Is everything satisfactory? Most guests say yes. But sometimes they actually mean no. Online reviews and customer satisfaction surveys are therefore indispensable to know what guests really think about you. We explain how it works! We may live in a country known for its directness, but you cannot always assume that guests will honestly admit it when something is not to their liking. Probably everyone swallows their unvarnished opinion from time to time. Be it out of politeness, to avoid being nasty, because you don't dare to say it, or simply out of convenience. Especially when people are looking forward to a restaurant visit, they don't want to have their night out spoiled by, as they say, whining.
How do you know if your guests are really satisfied?
But how do you know if your guests are really satisfied? Fortunately, there are plenty of online ways to do this these days. Like guest satisfaction surveys or reviews. The latter is unthinkable in this day and age. Obviously to attract customers. From the Review Monitor 2020, which surveyed more than 1,000 restaurant guests, found that for 83% of guests, reviews influence their choice of restaurant. But reviews are also a handy way to find out for yourself how guests think about your establishment.
How do you get online reviews?
There are many places to gather online reviews. From social media to review platforms. We highlight some of them for you:
- Google Reviews
- Tripadvisor
- Yelp
- Your own website
Google Reviews seen as most reliable
The Review Monitor 2020 shows that people trust Google reviews the most. More than reviews on social media or a restaurant platform like TheFork (formerly IENS). Consequently, this search engine is by far the most important channel for guests when it comes to reviews.
Collecting reviews via Google My Company
To collect reviews on Google, the first thing to do is to create your restaurant in Google My Business. This will claim your location on the map. This is also important for the visibility and findability of your restaurant for potential customers in the area. You can also add additional information such as address details, opening hours, your website, phone number, a description, etc.
Receiving more reviews via Google
To create your business in Google, go to Google My Company. Once your restaurant is listed in it, you can receive reviews. To make it easy for guests, send them a link to leave a review directly. You do this by, when logged into Google My Business, clicking Home and going to 'Receive more reviews'. In our case, this looks like this. Find this article interesting? Then leave a review right away 🙂 .
Facebook second most used site for reviews
Facebook is also an important place to collect reviews. It comes out of the monitor as the second most used source that guests consult before making a booking. For this, you obviously need a Facebook business page. Then, in your page settings, turn on the reviews tab. People can now leave a review.
Tripadvisor helps with visibility
Tripadvisor is a popular platform with a website and app that helps people worldwide find the best deals for their travel. So you will find not only restaurants, but also accommodation, excursions and airlines. All including guest reviews.
Tripadvisor helps you gain insight into your guests' satisfaction, on the one hand. On the other hand, it increases your visibility, both for domestic and foreign guests. Listing your restaurant on TripAdvisor do it like this!
Yelp: for the small independent
Yelp is also known as the Tripadvisor of the small business. This review platform is not that big in the Netherlands yet, but is growing enormously in popularity. Anyone who registers can give reviews. The nice thing about Yelp is that potential guests can also ask questions there. For example, whether reservations are needed on Thursday evenings. Both you and other guests can answer them. As a restaurant owner, you can also respond to a review about your establishment.
Collect or display reviews on your own site
Finally, leveraging your own website is a way to pick up reviews. Both for your own understanding and to convince already interested guests to book. Provided the reviews are positive, of course. You can do this manually, but there are also various tools, depending on the content management system you work with. Whatever you deploy: in general, you should make it as easy as possible for your guests to leave a review. There is also the option of showing reviews from other review platforms on your own website. This often comes across as more credible to guests, as the reviews come from an independent platform.
Greater insight with guest satisfaction survey
So while online reviews are primarily intended for potential guests, they are also great for checking out what is being said about you yourself. In addition to these public reviews, it is also smart to measure guest satisfaction yourself. This can easily be done by sending an e-mail with some questions to your guests, after their restaurant visit. The big advantage here is that you can ask targeted questions. For instance, about your establishment, the behaviour of your staff and the quality of the dishes. Moreover, people are more likely to leave a review if they are very satisfied or very dissatisfied. The middle ones don't bother, while they might want to answer a few short questions.
Measure loyalty with the Net Promoter Score
Thereby, the Net Promoter Score is a convenient way to measure customer loyalty. To determine the Net Promoter Score, one question is central:
"On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend restaurant X to family, friends and colleagues?"
By asking this question, you measure the extent to which your holes would recommend your restaurant to people they know well. People who give a high rating, a 9 or a 10, are your Promoters, so to speak. These are loyal customers who are very satisfied and recommend your restaurant. Guests who give a 7 or 8 are Passives. They are reasonably satisfied, but will just as easily go to a competing restaurant. Guests who give a lower rating are Detractors. They would advise against your restaurant rather than recommend it.
Calculate your NPS score
To calculate your NPS score, reduce the percentage of promoters by the percentage of detractors. We display the result as an absolute number, which can be between -100 and +100. With this number, you can not only keep track of your own score, you can also compare yourself to other restaurants. This way, you know how you are doing. Of course, this score says something about satisfaction, but then you don't know what you can improve on. That is why we recommend asking the NPS question in combination with other questions, or simply asking what could be improved.
I want to collect reviews, now what?
Do you also want to find out how satisfied your guests really are? Then make it as easy as possible for them! Send your guests an e-mail after their visit with a few short questions and possibly links to the platforms that are most important to you.
We are happy to help you collect these reviews. We look at the most important platforms for you, create your business pages and profiles where necessary and know how to convince guests to fill in a review. We can also set up a dashboard for you, showing your NSP score. Want to know more? Feel free to contact us! Send an e-mail to contact@thefullybookers.com or call to +31 (0)85 048 80 58.
Enneh... don't forget a review leaving behind 😉
