All communication involves two parties. Today, hotels are having to adapt with increasingly web savvy guests who review sites like Tripadvisor.com before they book. Customer reviews are an important part of these sites. Are you listening to your guests? And how are you engaging with them?
All successful presenters have highly honed listening skills which they use to adapt and tailor their message for the audience that they wish to reach. For example, a salesperson hears an off-hand comment from a potential corporate client in the small talk before a meeting about how they were disappointed with another property’s responsiveness to minor changes in the build up to an important event. The salesperson – when talking about their service – could use this as an anecdote. For example, highlighting that they offer their corporate clients a dedicated hotel representative who promises same day response to all changes or questions in the weeks leading up to an event. This brings out the disappointment which the client had previously and solves it with a clear promise and commitment. The sales person could then go further and introduce their service team to the client, again emphasising their service promise.
The more frequently a presenter can match their strengths to specific questions or problems that the client wishes to solve, the more likely they are to engage and keep the audience’s attention throughout the presentation. Importantly in a sales pitch this will increase the chance of a sale.
Similarly, in the online world, it is important for hotels to engage with their guest’s feedback – both good and bad. A potential guest is more likely to forgive a poor review if the hotel comes back with a reasonable explanation about how they have improved or solved that problem – while avoiding the trap of making excuses or blaming some policy or procedure or third party.
How are you engaging with your online guests? To read an excllent article, click here to read Daniel Craig’s interview with Jean-Luc Chrétien, Executive VP Marketing & Distribution, Accor.
About the Author
Warwick J Fahy
“I work with high-potential senior executives who need to be more confident and influential with their key stakeholders. I help the executive quickly and powerfully express their opinions into message based presentations – even when under pressure.” Learn more about who I help here.
Warwick is the author of “The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world”.
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