Posts Tagged ‘customer service’

Hotel Owners Not Sure About Online Review Sites

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Well, that’s not entirely true. Hoteliers with happy customers are reaping the benefits of increasingly visible recommendations. But not every hotel has happy customers…

  • The popular hotel review resource TripAdvisor.com is facing lawsuits from hotels claiming the site is bad for their businesses.
  • Anyone can post an anonymous review of a hotel on the site. TripAdvisor argues that this makes for the most honest reviews, but opponents say it creates a protected space for libel and defamation. Sites like TripAdvisor are usually exempt from these accusations because they just publish reviews – they don’t write or edit them.
  • TripAdvisor typically doesn’t remove old or inflammatory reviews, but it does allow hotel owners to post responses to negative reviews. In response to the popularity and influence of these review sites, consulting firms have sprung up promising to monitor and control online customer feedback.

Facts & Figures

  • There are 35 million hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
  • TripAdvisor was sued in 2009 over a review that claimed the owner of a hotel restaurant was seen buying drinks for a prostitute.
  • Revinate, a San Francisco image protection firm, charges hotels hundreds of dollars a month to track online reviews.

Best Quote

“We have pretty happy customers, so something like TripAdvisor works in our favor.” – Niki Leondakis, President and CEO of Klimpton Hotels

McDonald’s To Serve Billions More, Faster Than Ever

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Could shaving off seconds from a Big Mac order retain some customers for the fast-food giant? What about ordering while waiting in line at the register?

  • Even-though McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain, it ranks 7th out of the ten top fast-food chains on the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
  • In an effort to get more customers through their “golden arches,” McDonald’s will focus on serving burgers faster, fitting more food on every tray and squeezing more cars into the drive-through line.
  • The company is experimenting with hand-held ordering devices that would allow workers to come from behind the counter to improve efficiency and shorten long lines.

Facts & Figures

  • Sales in the last year at McDonald’s restaurants (open for at least 13 months) climbed 3.8%.
  • McDonald’s aims to serve each customer within 90 seconds of their order.
  • The company has an “innovation center” 20 miles southwest of their headquarters in Illinois, where they practice new serving techniques and other new ideas.

Best Quote

“The moment of truth comes in the transaction. We have to get better at that moment of truth.” – Jeff Stratton, McDonald’s Chief Restaurant Officer