A resort app is a great tool for promoting your ski resort, improving the customer experience and increasing customer engagement. It facilitates a live communication channel with resort guests and can create new revenue streams by integrating with direct booking. With GPS tracking, it also allows skiers and snowboarders to track their runs and easily find their way around the resort. But, if not managed consistently, resort apps like any other aspect of the resort image, can become a point of frustration for your customers and damage the reputation of your brand.

 

So, how do you ensure your app is a force for good?
That’s where Reputation Management comes into play. Reputation Management is something anyone with an online presence should be doing each and every day; to listen to our guests at each stage of their customer journey and then use the feedback received to directly shape the improvements we can apply to enhance their experience and turn them into loyal brand ambassadors.

 

Unfortunately, when it comes to mobile resort apps, the reality is very different. For many destinations, the resort app is seen as an afterthought, having less importance than other areas of the physical resort. But, as more and more guests look to their smartphones to solve real life dilemmas, it’s imperative that the resort app be given the same love and attention to detail as the rest of the destination. After all, the reputation of your brand is at stake.

 

So what do we consider app Reputation Management? It’s just about reading and answering customer reviews, right? Wrong. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about listening to your customers and making sure their opinions are directed to the right departments so that they can affect the appropriate change. Reputation management starts by ensuring your app reflects your brand. This means ensuring the app design is in line with the brand as a whole. Then, it’s about ensuring the app works as it should, providing a positive customer experience. Making sure that the information and offers communicated are up to date, correct, and that all the tools are working correctly is crucial.

 

Then, it’s about listening to your customers. Through Reputation Management you can learn about the feedback on your app and compare them over time, and then use that data to ensure the app continues to improve and adapt to meet the changing needs of the customer.

 

Let’s take a look at what a complete app Reputation Management service should include by looking at the example of SPOTLIO’s Premium App Reputation Management service.

 

Here it is:

• Regularly tracks and shares the average app ratings to monitor the evolution of user direct perception and feedback.
• Regularly assesses all the reviews left by the users in the app stores with special focus given during peak time frames.
• Manages the reviews depending on the type of feedback provided by the user. A carefully worded response is sent to each app review.
• Activation of the App Rating System which helps increase the quantity of positive reviews left in the app stores and reduces the number of negative reviews.
• All responses left by unhappy users via the App Rating System are followed up internally and channeled to the appropriate department: Issues are sent to support to be resolved, Suggestions are sent to product development to be analyzed, If it is related to the resort itself, we notify the Resort. All types of feedback are of high value because they help shape future app developments.
• Implementation of the Users Survey: surveys can be set up within the app to receive more accurate and in depth feedback from the app users. All feedback is analyzed, sent to your team and the relevant SPOTLIO departments to be used in the app development process.
• Feedback is shared with you so you are aware of what customers think about the app, your brand, and the resort.
• SPOTLIO is a completely white label solution so all of the actions are done in the customer’s name to show  users that you are listening. This also serves to strengthen the relationship between the resort and guests and build brand strength.
• Whenever the user’s feedback is about something strictly related to the resort and not the app, SPOTLIO reaches out to the customer promptly so they can decide how best to respond.

 

At the end of the day, your resort app represents your company and your brand, so having a Premium Reputation Management service active for your app demonstrates to the customers that you are listening to their feedback and actively working to provide the best app experience.

 

Remember, your brand is the most valuable commodity and every aspect of your business, including your resort app, will either positively or negatively affect that brand perception.

Choosing the right partner to provide a complete app Reputation Management service will ultimately lead to happier customers at your resort. This protects and builds on your hard earned brand strength which is the heart of any successful resort.

 

To find out more about SPOTLIO’s Premium App Reputation Management Service book a free chat today.