The travel industry may be deeply uncomfortable about the impact of sites like TripAdvisor, but it should not assume the general public is naïve, says Steve Dunne, executive chairman of Brighter Group
I’ve been occupied interviewing candidates for a role at my consultancy recently.
Following a strenuous interview process the best candidate finally surfaced and, after deliberating for a day, I rang the recruitment agency saying I wished to offer their candidate the job.
“That’s great,” came the reply. “She’s just going to check you out on Glass Door and we’ll be back to you”.
“What’s Glass Door?” I replied.
“It’s a website where employees review their employers,” came the response. “She just wants to check what employees say about working for you”.
I don’t mind saying this came as a bit of a surprise to me. But perhaps it shouldn’t have.
Review sites, where people give their views of products and services ranging from books and DVDs to fridges, cars and, of course, their travel experiences, are very much a part of today’s consumer landscape.
From Epinons.com to Ciao and from Trustpilot to Tripadvisor, the web is full of channels that enable consumers to share their sometimes brutally honest experiences of a product.
And everyday I seem to hear leading travel industry professionals bemoaning these sites.
From claims of competitors giving underhand reviews of each other’s products, to expressions of bewilderment at the consumer placing their faith in review sites over the advice of the experts, it seems that the industry is not entirely comfortable with peer-to-peer feedback.
However, uncomfortable as it may at first appear, the emergence of this plethora of review sites is something that the travel industry should embrace wholeheartedly – and indeed the smart travel brands are actively incorporating them into their marketing strategies already.
Hard as it is to accept, the consumer does not always believe what the brand says about its own product. After all, the brand would say it’s the best, biggest, most perfect and best value for money product around, wouldn’t it?
What the consumer wants is good old third party endorsement. Of course, this used to be the domain of travel agents, travel writers and even celebrities.
However, while undoubtedly offering quality insights and advice, they were not people like the consumer themselves.
Agents and operators, it was argued, were ultimately selling, and travel writers and celebrities rarely travelled economy.
On the same plain, the view is held that the consumer reviewing the hotel or flight may live in a similar house to me; have a job like mine and a budget too.
And – most importantly – ultimately they are not selling something, nor are they being paid to endorse a product.
But what about corruption or inaccuracies in reviews some will ask? My experience is that the great British public are not collectively as naive as some may think.
My wife, for example, is a big user of review sites. By no stretch of the imagination a geek or “techie”, I have seen her sift through hotel or resort reviews dismissing food comments (too subjective); waiving reviews that are too glowing (probably the resort reviewing itself is her view) or too damning (sounds like a personal issue I’ve heard her say).
But if the review says “don’t book a room overlooking the ‘pool because at 9pm a nightclub kicks off” she takes that information and uses it in her selection process.
Indeed, and here is the clincher for me, she positively searches out customer reviews on anything she buys – no reviews means no business from her.
So, while the existence of review sites, and the consumer’s desire to express their opinion, may be uncomfortable for many brands, the best practice marketing strategy is to incorporate it into the sales process.
Having a feed from TripAdvisor or Trustpilot built into your website is key and having the confidence to let the customer self-edit is essential for every travel brand.
Review sites are here to stay so ’embrace them fully’ should be the travel brand mantra.