Understanding and Responding to Customer Reviews on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor has hundreds of millions of unique monthly visitors looking for reviews and opinions on everything related to vacations and tourism. These users also base their final decision on what they see on TripAdvisor. Hence business owners of hotels, tour operators or any rental service provider would benefit immensely from actively managing their profile on TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor is a highly popular platform and any business willing to stand out will have to put extra effort in engaging with past, present and prospective customers. This also includes responding to positive, neutral and negative reviews on the platform.

How to Respond to TripAdvisor Reviews

There are a variety of reviews your business might receive. Obviously positive reviews are ideal and negative reviews are preferably to be avoided. However the most important thing is how you respond to these that can make a world of impact on your overall image perception. Before addressing negative review responses, it is vital to understand that positive and neutral reviews need responses too.

Positive Reviews on TripAdvisor

All businesses would like to only have positive feedback and reviews, as it boosts the brand image and leads to more sales. Naturally, when your customers leave a positive overview of their experience with your business, the best thing to do is encourage this behavior from others as well. This can be done by showing how much you appreciate the time they have set apart to share their opinion. It will help you get returning customers and ensure they bring you more bookings as they become advocates of your services.

Responding to Positive Reviews

While leaving a generic response is better than nothing, ideally the response to a positive review is more personalized. When your customers take the time to find your TripAdvisor listing and mention the highlights of their customer experience with your business, try to reciprocate with appreciation. Some tips would be to:

• Address the customer by their name.
• Thank them for choosing your business and taking the time to review.
• Repeat compliments from their reviews and acknowledging them.
• Invite them to visit you again or contact you when they come back to your region.

Mixed Reviews on TripAdvisor

From time to time you might receive feedback that is a mix of positive and negative points. In this case, try to understand where the frustration of the customer might be coming from. Ask your employees about the respective customer and see if you can find the issue.

Responding to Mixed Reviews

Understanding the root cause for the negative mentions is vital for your response to a mixed review. In your response you should aim to:

• Respond as quickly as possible.
• Address them by their name and loosely touch on the positives they mentioned about you.
• Apologize for the negatives in their customer experience and explain how you will address the existing issue.
• Invite the customer back to give you another chance, now that the issue has been dealt with. You can also offer a discount in private.
• Be honest in this type of responses, because customers will appreciate your authenticity.