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Showing posts with label customer reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customer reviews. Show all posts

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Feedback from our Parking Clients is Invaluable!


Did you know that 90% of the food items sold today at McDonald's were names/ideas stemming from franchisees? The most respected franchise system in the world became the most successful franchise company around the globe simply because the company insisted on input from their entrepreneur network.

I would like to thank John Youkhana (Chicago Midway - Airways Parking and Midway EZPark) for sharing his thoughts about ways to drive more online shoppers into his parking business...and yours. We like the way you think John.

I have provided an illustration below to support John's comments. In this image, there are three companies - American Airlines, Thrifty Car Rental and Marriott - delivering the same simple message....BOOK DIRECTLY
WITH US AND RECEIVE THE BEST RATE.

Own your customers!
After years of watching Southwest Airlines roll-the-dice and position their brand in one of the most competitive industries, other travel companies have decided to follow their success.

Later this month, SMC will create an email campaign for our parking clients with a similar message. We will design a colorful badge for the campaign and then make it available to you for your website. In the meantime, we would like your feedback on educating the traveler.

Why reserve directly with us? Or why reserve with us? Or why you should reserve with us? Or list the Top 5 Reasons to Reserve Direct at www.AirwayParking.com.

1. Accurate pricing. Many 3rd party websites may advertise pricing a certain way to confuse the customer. And the customer is surprised at check out. On our website, simply put in the accurate check in and check out times and there won't be any surprises at check out.

2. No Messy Deposits. All 3rd party websites charge you a deposit which makes it hard for you to cancel your reservation should you need to at last minute. They also keep the deposit which costs the parking lot money.

3. Reservation Service Fees. All 3rd party websites tend to "try and stiff" the customer especially since to them once you reserve your done. Typically these 3rd party websites will up-charge the reservation 2 - 5 dollars which is simply lost money to you. Don't fall for this trick.

4. Cancellation - All 3rd party websites give you the run around when you try to cancel a reservation and if the cancellation is less than 24 hours before your trip, Forget About it!. However, canceling a reservation on our website free, fast, simple and real-time.

5. Our website is your one stop shop for all your Airport parking needs. Airways Parking at Midway Airport provides you with valuable information on the parking lot, our best rates, and easy-to-use reservation system.

Another thought! Maybe as a follow up we can ask our customers for a quote or even a short video speaking about our reservation process. The ultimate goal is to find customers who have used the other reservation service and have them share the differences that solidify these points.

The bottom line is this - testimonials and reviews are essential necessities in the online world. And if together we can deliver a message to help travelers find the best parking price at your airport, this is a good thing.

Monday, January 10, 2011

How Important are Customer Reviews?


In a word -- VERY.

Before we get started on this important issue, let's identify both search engines and their respective pages. Google's business community is known as "Places" and Bing's is "Local". We will refer to these communities as P&L since this call-to-action will affect your bottom line.

Whether it's Google or Bing, reviews are more important than ever. If Google or Bing persist with putting competitors on your P&L pages, then the best way to deal with it is to push them as far down as possible. And the best way to do this is to add more data to your details and get more customer reviews.

How do you get more reviews:

Direct your happy customers, your reviewers, to your P&L pages. Simply ask your customers to post reviews on either Google (gmail) or Bing (live, msn, hotmail) or both. When you’re soliciting online reviews, don’t be shy about directing users to the P&L pages.

What about reviews posted on other websites?

If a customer left you a glowing review on Yelp or your Facebook page, it may be worth an e-mail asking if they’d mind reposting on the P&L pages. If they were so happy with their experience that they’re leaving one review, it’s likely they wouldn’t mind reposting it somewhere else, as well. Educate them on your preferred review process.

So how important are customer reviews?

With all branded services equal on the P&L pages, the company with the best and most reviews will be chosen when up against a competitor who has few and/or bad reviews. Make reviews a part of your online marketing strategy.

For additional information on getting noticed in your online community, I found this article interesting for any size business. Please click here to read.