How to Boost Revenue 20% & climb to #1 on TripAdvisor

During a recession, businesses can get panicky about finding new ways to market their business inexpensively. I’ve worked with thousands of tourism businesses over the past five years and these two stories are my favorites for generating new revenue with little or no cost.

Disclaimer: “If you are in the tourism business, there is no shortcut to boosting your business in the Web 2.0 landscape. Be Great, or find another line of work.

Why Trip Advisor Matters:

• Word of Mouth has always been the most important lead generator for tourism businesses. In Web 2.0, Word of Mouse rules and your guests are your best marketing and sales agents.
• Trip Advisor is the #2 most frequently visited travel Web site on the Web.
• Trip Advisor search results not only show up in TripAdvisor.com but they are fed out to a number of Travel Web sites and services such as Google.com/maps (see top right)

Story #1: How one hotel operator boosted revenue 20% , while all around hotels were losing market share due to a decline in travel to the region

The tool: A simple laminated business card

• On one side: business logo and contact info
• On the other:

Thank you for staying at our Inn. In an effort to convey the quality of service and amenities offered we appreciate your comments at TripAdvisor.com. Looking forward to your next visit.

Use: When clients check out, they are given the laminated business card.

Results:

• Revenue up 20% with no other changes to marketing plan!
  
• The Hotel becomes ranked as #1 in the city on Trip Advisor
• All of this, despite the lack of any other search results showing their hotel web site
  

Why this works:

• the most obvious reason might be that happy guests will leave comments and these comments will generally be positive, but there is more to it than that.
• the card is laminated – yes, laminated. Most folk will have a harder time just tossing the card in the waste can, so it has a good chance of being used for its intended purpose and later, stuck to a fridge or filing cabinet for the next trip! Laminating the card unconciously tells your customer this is important, we took the time to ensure this card was prepared with care.
• MOST IMPORTANT REASON THIS WORKS: Staff at the hotel know this card is being handed out! If your guests are being encouraged to leave comments on your performance, wouldn’t your staff act more like an owner and give extra good service to your clients.
• This inn already has a culture of excellence and personal service – you can’t fake it. Even the best strategy will fail without quality.

Story #2: A Country Inn uses their CRM Strategy to climb to #1 in the Province on Trip Advisor

The tool: An effective email communication strategy with their guests, ensures that fans of the Inn have an invitation to rave!

Thank you for choosing our Inn during your recent visit to our area. We hope that we at least met, and maybe even exceeded your expectations. We are sure you are aware that more and more today’s travelers are relying on the opinions of fellow travelers when deciding where to stay themselves. In doing so, they often reference websites such as TripAdvisor to seek guidance. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to share your opinion . . .

Use: Approximately two weeks after their stay, every guest receives a personalized “thank you for your visit” email from the Inn’s proprietors.

Results:

• #1 b & b in the province on TripAdvisor
• TripAdvisor becomes #1 tracked new sales source
  

Why this works:

• The Hillsdale House Inn IS IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, the finest B & B in Nova Scotia! I haven’t stayed at many, but I couldn’t imagine a nicer experience than spending a few days with Paul and Val at their historic inn. I’ll definitely be back.
• Paul and Val establish a personal relationship with each of their guests during their visit. One of the little-known facts about traveler wishes: What most travellers want is to like their hosts and for their hosts to like them back.
• The email isn’t so much a business request, it’s more on the lines of friend to friend communication. The communication is personal. You can’t fake this. You earn the personal relationship with your guests with every interaction during their stay.
• Paul and Val have a CRM plan in place that results in their guests receiving followup email communication at a time when their experience is still fresh in their mind, and they have settled back into their routine at home. The note rekindles memories of their holiday.
• The email explains clearly why they are inviting their guests to post comments.
• Like any responsible tourism business, Hillsdale House tracks their business inquires and knows that new sales are being driven by TripAdvisor.

So after reading this, you have likely come to understand the value of a great CRM strategy with your guests? Your first two steps:

• Step one: Give great customer service and coach your team to behave like owners!
• Step two: Review your strategy for tracking sales and leads

Your Turn: Leave a comment!

• There are many Web sites for guests to share their experiences, reviews, photos, videos, stories. Do you know of a service that provides helpful information for travelers. Please tell us about your favorites.
• Do you have any insights into these CRM strategies? What are your favorite strategies for boosting Word of Mouse?

Tagged as: boost revenue, marketing, recession, tripadvisor, word of mouth