Something that came up at last week's NC SGMP Conference was regarding feedback and reviews.  One of our hoteliers talked about the importance of the event survey that you receive after your event.  This information is taken very seriously by hotels, and as it turns out, it can make an employees day.

After your event or conference, the hotel that hosted your event will send you a survey asking for feedback about your experience.  Based on how you rated the hotel will affect where they are in the rankings for that week.  One of our hoteliers noted that when her hotel is number 1, 2, or 3 in the rankings rapport within the staff is up and they are more likely to provide fantastic service to the clients that are currently using the hotel. 

Personally, I had no idea that my feedback meant so much to the hotel!  In fact, if you mention someone by name that provided you with fantastic service they will be compensated for their service.  What a great way to keep employees motivated!  If a housekeeper or banquet staff member provided you with great service and you mention them by name in your post-program event survey, this hotelier said that staff member gets $100.  Can you imagine what that can do for the employee and morale? 

Something else that came up related to reviews is about methods of providing that feedback.  One hotelier noted that she always checks in with the group to see how things are going, and is usually told everything is going great.  Sometimes she later finds out (on the survey) that although they said everything was fine in person, that in fact, everything was not fine. 

Hotels would rather you tell them on-site that there was a problem and give them an opportunity to fix it, rather than hear about it afterwards and feel helpless to the situation.  Makes sense right?  It makes sense on paper of course, but feedback is hard.  Refer to this previous post: Making Any Conversation Easy for a step-by-step process to providing feedback.

Are you more likely to provide feedback based on positive or negative experiences?  Are you more likely to tell them in person or through a survey afterward?  Why?