hotel after their stay.

2) During Their Stay
A lot of hotel professionals are hesitant to approach their guests to proactively ask for reviews while their guests are still at their property because they feel that they are being too hard-sell, imposing and intrusive. Well, that is if you do it the wrong way.

And by wrong way I mean approaching your guests for the sole purpose of asking for a review. If you engage your guests in real meaningful conversations, you will find that it’s easier to ask them for a review somewhere in your conversation. Just keep it real and sincere.

"Mr. Smith, we would love it if you could tell other travelers about your experience at our hotel. Please share a review on ___________"

3) During Checkout
Now, this is probably the most appropriate time to collect feedback (We Care Cards) and ask for a review. You can do this in a variety of way. You can do it verbally, which for us should be a part of your staff’s checkout process. You can also use tools to supplement this verbal reminder. For example, you can check out SmartGuests.com’s Social Review Cards (business cards that prompts guests to publish a review) or CareFresheners which you can attach to checkout folios.

4) Email Follow Up
Email is probably one of the most underutilized tool in the hospitality industry, at least among operators of small and boutique properties. This should not be the case because email is one of the marketing platforms that produce the highest conversion rates.

One to three days after your guests checked out of your hotel, send them an email to thank them again for their stay, offer help if they do decide to travel to your area again anytime soon, and prompt them to publish a review about their stay.

5) Social Media
Social media is another touch point where you can engage your hotel guests and ask them for reviews. Upon check in, you should already have strategies in place to compel your guests to connect with you on social media (I suggest you check out Social Bucks for this).

While they are still checked in or after they checked out, send them a direct message or you can also post a general message on your social media pages calling out all your guests to publish a review about their stay.

Again, these five touch points are just general examples and the touch points that you will use will greatly depend on your overall marketing strategy. At the end of the day, what’s important is, you realize that reviews don’t just magically appear out of thin air and that you have to earn them.

How do you collect feedback at your business?
What are some ways to get your customers to share their experience?
I would love to read your comments below.

Have a successful day!
-Rupesh

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About Rupesh
Rupesh Patel, hotelier and founder at SmartGuests.com, a U.S.-based hospitality marketing website that is dedicated to helping hotels make connections with their guests, using tools that result in positive reviews and increases in customer service scores. He regularly shares his passionate for entrepreneurship, customer engagement and marketing on numerous social sites and blogs.

Connect on LinkedIn: www.dhirubhai.net/in/rupeshpatel1/
Rupesh’s Twitter: @smartguestscom
Read my Blog: www.smartguests.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/smartguests
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