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Why Does ORM Matter?

You might think that ORM isn’t really a matter of importance. Even if you were to get a bit of bad feedback online, you could either let it blow over, or if you needed to you could try and redress the balance with some discounts and marketing activity, right?

Dead wrong.

The global trade bodies for the travel industry have researched this extensively, and they have found that reputation management could not be more important. The first thing to note is that hotel rooms are entirely price un-elastic according to the latest research from The Owners Association . What that means is that a slowdown in bookings due to bad reviews cannot be countered with discounts. Extensive research has shown that any increase in the volume of sales driven by discounts is nowhere near enough to recover the lost original business.

But it gets more important than that. Market Metrix report that “past experience, reputation, recommendations and online reviews...are now more important to hotel guests than either location or price.” Moreover, the World Travel Market report notes that 35% of hotel customers in 2010/2011 changed their hotel selection after reading about them on social media sites.

Most hotels generate the largest profit margin from corporate customers and business travellers; in this instance, Forrester research indicates that over 85% of purchasers in this segment consult social media and reviews before making their purchase decision.

In terms of the impact on detailed financials, the evidence is compelling. According to Expedia, a good review of 4.0 or 5.0 will deliver more than double the conversions of a review of 1.0 or 2.0. ComScore/Kelsey’s research found that when it came to hotels, customers were willing to pay at minimum 20% more, but potentially up to 90% more, for a property with five star customer reviews compared to four stars.

The matter has been studied academically, with a postgraduate thesis at the University of Las Vegas demonstrating it in raw financial terms, and demonstrating the importance of online reputation management beyond any doubt.

These statistics demonstrate that the online perception of a hotel is absolutely crucial to its financial viability. It therefore makes sense to invest just as much into online reputation management as you would into the facilities or the fixtures and fittings of your hotel; a good investment will always pay dividends, and so spending on reputation management should be seen in that light.

Moreover, investing in ORM supports your investments in other areas. Most hotels spend a substantial sum of money each year on advertising, marketing and promotional activities.

If you aren’t managing what people read about you online, then much of this investment may go to waste when people read something negative about your establishment; there is no point spending a budget on raising the profile of your hotel if that profile is tarnished.

Best Practices For Online Reputation Management

There are a number of ways that you can go about managing your online reputation, but there are a three golden rules that should be adhered to at all times:

Never ignore negative feedback. You can’t be perfect all the time, and you need to have a clear process in place for when people leave a negative review about your hotel. Engaging with the complaint in a clear, polite and positive fashion creates a much more favourable impression with potential customers than simply doing nothing. Never react in an aggressive or impolite manner, even if you feel the complaint or poor rating is unwarranted.

Encourage your customers to leave positive reviews. The simple fact is that customers are much more likely (possibly up to seven times) to leave a review or share their opinion if they have had a negative experience. So you need to be proactive in getting people to leave positive recommendations; if your customers say something nice to you then ask them to put it online. At the point of check-in and check-out, ask your customers to leave positive feedback if they have had a good time.

Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to try and game the system. Earlier in the paper, it was noted that several hotels have tried posting false reviews on websites like TripAdvisor, and there is now a growing list of hotels that have been blacklisted from online travel agents for such activities. In addition, there are a variety of shady companies around offering to ‘swamp’ or otherwise defray negative remarks about companies on the internet, by underhand techniques. Don’t be tempted, you will be found out.

Can You Do ORM Yourself?

In theory there is nothing to stop you trying to manage your online reputation yourself; you can register as a hotel proprietor on most sites, and address the customer interactions yourself. Similarly, you can manage your presence on Facebook and Twitter.

However, you should probably consider the following questions before you decide to do that:

Have you really got the time? Running a hotel is hard enough work as it is, and a realistic strategy for ORM could involve two to three hours a day. When you consider the amount of websites and social media channels involved, can you keep up with it all?

Do you know all of the channels that you need to manage? The scale of the online travel industry means that there are literally thousands of sites online, and many new incarnations being created every week. Do you have the knowledge to find them, and to track changes in the online industry?

Do you really know what to say and do for the best effect? There is an art to how to deal with people on line, and a range of techniques that can be deployed, like semantic analysis. Do you know what they are, or have the inclination to learn about them? How expensive and time consuming would it be to train your staff to do it?

You probably wouldn’t attempt to do your own accounting, or rewire your hotel by yourself; you would call upon the services of a professional. Online reputation management is just like any other technical service, it is far better carried out by a seasoned professional.

Given the importance of reputation management to your hotel, can you really afford to do this on an amateur basis? You should not look at it as an expense to be borne, but view it as an investment in the long term vitality of your business, that will have a positive impact on both the number of bookings you receive, and the rates that you can charge.

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Section 3: Dealing With Customer Dissatisfaction

No matter how well you run your company, sooner or later you'll have to deal with a dissatisfied customer. While all businesses should strive to provide good customer service, it's even more important to get it right if you aspire to be successful with relatonship marketng.

The key here is to treat every complaint like an opportunity to gain a lifelong proponent of your business. This is your chance to show them how different you are from other companies, and that you actually value them as a customer. Some of the most loyal customers are those that started out on a rocky foundaton but had their issue resolved in just the right way.

Most of the advice in this secton boils down to the fundamentals discussed earlier: actng less like a company and more like a person, while staying honest, open and respectful.

Respond quickly

An angry customer often has very little patence to sit around waitng for a response. They want their problem resolved, and they want you to make it your highest priority!

Being quick to respond is especially important if a customer is complaining openly on social media, as it may otherwise snowball into a huge mess that's very difficult to get out of. Just one customer with a large following on Twitter can cause a lot of damage to your brand unless you take the complaint seriously.

Also, nothing will impress a customer more than answering an e-mail or Twitter complaint within minutes. If you don't get a lot of complaints, try to keep your inbox open throughout the day and address complaints as soon as they arrive.

If possible, handle the issue yourself

Coming back to the relationship marketing fundamental of acting as a relatable person instead of a faceless corporation, you should whenever possible deal with the most difficult customers personally.

This serves two purposes:

It lets the customer know that you are taking his/her complaint very seriously

It gives you complete control over the process, leaving less room for poor handling of the complaint

Think about the last time you had to contact the customer service at a large company. How would you react if the CEO personally reached out to you, promising to resolve the issue to your satisfaction? You'd probably feel like you're important to them, and that they care about keeping you as customer.

Of course, in a large corporation the CEO can't be expected to step in and deal with every little issue, but taking an hour a day to deal with the loudest, most pressing complaints may be time well spent.

Leave your personal feelings out of it

This almost goes without saying, but you absolutely must not take any complaints personally. Even if the complaint is about your own job performance. If you can't remove your feelings completely from the situation, you risk making it worse with your involvement. Remember that it's (hopefully) not you as a person they're dissatisfied with, but rather the situation as a whole.

Even if you find the complaint to be invalid, it's important to still acknowledge the feelings of your customer. Maybe he or she is having a terrible day in general, and the tiny issue they're having with your product or service now represents everything they're angry about in their lives. If you can turn this into a positive experience for them, perhaps brighten their day a little, you may find yourself with a lifelong customer.

Stay honest and own up to mistakes

While some issues that arise may be due to circumstances out of your control, mistakes do happen and it's important to be able to admit when something is your fault.

This is another rela&onship marke&ng fundamental that we're coming back to. A company that is successful with rela&onship marke&ng is one that is transparent and honest with their customers. Making mistakes is human, and it makes your company all the more relatable if you can admit when you've made one.

Even if something really isn't your fault, it's important to let the customer know that you will do what you can to resolve it.

A great example is an online store, when a package is lost on its way to a customer. Technically, this is probably not your fault. But the customer doesn't care whose fault it is, he or she just wants it resolved. If all you do is blame the shipping company, never offering your personal assistance to inves&gate the issue, the customer will probably lose their confidence in you and your business.

Offer compensation

In a small business, every monetary loss hurts. This is especially true when a customer demands a refund, even if they're not technically en&tled one.

What you need to consider in this situa&on is the cost of not giving them a refund. Maybe they'll never buy from you again either way, but what will they tell their friends? What will they write in their Twi;er feed?

Usually it just makes more sense to offer a refund, maybe even some extra compensa&on on top if possible, just for the peace of mind. If they s&ll go on Twi;er to spew dirt over your company, you can just let everyone know that they have been properly refunded and really have li;le reason to s&ll be angry with you.

You'll also find that some of these customers will be so impressed by your generosity, they'll not only stay loyal but also tell their friends about you. In this case, a short term loss turns into a long term gain.

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So far we covered a lot of essential background information that is necessary to laying the groundwork for a close. Now we are going to move on to the meat and potatoes and talk about the actual close itself. The process itself is deceptively simple. There are no secrets or tricks to doing it correctly. Despite this, there are an amazing number of salespeople who drop the ball right here on the goal line.

The essence of a successful close is knowing when to ask for the customer's business. Like asking someone out on a date or to get married, there is no "right" time. Instead, you have to plan your moves and feel out the situation before you pop the question. Your instincts have as much to do with the chances for success as anything else. An ill-timed close is about as uncomfortable for all involved as an unwanted marriage proposal.

Again, you have to do your homework. If you've laid the proper groundwork, knowing when to close is a breeze. The moment to do so will come naturally and inevitably as day following night. However, if you get lazy and you don't do your prep work the moment to close will never occur naturally or otherwise. You will have to try and force the close from an unwilling client. This forced action, more likely than not, will lead to a failure to close. So, let's take a quick look at those prep steps one more time.

First, focus on the prospect and their problem, not on you and your need for a sale. The sales process revolves around the customer. You, the salesperson are there for one reason and one reason only - to facilitate the solution to the customer's problem. That's your purpose. That's your role, nothing more and nothing less. If you solve the customer's problem, you close the sale.

Second, listen to your customer. If you listen to your customer, you get to know your customer. If you know your customer, you have the opportunity to develop a relationship with them. This relationship, in turn, leads to increased trust. Finally this trust increases the chance for a successful final act to the sale cycle.

Additionally, when you listen to your customer, you are learning both the nature of their problem and how they want you to solve that problem. These two pieces of information are critical to a successful close and your customer, more oaen than not, will hand them to you, but only if you shut up and listen.

Speaking of shufng up, when it's time to close shut your mouth. Simply smile, ask for the customer's business as if it's a foregone conclusion and wait. Don't say another word. Far too many inexperienced salespeople have talked their way out of a close by failing to shut their mouths. You don't need to be giving the customer any further information at this point. If you've done your job and focused on and listened to the customer, you've already acknowledged their problem and offered a solution. Give them the opportunity to accept that offer.

Finally, once the customer agrees, seal the deal by forwarding any necessary paperwork promptly. Remember there is no deal until the ink is dry on the bottom line of any contract. Also, don't be afraid to ask for referrals from your customer. A satisfied and happy customer will be more than willing to give you referrals or recommend your services to colleagues. These referrals and recommendations can yield valuable new leads and we all know how important leads are to the sales process. Don't be afraid to ask.

Takeaways for This Section

Timing is of the essence when it comes to a successful close. If you've done your job, your instincts will tell you when the moment is right to "pop the question";

A salesperson is a facilitator and nothing more. A closer knows this and brings his or her focus to the customer and their problem, not onto their need for a sale;

Listen to your customer and develop a relationship based on trust. This will pay dividends when it comes time to close;

Listen to your customer some more. They will tell you their problem and how to solve that problem. Armed with that informaAon, a closer is unstoppable;

Smile, ask for the customer's business and shut up. If you've done your job, the outcome is guaranteed and needs no further help from you;

Follow up aaer the close with any paperwork to legally seal the deal. Also ask for referrals and recommendaAons. They are an excellent source for new leads.

Sales Myths or What Not to Do

Now that you know pretty much everything you know to become a more successful closer, you need to take a look at a couple of sales mistakes. These are things that you should never do if you want to successfully close a deal. These are the mistakes that many unsuccessful people make Ame and Ame again. If you don't want to become the anA-closer, avoid these missteps like the plague.

Your Brochures and Website Don't Matter to the Customer

Sure you probably have all kinds of handouts and online informaAon available for your customer to peruse. Don't mistake these materials for actual salesmanship. Anyone can read a brochure to a customer or direct them to a website. If the brochure or website was all the customer needed to purchase your product or service then you'd be extraneous. You are the bridge between the customer and what you are selling. The sales materials are there simply to generate leads and attract interest. You are the moAve force when it comes to generaAng sales.

Make Sure That You're Talking to the Right Person

You put a lot of Ame and effort into making a sale. You got to know the customer, and established trust by focusing on them and not on you. You listened to the customer and noted their problem and how they'd like that problem solved. Now, when it comes Ame for the close, you belatedly realize that the person you've been dealing with for all this Ame is not the person who is able to make the final decision regarding the sale. Talk about wasted Ame and effort. Figure out who calls the shots when it comes to saying yes to your sales pitch ahead of Ame. You'll end up with a lot more money in your pocket and a lot less egg on your face.

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16. EPC is important

Your EPC (earnings per click) is very important and is often the deciding factor for affiliates wanting to promote your product or not. If you had a product that you sold for $10 and you sent 100 people to your sales page and 10 people purchased your product then you would have an EPC of $1.00.

The good news though is that you can influence your EPC in the early stages of your product going live by sending quality traffic to it within the first couple of hours of it going live from your own email list. Generally, the traffic that you send from your own email list will convert very very well because they will more than likely know you, like you and trust you if they have purchased your product.

This is why I said in the last tip that it's important to send as many sales yourself as you can because that way it increases your EPC which then helps to attract more affiliates which will in turn send you more traffic and sales.

The way that many of the affiliate market places like jv zoo and warrior plus used to operate is they will show your conversions and epc for each product in your sales funnel separately which doesn't really give affiliates an accurate figure on what it really converts at because you would have to work it all out for yourself.

So what happened was, the "sales funnel" feature was brought it which meant they just gave you one epc for the entire sales funnel. This could be if you just had 2 products in the sales funnel or if you had 10. The epc figure would be for the entire sales funnel which really now helps affiliates a lot more to determine if it's converting well or not.

I guess you are now wondering what is a good epc?

Well, the figure that you should always try to get to as a minimum is $1.00 across your entire sales funnel.

That means that on average for every person someone sends to your sales page they would make $1.00 which is not too bad at all. A lot of affiliates are happy with $1.00 epc.

That being said anything more is of course even better. If you can get your epc up to $1.50 - $2.00 then that's very good.

Anything over $3 or $4 EPC is excellent but you really would have to have a great converting offer for you to get epc's like that.

Even if your EPC is lower than $1.00 you still could do very well if it's a great product but I have found if your conversions are not very good then you will attract the less serious affiliates.

The traffic that I usually send to my offers straight away has often generated an epc of $2 - $4 but when affiliates start to send traffic generally it won't be that high but as I said, just do your best at sending as many sales as you can and also generating the highest epc as you can as well.

17. First 12 hours is very important

When you release your product the first 12 hours is very important because if you can generate a good number of sales in this time then you stand a better chance of attracting more affiliates and also getting the "product of the day" no matter what platform you release your product on.

This is why it's important for you to generate as many sales as you can straight out of the gate and also trying to keep your epc as high as you can as well.

When building your affiliate army you need to make it clear that they need to promote as soon as your product goes live in the market place because this again will help you tremendously.

With affiliates you will often need to give them an incentive to promote your product straight away because you can't just expect affiliates to do what you want wehen you want as they have routines and schedules to keep them selves.

What you can do though which works like a charm is give away a higher commission across your funnel in the first 2 - 5 hours of your product going live.

This could mean you giving a higher commission on the front end product and also giving a higher commission away on the additional offers in your funnel too. This works well because it means they will make more money and this will help you out too so it's a win win.

18. Consistent Quality Products Will Get You Noticed

When it comes to creating and launching information products online you need to focus heavily on making them consistent of being top quality products. Yes there are many great products out there but there are also a lot of complete crap products out there too.

If you really want to build a good reputation then you need to focus on delivering consistent high quality info products and you will find that selling them will become much easier as you progress because a lot of your customers will be repeat customers that have purchased something from you before and liked it so they purchase again.

This is the key to a successful info product business. Repeat customers. Of course you will still generate a lot of new customers too but the better your products are then the more repeat customers you will generate every time you launch a new info product.

19. JV Relationships Don’t Form Overnight

When you first start creating and selling information products online you won't have many connections or business relationships ie jv partners. This is something that you need to build over time and unfortunately this doesn't happen over night.

This is why it's so important to be consistent in delivering high quality products because you will start to build a good list of affiliates and jv partners that will always want to promote for you because they know that the stuff you put out is very good.

When ever you create and launch a new product having just 2 or 3 good jv partners / affiliates on board is all you need to generate a good number of sales and build some good momentum.

So, be consistent in the quality of your products, build good relationships with jv partners as you progress and the rest will follow and take care of itself.