Chris · August 14, 2007
Adam Healey over at VibeAgent dropped us an email to let us know about some cool new functionality rolled out yesterday on the site.
So...what’s new? Personalized maps for each registered user on the site. The new function is called “My Maps”, and it’s a customizable dashboard for each user to view their network’s friends, reviews, and groups. Users can quickly geo-search their personal network to make new friends, discover new places, and find the right hotel at the right price.
Adam and his team are excited about this new site feature, and so am I (who doesn’t love maps?). Here’s a snippet from the VibeAgent blog:
“We really wanted to make something special for you by creating this map as a powerful yet elegant platform for exploring the world through your eyes. We spent months working to create what we hope will be nothing less than an extraordinary user experience.”
In case you aren’t familiar with the site, VibeAgent is a next-generation hotel distribution community that enables volunteer reviewers called “agents” to share their hotel tastes and preferences on a very intuitive platform. Consumers can then make confident lodging decisions based on the recommendations of people just like them.
VibeAgent has created a simple experiential search tool that helps searchers quickly describe their ideal hotel experience. Then a neat little social search algorithm prioritizes the reviews of community members whose preferences match the consumer’s, and whose reviews have been deemed trustworthy. It’s a model that allows the consumer to actually connect with the reviewer; one that is intended to increase the trust factor for all of VibeAgent’s hotel bookings.
The reviewer community is already over one hundred strong (with over 2000 beta testers!), and community interactions are highly engaged so far with a sincere desire to help travellers make savvy purchase decisions.
No doubt one of the reasons why the VibeAgent community is so engaged lies with senior management. Adam Healey (co-founder and CEO) interacts tirelessly with the agent community, and with hospitality and travel bloggers and media. His philosophy is of the “give to receive” variety, and that’s what is ultimately driving the culture of the community. VibeAgent.com is a fun place to be!
One of the concerns that I have heard from hoteliers trying to leverage social media in their marketing mix is the challenge of managing negative consumer feedback. Tripadvisor, for example, allows hoteliers to post a “management response” to any perceived negative feedback. Personally I’m not thrilled with this feedback process because most hotelier responses, while apologetic, simply do not focus enough on problem resolution. Often these responses are defensive, contrived and flat.
Today I touched base with Adam Healey on this very issue, and I thought his response made very good sense:
Question: Many hoteliers are still concerned about managing negative feedback on the likes of Tripadvisor. Does VibeAgent have a strategy in place for individual hotels to respond to less-than-favourable reviews by agents?
Response: That’s a great issue, and one we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about internally. While our ideas are still evolving, and will continue to do so, here’s our take on it at this time.
The driving idea behind VibeAgent is that recommendations are more trustworthy when they come from friends, colleagues, and people in your network.
If I’m reading a review that you’ve written, Chris, I hardly need to have the hotelier’s voice pop up and interfere with that conversation. I don’t need to weed through hundreds of reviews, and I don’t need to de-code those reviews to figure out which ones to trust - If I read just one or two reviews from friends or colleagues, that’s way more valuable to me.
VibeAgent makes it easy for hoteliers to get in touch with people that have reviewed their establishments. Hoteliers can set up their very own account on VibeAgent and fully disclose their professional association. If they want to reach out to the reviewer directly, they can do so, in a personalized manner. Reviewers are also able to edit their reviews at any time, unlike on other sites. Thus, a positive connection between the hotelier and the reviewer may result in the reviewer modifying their initial review.
From a hotelier’s perspective, we provide a lot more information and access to the people that are reviewing their establishments. A hotelier can set up their own profile or interest group, and engage their guests long after they have checked out.
This is a real opportunity for hoteliers to extend the life cycle of their relationships with their guests, for the purposes of strengthening customer loyalty.
Invitations to VibeAgent are available!
If you haven’t had a chance to check out this very promising site, I still have five ‘beta’ invitations available. If you’d like to take a peek, (or comment below) and I’ll send you back a link to the login page.
Linkage
Michael Chaffin Interviews Adam Healey [IndieHotelier]
Websites Unveil Unique Approaches [MSNBC]
VibeAgent: Tripadvisor 2.0 [TechCrunch]
Darren Barefoot is a writer, technologist, and marketer based in Vancouver. He is also a prolific 
