Ivana Prvanović, COO FastReview: Review equals profit! This language is understood by absolutely every entrepreneur in tourism

We know that reviews are the holy grail in the tourism sector today. Reviews are your object's stars and customer preference. In fact, online reviews influence more than 90% of consumers before making a purchase, and more than 70% of consumers have more confidence in a local business if it has positive online reviews.

And this is precisely where the greatest power and business model of Fast Review (FR), a domestic travel tech product and a growing franchise that is spreading across Europe, lies. 

Fast Review helps get more positives online review and feedback from customers while they are still using the service and while their impressions are fresh, but it also helps to strengthen the brand vision and maintain customer satisfaction.

FR recently opened a franchise in Greece, so I spoke with Ivan Prvanović who recently assumed the position of COO (Chief Operating Officer) at FastReview.

Fast Review aims to strengthen its presence throughout Europe. Two weeks ago, he signed a contract and cooperation with the new franchisor Antonis Zotos, who bought the franchise for the Crete area and thus became a new member of the Fast Review family, states Prvanović and adds an interesting element of how the cooperation came about. 

"The cooperation came easily and naturally, in the sense that Mr. Antonis is the commercial director of Carwiz in Greece, which is our global client. As he was fully familiar with our work, the great potential of using our tool and the way it works decided to become our franchise partner. Antonis recognized the investment in the Fast Review franchise as his private investment. He will continue to work at Carwiz, and the team he assembled will spread Fast Review throughout Crete. Crete is an exceptional tourist destination that is growing and developing at a great rate speed from year to year. We were pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of hotels and restaurants on this beautiful island."

Also, Greece is a global tourist destination and brand. 

The tourism sector will contribute €2023 billion to the Greek economy by the end of 39,2, which is 4% below the pre-pandemic peak of €2019 billion in 40,8. This is an indicator of how tourism in Greece has recovered. Also, according to analyses, the tourism sector will create more than 17.000 jobs in Greece this year, reaching a peak in 2019 of 820.000 employees in travel and tourism. 

More than fertile ground for FastReview, as well as all other travel products and services. Expectations are high, especially since the entire tourism and hospitality sector in Greece is extremely digitized.

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 "Today, digitization is simply imposed as a necessity. The reason for this is the extremely large and rapid development of technologies and the strengthening of the IT sector. In the turbulent times in which we live, we now have the opportunity to use all the advantages and benefits of the digital world with the aim of making business easier, faster, more transparent and more sustainable. It seems to me that in our part of Europe there is still a slight resistance to innovation and that people and companies have fear, which I believe stems from ignorance and insufficient information, but this trend is also changing quite quickly, because the market itself forces us to adapt . Two years ago, when we started working, the situation in our region was very bad when we talk about new technologies, specifically the NFC technology with which our tool works. We soon realized that first of all it is necessary to educate the market, provide it with new knowledge and information, then create a market need, where the sale itself was the last step. Today the picture is much different and now it is much easier to work. The Greeks are excellent hosts and are absolutely aware of their global tourism potential. With this in mind, I believe that Fast Review will quickly position itself and be recognized by local businessmen and the entire tourism sector."

Ivana Prvanović, COO FastReview: Satisfied clients rarely leave a positive comment. In contrast, dissatisfied clients do so 100% of the time. 

Somehow the impression is that Croatia is trotting quite a bit for digitization, and thus the awareness of the importance of reviews? Reviews are the most important currency today, even more important than basic stars. How does FR help hotels and restaurants, i.e. the tourism sector, to significantly increase the number of reviews?

"I wouldn't say that (only) Croatia is pursuing digitalization, it seems to me that the entire region is only at the beginning of this important, much-needed and complex process. As for the reviews themselves, I will explain their importance in today's business very simply: Review = Profit ! This language is understood by absolutely every entrepreneur", emphasizes Prvanović.

I certainly agree with Prvanović here, because as I stated above, nowadays reviews are more important than stars. Also, reviews are nothing new, in fact they always have been and will remain the most powerful marketing tool. Until recently, the world functioned on the principle of referral and we are all aware of its importance. Reviews are just digital personal recommendations or in the domain of the times we live in, even recommendations have become digital.

"People should now understand that nowadays the recommendation has received its digital form called "review". Also, until recently, we only had one-way communication from companies to the market, to us customers, guests, consumers, in the sense that only we could read about them on their websites and other communication channels that were current at the time. With the development of technologies, this communication became two-way, so customers got the opportunity to express their attitude, opinion or experience. You noticed how in recent years websites that were used to be numerous and where companies advertised, placed their banners, paid campaigns, etc. However, brands realized that they had to strengthen their personal communication channels and build and show greater connection, intimacy and personal contact with their customers, clients. chat boxes were introduced en masse on websites, everyone started positioning themselves on social networks, strengthening and developing their loyalty programs, in order to show that it is important for them to listen and hear what the audience thinks about them, to adapt to market requirements... Google has also introduced the possibility that companies can contact their customers, leaving a review, an expression of their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The idea of ​​the review is to have a realistic picture and insight into someone's business. I believe that our people are also aware of how important customer feedback is. This is supported by the image that we see every day on social networks, where profile and company owners regularly post messages from their satisfied clients from their inbox and dm to their feed, trying to attract as much attention as possible, gain new clients and demonstrate their credibility. They should do that, but in a different way, through reviews," says Prvanović.

O the importance of reviews and how much they affect business, we have written several times on the HrTurizam.hr portal, but this is also an ideal opportunity to repeat some of the data and research. I also asked Prvanović to point out data related to research on reviews. Although every entrepreneur should be clear about the importance of positive reviews, as well as negative ones, it is good to remind yourself through various researches. 

"The data that I am going to share with you now is publicly available data and very important statistical data, and on this occasion I urge you to read it carefully and think about it carefully: 90% of consumers say that their decision to buy is influenced by online reviews, 54% of consumers will visit a website after reading online reviews, 73% of consumers trust a local business more if it has positive reviews, 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, and online reviews can increase sales by more than 200%," states Prvanović and emphasizes that reviews make our business reliable and respectable.

Additionally, Google reviews are also important when it comes to SEO optimization and one of the most important ways you can promote trust in your business. A positive review can "push" a company to the top of organic searches, emphasizes Prvanović and adds that by listening to what people say about us, we can significantly improve our business, adapt to their needs, ensure competitiveness, increase our revenues and, most importantly, keep up with the modern market trends.

"We have been living in capitalism for a long time and consumer psychology should be crystal clear to us. If someone sees dozens, hundreds, and today thousands of positive experiences, it is certain that they will make a purchase decision easier and faster. It may not seem like a big deal, but even one positive review on Google can make a difference." Prvanović points out.

The biggest problem lies in the fact that satisfied clients rarely leave a positive comment. And this, in my opinion, is one of the main advantages of FastReview. In contrast, dissatisfied clients do so 100% of the time. And we all want our guests to leave positive feedback if they were really satisfied with our service or product. 

"We came to the data that says that even 93% of people have a positive experience with products or services, but only 12% of them will leave a positive review on your website. On the other hand, those 7% of people who had a negative experience with your products or services, almost everyone will express their dissatisfaction."

At first, I can kind of immediately agree with this fact. Finally, try to remember when you left a review? When was it negative or when were you satisfied with the service? And in what proportion - positive or negative? Unfortunately, we ourselves would rather give a negative review than a positive one. 

"Having seen this, we created our extremely innovative and efficient tool called Fast Review. It serves and gives the opportunity to collect a huge number of positive reviews from your customers, clients, guests, immediately, on the spot, while their experience lasts, and all this with one click and in a few seconds. We created a real miracle and I can't hide that we are very proud. Our tool is light and easy to use, fast and efficient, fun and very powerful. This is exactly the reason why today we cooperate with the world's largest hotel chains, restaurant chains , as well as with all other industries outside of tourism (education, retail, transportation, healthcare, real estate, state and public sector, auto industry, media and entertainment, legal sector, non-profit sector, sports and recreation, professional services, logistics and distribution, human resources, insurance, marketing, construction sector...)"

I would also like to emphasize that the review happens immediately, while the positive experience lasts, and not later or a few days later. This is a great advantage, because the guest is in our "sales showroom" and is satisfied with the service or product, and immediately gives a review - the way he feels. If we do not then "catch" him to leave a review, there is a high probability that he will not even leave one, regardless of the fact that he is delighted with our service/product, but later he will leave a negative review if we have not met their expectations.  

Also, although it is both logical and natural on the one hand, scientific research has also been conducted to show that online hotel reviews are significantly affected by bad weather conditions on the day they are written.

Does bad weather affect hotel guests when writing reviews? If a guest writes reviews when it's raining or bad weather, will the review be more negative or worse? Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, tackled exactly these questions in an exhaustive study, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

This empirical research investigated: does bad weather as a salient aspect of consumers' offline environment affect the content of providing online reviews. The study reveals that online hotel reviews are significantly affected by bad weather conditions on the day the reviews are written. 

The research used a unique dataset combining 12 years of hotel booking and review data and 3 million hotel bookings, information on weather conditions at the consumer/reviewer's home and hotel address, to examine how 340 anonymous online hotel reviews were affected by the weather on the day they were written.

The results convincingly showed that, on average, bad weather (rain or snow) reduced the reviewers' rating of their previous hotel experience, that the reviewer almost downgraded the hotel from 5 to 4 stars. Bad weather also forced reviewers to write longer, more critical and detailed reviews.

Read more about other research results in the attachment: /// Research: Online hotel reviews are significantly affected by bad weather on the day they are written

By the way, I had the opportunity to test and experience FR in Croatia, i.e. to see how it works in the field - in a hotel and catering facility.

What I have noticed is that it is often a problem with partners who already have FR, that they do not use it effectively enough in direct communication with guests, except for stickers (labels) which are often not visible. In one hotel, there was a FR mark at the reception, but no one asked me to leave a review when checking out of the hotel, which is a real opportunity, if we ask the guest if everything was fine and if he was satisfied with the hotel? If the answer is yes, just one sentence is enough: Do you want to leave a review now? Most will probably say yes, especially since it is NFT technology and via FR, just touch your mobile phone and you are immediately on the review. So the process is extremely short, without the need to register or open applications. Basically, it was a missed opportunity, and I went on my way and "of course" later forgot to leave a review (as I now remembered that situation, I will immediately write a review for the mentioned hotel). 

On the other hand, a waiter in a restaurant after dinner and when paying asked me if I was satisfied with the service and the food. Upon my positive answer, the waiter thanked me and asked me, if I was ready, to leave a review right away. He pulled out a FastReview card and suggested I leave a review. Which I did. Although there was a FR sign with a QR code on the table - but most of the guests do not know what it is about, and that is why direct contact with the guest is crucial to encourage the guest to review through a short conversation, especially if the guest is satisfied. 

I shared my experience with Ivan, and asked him for a comment as well as what is her advice on how to make the best use of FR when it has already been implemented? 

"I like to communicate directly and openly, and precisely in connection with the problem you mention, I want to mention an old proverb that says that a fish always stinks from the head. I noticed that in the entire region there are no conferences, seminars, trainings aimed at senior hotel management. As well as at the beginning of the conversation, I will mention that education is necessary. Therefore, it is necessary, first of all, to educate the directors and managers in the hotel industry, because when they understand the importance of everything we are talking about, they will find a way to delegate it to all sectors and lower levels. Our product serves deepening the communication between the guest and the hotel, making it more intimate and of higher quality.

Each of our cards has its own statistics and analytics, and management can easily and simply monitor the work and engagement of each employee and propose a benefit system based on that. We also have great examples of companies that, above all, took our tool very seriously and achieved extremely good results in a very short time. That engagement paid off for them many times over and returned in the form of large turnover and profit. In general, we all need to work to change the entire consciousness of the population and to understand the review as something quite natural. Everything is possible when you want! I really invite all companies to contact us, request a meeting and talk, and our team will provide them with all the explanations, necessary information and a tailor-made offer that will fully meet their expectations and be adapted to their work and the functioning of the system. For starters, have them visit our website and our social networks," concludes Prvanović.

Finally, it is good to point out that it is part of this year's event Franchise Brand Leader Award 2022 on which they are declared the best franchise in Croatia, Fast Review was declared the fastest growing Croatian franchise on the regional market.