We never want a traveler to have a negative experience while on tour. However, from time to time things may not go as planned.
With these pointers below we want to share our experience of how you can turn a traveler's negative review into a positive review and how travelers can assist in improving your tours.
Step 1:
Assess and evaluate the feedback internally first. How can this feedback help you improve your tour and ensure other travelers have a better experience.
Step 2:
Sympathize with the traveler in your response to the negative review.
Acknowledge the traveler's concerns. Even if they are unfounded, show sympathy that they had a negative experience.
Examples
- "We are sorry to hear you feel this way about XXXX”
- “We do regret that it eventuated to this”
- “We can see how difficult this has been”
- “We understand how frustrating it must be to wait this long for a response”
- “We’re so glad you contacted us about that; it's important that we get it fixed”
- “We know you've spent a lot of time on this already”
Step 3:
Insert a little marketing in your response to the negative review.
Explain what your travelers usually experience while on tour with you.
Example
- “We are normally known for our exceptional attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark on this occasion.”
Here we have the opportunity to add value.
A simple “thank you” can get the job done, however, what is different about your brand from any other brand responding to the same review? Providing additional value means taking the opportunity to highlight a particularly unique selling point of your brand and why someone should choose your tour over another.
Step 4:
Move the conversation offline.
Provide the traveler with a call to action. Advise the traveler you will get in contact with them directly to discuss their concerns so that you can hopefully provide clarity to the situation.
It is important to advise how you will be in contact with the traveler, either via their TourRadar booking conversation page or directly by email.
Example
"A member of our customer relations team will be in contact with you directly via your Booking Conversation Page to discuss these details further"
Step 5:
Keep your response simple, short and sweet.
Don't go into too much detail or ask any questions. This will prevent saying something that might cause you to upset the traveler and potentially add more negative feedback by replying to the review. Three sentences for the body of your reply is a good rule of thumb.
Example
"Thank you very much for taking the time to write this review. We are sorry to hear you feel this way about XXX.
We are normally known for our exceptional attention to detail, and we regret that we missed the mark on this occasion.
A member of our customer relations team will be in contact with you directly via your Booking Conversation Page to discuss these details further"