Social Media Background Checks

We’ve all heard someone preach the sentiment at one point in our lives; “be careful what you post on the internet.”  With modern technology and advancements in social media, it’s very common for people to post their entire lives on the internet for the world to see.  For some, this is not big deal and they have nothing to hide.  For others, they’re painting a picture of themselves that’s damaging to their reputation and ultimately their employment opportunities.  Employers don’t want to hire someone with a bad image to represent their company.  Because of this, employers will frequently turn to engines like Facebook and Google to do a quick background check on their potential new hires.  CareerBuilder released a new survey that found, “51 percent of employers who research job candidates on social media said they’ve found content that caused them to not hire the candidate.”

Upon doing a Google search of a person’s name, you can see their social media accounts, arrest histories, newspaper appearances and anything else that may have been put online.  This is a good practice for your human resources team to use when trying to avoid expensive background checks on potential employees.

So what do you look for in a person’s social media accounts that might make them a bad hire?  Here are just a few examples:

–Bad mouthing former/current employers

–Discriminatory comments

–Links to criminal behavior such as drugs, underage drinking, etc.

–Sharing confidential info from previous employers

While people often view social media as an opportunity to seek out negative qualities in job candidates, this isn’t always the case.  If you’re in the final stages of making a decision and can’t decide between a few candidates, their social media pages can provide insight as to who might be a better fit.  Here are some positive things you can look for to separate the best suited candidates:

–Social media portrays a professional image of the candidate

–Demonstrates strong writing and communication skills among peers

–Background information supports their professional qualifications for the job

–Get a good feel of a candidate’s personality to see if they fit in with the company

While you certainly can’t truly know someone without meeting them and taking the time to get to know them, social media can help you understand who you’re dealing with when it comes to hiring new employees.

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For the full article, please click the following link:

http://www.htrends.com/trends-detail-sid-78636.html

5 Free Technology Tools for your Hotel

With thousands of apps, websites and programs all looking to solve your problems, nobody has the time to sort through which ones are worth using.  Fortunately, there are people who have done the hard part for you.  Here are 5 technology tools that can be used in hospitality for your benefit – for free!

1. Google Alerts.  This one I use personally and professionally.  Google allows you to set up “alerts” based on keywords of your choice.  It compiles a list of articles (news and blogs) relevant to any number of keywords you choose and sends you a daily, weekly or monthly email with all relevant news.  This can be great for salespeople and revenue managers to monitor their market and understand current economics in the industry.

I personally use it to monitor the industry and any trends/news that may be relevant to our clients.  It can also help you monitor things like competitors and management changes in your area.  The possibilities are endless with this tool.

2. Yesware.  This program is designed to track your email efforts.  Yesware will allow you to track who has opened (or not opened) your emails, where they opened it, the date and time they opened it and even how many times they opened it.  It may sound a little too invasive, but it’s effectiveness can’t be disputed.  This can help you develop your subject lines, sales pitch and display name to figure out what provides you with the highest number of opened emails.  Develop a template from the more successful emails and send it out to your sales team to use.

3. Boomerang.  This program helps you to track the chaos in your inbox.  It allows you to set up reminders to save you from several problems everyone suffers.  For example, you can set up an email to be sent again if a response is not received within a certain timeframe.  Want to remember something coming up such as a flight or an event?  You can schedule the email you’ve already received to be sent to your inbox again at the time of your event or flight.

4. SmartRecruiters.  SmartRecruiters is a complete hiring tool that is FREE for companies to use.  It allows you to post a job opening and it will post the position to several free job aggregate sites.  Want to expand your search scope?  It also provides a list of ALL job aggregate sites that you are able to post to for a fee.  This site allows you to post your job openings to almost every job aggregate site out there from a single platform.  It’s easy, quick and free.

5. If This Than That (IFTTT).  “IFTT is a simple solution to a complex problem.”  It merges two separate networks and shares data when a trigger is released.  For example, it can be setup so that if a customer posts a photo of themselves on their Instagram and tags your hotel, that photo will automatically create a draft post on your blog.  This allows you to do two crucial things, engage your guests on a personal level and create digital content on your site.  Creating daily content can be challenging, this program syncs with several other tools such as Google+, Twitter, Gmail and more to allow you to be present at all times on your social media channels with live, guest generated content.  While this sounds complicated, it’s extremely simple to setup.

The best part about all these programs is that they’re free!  By not utilizing these tools you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to expand your digital presence and simplify your current practices.

Follow Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association on Social Media for industry trends, news and information!

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Source:

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Article/13215/5-free-tech-tools-for-hoteliers

Online Reputation Management Gone Wrong

**UPDATE**

Just recently we were at a hotel and upon arriving, as I always do, I “checked in” to the property on Foursquare via smart phone.  This is a practice that thousands of people do with literally everywhere they go.  Upon checking in, I was welcomed with a laundry list of negative reviews about the property.  None of these reviews were responded to by members of the property but rather flooded with comments from other Foursquare users agreeing and disagreeing with the negative comments that had been made.  The majority were not positive comments.  This is another medium that needs to be monitored for online reputation.  Managing your online reputation is crucial; as this post continues to detail.  This was a perfect example of not monitoring their online reputation.  Instead of attending to these guests and possibly changing their minds, the negative comments continue to flow and build on one another.

**END UPDATE**

We always like talking about online reputation management here because it’s such a simple and valuable tool for your organization.  Unhappy customers take to the internet to trash your property on websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.  The beauty of this practice is that not only are other guests able to see it, so is your sales and marketing team.  You’re given the glorious opportunity to make things right with that unhappy guest where in the real world they can bash your property by word-of-mouth to all their friends and colleagues and there’s nothing you can do to defend yourself.  Companies that monitor these reviews and appropriately respond to the negative comments not only fix things with the unhappy customer but often find the negative comment deleted soon after.  A Scottish hotel fired their manager who recently took it upon himself to respond to a few customer reviews and showed us exactly what NOT to do.

After several guests wrote negative reviews on this 3/5 star Scottish hotel one of the responses found from the hotel’s manager read, “Thanks for your money, sucker. Long may the idiot line continue.”  As obvious as it seems, this customer did not delete their comment or change their mind.  These reviews and responses help construct an image of your company.

Online reputation management is a free and easy tool to use that can greatly benefit your property.  Set aside a few hours a week to browse through these websites and respond to negative (and positive) reviews to let guests know you care.  Sometimes it’s hard to add that “special touch” that causes a guest to return when you’re busy, this gives you the opportunity to do it once they’ve left.

Click the link below to see the rest of the negative comments this hotel manager left on some guest reviews:

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/external/750386770.html

10 Industry Trends to Watch in 2014

10 Industry Trends to Watch in 2014

1. Millenials.  The time has come; younger generations are growing up and they’re starting to spend that newly found disposable income.  Millenials are approaching their peak earning, spending and travel years and many organizations in the travel industry are taking advantage of a big opportunity.  Getting ahold of these folks young can create a life-long customer that touts their entire life to a network of thousands of people on their multiple social media accounts.  You don’t want to miss the wagon on this one.
2. Speed and Precision.  Younger generations have set a new standard of expectation when it comes to fast and easy booking, checking in and sufficient Wi-Fi speeds wherever they are traveling.  Older generations have taken a liking to this idea and have also begun making all of their travel plans through a digital medium.
3. WOW Customer Service.  This isn’t necessarily a trend of 2014, but rather an ongoing trend year-after-year in the hospitality industry.  Providing your guest with remarkable service is the only sure way to create repeat business.  Give them a unique experience and not only will you create repeat business but they’ll also tell their entire social media network about how your business managed to truly WOW them.
4. Leadership.  Put your money where your mouth is.  If you want your employees to act a certain way, treat guests in a way that forms a connection and be outstanding employees; lead by example.  Instill the ideals you would like to see in your organization and then show them how it’s done.  Be the change that you would like to see in your organization and others will begin to follow.
5. Expect More International Visitors.  “China is preparing to send about 100 million leisure tourists into the international market every year.”  Based off of previous numbers, that means an additional 10 million visitors to the US from China alone.
6. Social Media and Mobile will be Inseparable.  Mobile has allowed users to live in real time by updating their networks on their activities and happenings as they occur.  Millenials and Baby-Boomers alike will Tweet, post and Instagram everything they consider worth sharing; so give them something to share!
7. Content Marketing will Replace Traditional Advertising.  Advertising has come to overrun our lives and because of it, people have adapted an ability to drown out traditional advertising.  Social media, blogs and other digital content have become the new form of advertising.  “Simply put, you need to create and share content while engaging people if you want to be recognized moving forward.”
8. Renewed Focus on Property Websites.  Considering the amount of people who research and book their accommodations online, this should be obvious.  This is an opportunity to offer special rates if customers choose to book online through your property’s website without the burden of OTC taxes.
9. Review Site Tactics.  “TripAdvisor has become the world’s most popular travel website with 34 million unique users each month.”  Companies like Yelp and Google have also cashed in on this growing network of customer reviews.  Use this as an opportunity to field good and bad reviews from various customers.  Often times a customer will delete their negative review if the property engages with their comments and attempts to make the situation right.  Prospective customers will also use these reviews to make their lodging selections so it’s important to be active!
10. Reputation Management.  This goes hand-in-hand with number 9.  With the thousands of reviews and millions of people reading them, it’s crucial to be actively engaged in both positive and negative reviews.  A strong or weak reputation will be shared with the world on social media and search engines whether you like it or not.  It’s your duty to manage them.

What else do you think is a strong trend to watch for in 2014?  Technology is changing the way the hospitality industry operates and it’s essential to keep up with these trends if you want to remain successful.

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4063217.html