Reputation Enhancement & Management
Our Reputation Enhancement & Management (REM) Program was designed for those hotels that are focused on elevating their online review performance. The leadership team might have goals in elevating their average review scores, the volume of reviews received each month, or perhaps other metrics such as TripAdvisor rank are important.
Our REM program offers a more holistic approach to reputation management in that we become a strategic partner. We will work with your leadership and guest-facing teams to put best practices in place to drive results. While renovations, new amenities, or new experiences can certainly elevate review performance, so too can capitalizing on guest engagement.
With this in mind, the core of our REM program is our Guest Engagement Training workshops which will be hosted during a property visit. These workshops teach colleagues how to maximize the opportunities available within the authentic conversations we are already having with our guests. We teach the value of a proper quality or comfort check and put best practices in place which organically skyrocket positive review volumes and local rankings across meaningful platforms.
Our Upgraded Service
Train
Set Goals
Coach
Analyze
Report
Tools
Our Reputation Enhancement and Management (REM) service includes:
- An extensive discovery process to gain a comprehensive understanding of your business, unique selling features, brand voice, and desired messaging
- A complete audit of your online performance
- A comprehensive analysis to identify your business’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to your online reputation
- Our Guest Engagement Training workshops focused on effective guest dialogue and the power of each review
- Development of an enhancement strategy aimed at elevating your performance and reaching established goals
- A dedicated Content Producer who will craft unique and engaging review responses across multiple platforms, and publish them upon approval
- A comprehensive month-end reporting suite and weekly snapshot reviewed during recurring conference calls
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
The Training
Reputation Management Efforts Drive Results
Appealing to more than 64% of our hospitality partners, our Reputation Enhancement and Management program features our results-driven Guest Engagement Training workshops. A typical training visit will include a Manager Training Event, a one-on-one Training Session with your property champions, and multiple workshops hosted for guest-facing colleagues such as guest reception, valet, bell, engineering, security, servers, bartenders, and more. We host the same 100-minute training workshop multiple times throughout the day, allowing operations to continue as just a few colleagues are in training at any given time.
These training sessions teach guest-facing colleagues the value of a strategic and thoughtful quality check and the need to drive more guest feedback. We coach colleagues on the value and skill of using open-ended questions and we challenge your team to throw out the expected generic questions.
The introduction of new material occurs on the day of training, but we know the real skills develop in the days and weeks that follow that training event. With this in mind, we support our partners post-training as well. Post-training, your dedicated Account Manager will partner with your Property Champion and mentor that colleague using the following tools and resources:
- Weekly calls will be hosted with Property Champions in which we will review the achievement of weekly goals.
- Our weekly calls will also focus on developing the culture and driving participation from the team.
- The Reputation Lab will sponsor post-training gamification.
- Additional contests and motivational programs will also be shared as needs are assessed.
- A seven-day run of daily post-training learning-checks will be sent to the Property Champion.
- Trivia Questions that embody the training content will be shared with Property Champions to execute with the team.
- Posters, pocket-cards, and tracking cards will be provided to your property champion.
- Weekly Reports will be sent and should be shared in part with the team.
Our goal post-training is to ensure we have a Champion/Leader on property who continues to work with the team in developing the new skills and achieving the new goals introduced during our training event. Several milestones will be established and with a dedicated partnership, buy-in to the program, and consistency in participation, we hope to achieve those goals and see the results on websites like Google, TripAdvisor, and more.
CASE STUDIES
Upscale Independent Hotel
Location: Major West Coast Market
Service: REM
Rooms: 400
Period: October 2019 – Present
- Guest Engagement Training occurred in January 2020 and by March 2020 the hotel climbed 10+ spots on the TripAdvisor popularity index, landing in the top 7% of their market.
- Trained again in August 2022 after the pandemic closure. The hotel climbed another 6 spots on the TripAdvisor popularity index in the four months following the second training.
- The average review score climbed 4/10 of a point in the four months following training vs. the four months prior to the 2022 training, resulting in average scores of 4.6 and above.
- Google review scores are also up more than 3/10 of a point YOY.
- Since signing on board with us, this hotel has referred 2 sister hotels within their management company and the local market. Both of these hotels signed agreements and are off to a tremendous start.
Lifestyle Branded Hotel
Location: Major Gulf States Market
Service: REM
Rooms: 475
Period: August 2016 – Present
- After the first 12 months in our program, the hotel increased the percentage of Five-Star reviews on TripAdvisor by 6.6%
- With the training refresh event in June of 2022, the hotel increased its TripAdvisor rank by 18 spots between June 2022 and December 2022
- In the six months leading up to the June 2022 Training refresh, the TripAdvisor average review score was 3.7 or lower every month. Since the 2022 training, the hotel earned a 4.1 average review score or higher (up 4/10 of a point), every month for the next six months.
Pre-pandemic, this hotel referred 7 sister hotels that signed agreements with The Reputation Lab with nearly all of those hotels returning to service by 2022.
Globally Branded Hotel
Location: Major Southern Market
Service: REM
Rooms: NA
Period: September 2018 – Present
- After one year in our REM program and a focus on Guest Engagement, this hotel increased review volume from an average of 5.2 prior to training to 15.3 TripAdvisor reviews per month post-training.
- TripAdvisor rank at this hotel grew by 26 spots in the first year of service. Between that first year and 2023, another 7 spots have been gained, resulting in this hotel landing in the Top 5 of their market (a market with over 200 hotels).
- Within the first year of service, Booking.com scores grew by 4/10 or a point, Expedia 9/10 of a point, and Google nearly 6/10 of a point. How? Through a greater focus on Guest Engagement, as highlighted in our REM Program and Guest Training Training workshops.
The General Manager at this hotel has now employed The Reputation Lab at multiple hotels. Given the continued long-term success, it should be noted that the team at this hotel is consistent. The Property Champions lead the program day-in and day-out and continue to participate in weekly calls,