It takes years to build a good reputation, but only seconds to destroy it.

Recent data shows that most travelers – over 80%, in fact – look up a hotel’s reviews before booking their accommodations. In most cases, people will select a hotel with a higher guest review score on a site like TripAdvisor or Google over one with a lower nightly price or brand name.

Having served in various roles in the hotel industry for decades, Scarlet Connect CEO and co-founder Seth Kines knows that people are more likely to leave a review after a negative guest experience than they are after experiencing excellent customer service. This discrepancy inspired him to innovate Scarlet Connect’s hotel reputation management software.

How Does Hotel Reputation Management Work?

In a nutshell, reputation management takes a proactive approach to generating positive reviews on public platforms while providing internal surveys for negative feedback.

As a hotel operations manager, you can build property-specific surveys that can be personalized and edited at any time directly from your Scarlet Connect dashboard. All surveys include an “Additional Comments” section for your guests to provide specific feedback regarding their stay at your hotel.

Once your guests check out of your hotel property, they will receive an email and/or text message initiating the review process. If they select the “thumbs up” icon, for example, they will then be prompted to share their positive feedback on TripAdvisor or other online hotel review sites of your choosing.

But what about cases where guests have had negative experiences? Scarlet Connect’s reputation management solution creates an opportunity for your staff to receive this feedback immediately in order to reach out to the guest. If a guest selects the “thumbs down” icon, hotel staff can attempt to resolve the issue immediately by contacting the guest directly, BEFORE they have the opportunity to share their negative experience on social media, Google, TripAdvisor, etc. Guests who have shared negative feedback may be significantly more likely to publish their experiences on public review sites if they feel that hotel staff did their best to respond to their concerns in a respectful manner.

Scarlet Connect provides a dashboard with analytics and data showing the results of the surveys and also highlighting the “problem” departments within your hotel.

Who can use reputation management? Anyone with access to your hotel’s Scarlet Connect dashboard can use reputation management to communicate with guests via text or email to discuss issues they had during their stay. Administrators can also access the dashboard to track their property’s progress toward established goals (i.e., providing better customer service).

Why Is Reputation Management Essential For Hotel Operations?

When it comes to your online presence, your reputation is everything.

Most of Scarlet Connect’s competitors only offer internal feedback surveys via email, while Scarlet Connect allows hotel staff to communicate via email and text messaging. Our client data reveals that hotel properties have more guests’ phone numbers on file than up-to-date email addresses; additionally, text messages have an open rate of 98% compared to 20% for email. In 2022, Scarlet Connect’s hotel clients reported more than 165,000 guest interactions using the reputation management solution.

Other advantages of using Scarlet Connect’s reputation management solution include its attractive data visualization and immunity to turnover. Because the solution is available through a single dashboard, hotel executives can keep all data stored in one place and add or remove user access as needed. Scarlet Connect staff are available to assist hotel staff in navigating the user-friendly dashboard.

Jake Shepherd, General Manager of an Ascend Collection Hotel by Choice Hotels, had the following to share about his experience using Scarlet Connect’s reputation management solution:

Schedule Your Free Demo Today To Start Boosting Your Hotel Ratings

In addition to reputation management, Scarlet Connect offers a free virtual sales office and additional subscription-based solutions to further streamline your hotel operations and sales efforts. Click here to learn more about our eSignature and credit authorization solution, sales prospecting solution, OTA reconciliation solution, and solutions in development – all housed within our user dashboard!

Scarlet Connect’s hotel software solutions are also budget-friendly, worthwhile options. We keep our customers’ costs low by eliminating unnecessary services associated with a one-size-fits-all software solution and focusing on the needs of hotel owners and property managers.

If you’re excited about the potential for Scarlet Connect’s reputation management to improve your hotel’s online presence, reach out to schedule a free demo today. Scarlet Connect’s staff is ready to take you through a quick, synchronous training to set up your account, build and edit custom surveys, analyze monthly survey reports, and answer any questions you may have.

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