eBook-7DirtySecrets

7 DIRTY LIT TLE SECRETS FOR GET TING
GREAT CUSTOMER REVIEWSby Genevieve Atkinson

2© Fossick.com Ltd.All Rights Reserved.
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Firstly, welcome - and
thanks for joining Fossick.
“Good grief, look what that customer has written about us”.
If you’ve ever said or felt this, then this e-book is for you.
You may be wondering why we’ve gone into the business of writing a
book - after all, you’d think the site would keep us busy enough. Well, it’s
our way of giving something back to you, and responding to what we see
as a growing need for accommodation owners to be informed about how
to manage, and make the most of, customer reviews.
We all love to read and hear positive comments about ourselves, but the
reality is that customer feedback is always going to be a mix of both the
good and the bad. Even the most glowing reviewers won’t be able to
resist suggesting some improvements.
We understand that dealing with this sort of criticism can be hard, so this
e-book is here to highlight the simple steps you can take to enable you to
get best reviews you can; to take what you have and make it shine.
We believe that when you learn to work with reviews, you will gain
enormous benefits that will not only reduce the amount of money you
have to spend on marketing, but also help you attract more customers.
Why call them the 7 dirty little secrets?
They’re dirty because reviews are messy
Star ratings and other schemes are about creating standards and
measures. Reviews are the complete opposite.They are simply opinions
- personal and subjective. You can’t look at them in the same light as
a rating system, and you can’t expect them to have a balanced view.
Individually, a review is just one person’s experience shared. Which makes
managing reviews a dirty, messy business.

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They’re little because they all relate to small changes you can make - right
now
There’s nothing earth-shatteringly new in this e-book. What we discuss
is really just common sense. Because reviews are so messy and often
so personal, common sense and a balanced response to both their
importance and influence often goes out the window. What we hope
to present to you here is a framework that will help you step back and
manage reviews like you do any other aspect of your business - with the
utmost integrity and professionalism.
“When you stop worrying about what
you can’t control, you have time to
change the things you can control.”
— 60 empowering quotes to help you get things done

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SECRET 1:
Choose a
smaller group
of customers
to delight
Very few businesses take the time to really understand their target
customers - and accommodation owners are no exception.
Making the decision to focus on a target customer does not mean you
have to turn away everyone else; it just means that whilst you happily
serve all audiences, you shine for your target audience.
Take McDonalds, for example, a burger chain for everyone, except that
their prime target audience is actually young kids. They provide covered
playgrounds, masses of high chairs and a new toy with every Happy Meal.
As a parent I might not be enamoured with McDonalds’ food, but their
target audience - my young kids - adore them and it’s hard to drive past
their golden arches without the kids noticing, asking, and then begging
to stop. They know how to turn on the shine for their target audience.
What’s wrong with targeting everyone?
That’s simple: “because you can’t please everyone”. Without a target
audience; without a subset of customers that you aim to delight -
you’ll fail to delight anyone. This, in turn, makes getting good reviews,
positive referrals and repeat business really tough, because none of your
customers are walking away with a “we loved this place” attitude. The
result is that your marketing has to work twice as hard at generating
enquiries from new customers.

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What are the advantages of a clearly defined
customer?
If you have a subset of customers who love staying with you so much that
they want to share it with other like-minded souls, you’re automatically
quadrupling your marketing budget, as their positive enthusiasm sells
more effectively to others than anything else - even discounting.
When you combine all the different types of accommodation available
to customers today: B&Bs, hostels, apartments, holiday homes and even
private rooms in people’s homes, the array of choices is dizzying and yet
there’s often not a lot difference in price.
By being clear about your target audience you can differentiate yourself
on more than just price, thereby standing out from your competitors and
providing something of real value to your customers.
What happens if I target the wrong customers?
One of the key reasons accommodation providers receive bad reviews is
that they are targeting the wrong customer or not clearly defining the
right customers in the first place.
I know a great hotel in Sydney that gets terrible reviews. It’s really
central, clean, well-priced and has only one major drawback: there is no
lift and a long flight of steep stairs. You can guess what ninety percent of
the the negative comments are about.
There are plenty of travellers for whom this would not be a problem, yet
because they don’t mention this drawback in their marketing they set
expectations they can’t possibly meet. If they were more upfront about
who their service is right for they would avoid a huge number of negative
comments.
“don’t know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying
to please everybody.”
— Bill Cosby

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SECRET 2:
Give customers
reasons to
choose you
over the place
next door
Why do your customers choose your place? What’s the one thing that
makes you stand out from the crowd? If your answer is “central location,
modern rooms and great customer service” you might want to think
again. Because that’s exactly the same answer as the place next door. You
need to be unique.
“When you work really hard but
don’t know where you’re going
it’s called stress. When there’s a
destination it’s called passion.”
— Simon Sinek, author & TED speaker on “Start with the why”

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One way to do this is to take the focus away from each physical benefit
and instead tell customers why that benefit is great for them.
Compare these two examples
Top 5 reasons to stay with us:
• Centrally located near shops and restaurants.
• Modern clean rooms.
• Close to the museum.
• Heated pool.
• Free parking.
Top 5 reasons to stay with us:*
• On the same road with the world famous Giordano’s
pizza and Lynn’s Fresh Bread
• Cheapest and most reliable WIFI on the island.
• Rooms can be configured to your needs, with desks,
lamps, cots, extra beds.
• Pool is crystal clear all the time. Floaties and
snorkeling gear for kids are free to use.
• Daily Tours available to snorkeling and scuba diving
and island tours.
Whilst the first set of reasons are reasonable, there is a much greater
emotional connection with the second set. Suddenly I feel like I’m there
* Courtesy of Lynn’s Getaway Accommodation, Samoa

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already. You will always win over more customers when you connect on
an emotional level.
Why price is a lousy influencer
There’s no doubt that price plays a massive part in the decision process of
most customers. When someone considers going on holiday they usually
have a budget in mind or an expectation about cost.
In order to get customers to consider paying more to stay with you than
at the place next door, you need to give them reasons - little tidbits
that allow them to tell themselves “it’s worth it”. Perhaps you’re closer
to town, within walking distance of key attractions, or have just been
renovated - all of these things help to highlight why you’re worth it.
Accommodation is not like an airline seat; location, parking, wifi
availability, menu - and any other number of issues and emotional factors
play into where we sleep, eat and spend our holidays.
Don’t assume that customers know why to pick you. Make sure you give
them great reasons, emotional reasons to treat themselves by staying
with you.

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SECRET 3:
Customers want
free samples
If you ran a company that sold nappies or soup you’d know that one
of the best ways to attract new customers would be to give out free
samples. Will everyone like your product? Of course not. But the aim is
to convert a percentage of new customers who have never tried your
product before.
How does taste testing work in the accommodation
industry?
A taste test or a free sample is all about psychology - and the
same psychology applies whether you’re selling baked beans or
accommodation.
A large proportion of your potential guests are people who have never
stayed with you; by choosing you, they’re making a decision to purchase
a product they’ve never seen or tried, and can’t return - which is why they
often stick with what they know. But you can reduce their unfamiliarity
and entice them to purchase your product by offering “free samples”.
How to use reviews as your “free samples”
Customer reviews provide the reassurance that people need in order to
know they’re making a good decision.
Most of the barriers to travelling are around taking a risk; doing new
and unknown things. In the past, when people booked through a travel
agent they relied on that agent to tell them, “this place is great”. But
nowadays, with most booking being done online, customers no longer

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have this reassurance. Instead they find themselves confronted with a lot
of options to stay in unfamiliar locations - and all for a very similar price.
To choose is to take a risk. In this context, brands become important,
but so too do reviews. It’s no surprise that the massive increase in online
booking over the past five to ten years has been accompanied by a
corresponding rise in the sharing of customer reviews. People are looking
to each other to provide the psychological reassurance that they are
making a good purchase.
As an industry we can debate the trust, value and legitimacy of customer
reviews all we like. But the reality is that they are a really good way
to help customers feel comfortable about making a purchase. Smart
businesses realise this, and work hard to provide their customers with free
samples in the form of reviews - from people just like them.

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SECRET 4:
You must ‘share’
the microphone
around
Have you ever been to a conference where the speaker asks for audience
opinion? Did you speak up?
Most of us just sink into our seats and hope the speaker carries on
talking. In order to get a true gauge of audience feeling, speakers will
often resort to walking around the room and directing questions to
specific people.
The same is true of reviews. If you sit back and wait for guests to share,
then you won’t receive much feedback. The reviews you do get will
also tend to be from the more naturally vocal and opinionated, or the
outliers, who are motivated by a highly positive or negative experience.
To get a wider variety of people commenting you need to be proactive
and provide some other external motivation to get them to contribute
(this is one of the reasons we generate reviews in cooperation with
fundraising goals, as it helps create motivation).
One of the most common complaints accommodation owners have about
reviews is that they don’t reflect their actual audience: “It’s just one or
two biased opinions”.
This is totally true, but the only person who can change that is you.

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Why would you let one or two customers do your
marketing for you?
If customers are looking to experience, to taste test your product before
they buy, then they want a variety of opinions. To look for others that
had similar needs. To get that variety you need to take the microphone
back. If someone didn’t like you product and not every will (even some
people don’t like chocolate), don’t let their voice be your sales team. Take
the microphone back.
Whilst you can’t control what people say into that microphone you can at
least share it around the room; you can encourage more people to speak.
If you have a key audience - one that you aim to delight - then this job
becomes easier. These are your natural fit customers. If they’ve enjoyed
their stay, most will be more than happy to spread the word.
Getting reviews is not an easy task but complaining about a review will
achieve nothing. More than nothing. It will just give that one unhappy
person even more power.
How do you encourage reviews?
Like the example of the conference above, you need to ask. You need to
tell customers that it’s important to you. The problem most of the time is
confidence. It actually takes a lot of confidence to ask a customer to do
something for you. It seems simple, but it’s not and if you feel uneasy, so
will your staff. There are ways to overcome this.
1. Focus on women. Women are natural talkers. They enjoy sharing
opinions.
2. Create staff incentives for the number of reviews. Not the quality, but
the number. Work with getting a lot of reviews first. If you reward
quality, then staff will feel nervous. It’s far better to encourage
loads of reviews, form a baseline trend, and then look to reward
improvements.
3. Use visual cues: have posters, information in the compendium, links
on your website and feedback forms with details of where guests can
leave a review. Let guests know that you appreciate and want any

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feedback.
4. Hand out cards, or staple them to receipts to remind and encourage
guests to review. Fossick has cards you can use.
5. Send a thank you email directing guests to where they can leave
a review. Think of this as being the equivalent of the cabin crew’s
parting comments at the end of a flight: “We know you have a choice
about who you fly with, so thanks for choosing to fly or stay with us”.
The message might be twee, but it acknowledges a fact, and thanks
them for their business.
6. On your website, provide links to sites where customers can add or
read reviews.
The advantages of having loads of reviews
1. Better Credibility
Having 20 okay-to-good reviews is far more credible than just one or
two great ones.
2. It’s a defence for off-days
We all have days when things don’t go as planned. The toilet breaks;
there’s a double-booking. There are some no-win situations. If you’ve
spent time sourcing and accumulating reviews, they act as a defence
for those days.
3. It allows you to appeal to a wider audience
If you’re looking to attract a wide audience, then your reviews need to
reflect this. Happy couples; happy families. Customers look for reviews
that are written by customers with similar needs to their own.
“Opportunity is missed by most
people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work.”
—Thomas Edison

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SECRET 5:
Feedback is
always a gift
Why is feedback such as a complaint, a gift?
It’s easy to see positive comments are gifts; they encourage other guests
to stay and make you feel good about the hard slog you put in every
day. But negative comments or constructive criticism, while not so easy to
receive, are also gifts. They’re gifts because they show you both what to
change and what not to.
To be a great business you first need to understand why customers buy;
why they choose you. Secondly, you need to know what areas you can
improve to be even better. Without that information you’re working
blind and risk changing the very things that are driving your current
growth.
Many an accommodation provider has made the decision to renovate and
increase their rate, only to discover that the change has pushed them into
a higher price bracket with more competition. Unrenovated, they were in
a nice little niche with few competitors.
Austria is a great example. Development in the last 10 years has resulted
in a 200 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms. Unfortunately,
everyone built hotels to a 4 or 5-star standard, but the majority of new
tourists are from Eastern Europe and can only afford a 2 or 3-star price.
As a result, the high-end hotels need to discount heavily, while the lower
priced hotels enjoy good rates and full occupancy.
Have you seen a terribly packaged review?
Some people are just mean, grumpy and darn right rude. You’ve meet
these people and they’re impossible to please. When you read reviews
written by this type of person, often the ‘packaging’ of their feedback is

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terrible. So terrible that as an owner or manager it’s really hard to step
back and see this feedback as a gift. Often it’s not even what they say,
but just the language and style they use to say it.
When you come across these reviews, you need to think of Gordon
Ramsey.
Ramsey in “Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares”, makes a lot of money by
shouting at people. He is generally rude and obnoxious but what he says
is often accurate, it’s just badly packaged. However he is successful and so
is the show because they are usually able to turn a failing business around
and create a lot of drama in the process.
Having a customer ‘shouting’ at you publicly is no fun. But before you
respond, stop and “unpack” the feedback. Despite the terrible packaging,
there is usually some truth or nuggets that you can glean from their
comments to improve your business for another customer. If they’re
really is no nuggets to be gleaned, then whatever you do, don’t shout
back. We’ve all seen it on TV and it’s not pretty for either side. Instead
keep reading as there are simple ways to deflect and minimize negative
comments, particularly ones when the reviewer style leaves a lot to be
desired.
Seeing things from a customers perspective is hard for any business
owner. You will know all the reasons why something is a particular way.
However, you need an occasional Gordon to see the areas that could be
improved. In many industries, customer feedback is something that you
have to pay research companies top dollar to get. We might not like it,
but in the accommodation industry we should cherish the customers that
freely give us gifts of feedback.
How to unpackage negative comments
1. Remember that what they write and how they write it reflects more about
them than it does about you
People come from all walks of life. Some will have travelled a lot and
others not at all. Their opinion, however misguided is still their opinion, a
reflection of what they believe. There is little point rubbishing their view.
Simply present an alternative one.

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2. People complain when they care
A customer who takes the time to write a review - even when there was
a problem - does it because they’re offering you a chance to improve;
to do business better for someone else. The customers who say nothing,
but never return, are much kinder on your ego, but actually care far less
about you or your business.
3. Look for repeated comments - there will be a lot of truth in them, however
uncomfortable
Although you should not put too much stock in any one opinion,
customers also have the ability to see your business from a different
perspective. It’s extremely hard to look at your business critically,
especially when you personally picked the bedspreads or designed the
website. You need a “Gordon” occasionally, to talk about the hard stuff,
the stuff you’d rather not think about. The gift of customer feedback is
that it gives perspective, especially when the comments are repeated in
multiple reviews. These will be areas that need improving or the sales
message changed.
“Feedback is a gift. Ideas are the currency
of our next success. Let people see
you value both feedback and ideas.”
—Jim Trinka and Les Wallace

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SECRET 6:
Cultivate a
thick skin and
respond to
comments
When was the last time you had a perfect meal? There are good, great
and even lovely meals but rarely perfect. No matter how good you are,
being perfect, aiming for 100% is the wrong goal. Every property, every
place has pitfalls and customers are extremely adept at spotting faults,
even when they’ve had a great stay.
Constructive criticism is just part of managing reviews, part of working in
a service industry. You can either let this constantly push your buttons, or
you can create ways to build a thicker skin.
How do you build a thick skin?
Imagine for a moment that I am a genie, here to grant you three wishes
for your business. What would you wish for? What would you change?
• Move the location closer to the beach?
• Renovate all the bathrooms?
• Add sea views?
What you’ve just done is to highlight the downsides to your business.
Ideally, create a chart. Get a piece of paper and create four columns:

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Upsides Downsides Things that could
be changed
Things that will
never change
(due to money or
impossibility)
Under each category start listing features or items. Then go back and
start looking at your reviews.
When you read a review that highlights one of these things - instead of
letting it annoy you, tick the box on your chart and say “I know about
that”. People do nitpick, so by doing this, by being aware of your flaws
you can write a response without getting defensive.
Why is it so important to respond to negative
comments?
What people write says a lot about them, their manner, their style
and approach to life’s ups and downs. How you respond to comments,
especially negative ones, is also reflective of your approach and is
incredibly influential - often far more powerful than the orginal
comments.
Far too often, responses are written rashly. I’ve read many a review
accusing the owners of being rude, only to have a rude response sniped
back, which serves only to reinforce the original comments.
Have a look at these two examples. The customer isn’t always right, but
they are providing a valuable perspective, and you will go far if you can
treat negative comments politely (if not firmly) and professionally.
“Overpriced. What a rip-off. For the price we expected a lot more.
While the room was clean, it was pretty basic and the free breakfast
was dire.”
Owner’s response 1
“Our hotel is not, as you claim, a ‘RIP OFF’. If you travelled more often you’d

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understand that it’s pricey in this city and we’re not the most expensive by far.”
Owner’s response 2
“I’m sorry you felt that way about your stay. Hotel rooms in this city are
expensive. We’re pleased the room was clean and we will talk to the breakfast
department to see how we might improve what we’re offering. Thanks for the
feedback.”
After reading the first response, I’m immediately drawn to the defence
of the reviewer. However, the second response reminds me not to expect
too much for my money as accommodation in this city is quite expensive.
My feelings about the original review are altered by the response by the
owner.
If you’re having trouble writing a response to a customer review, we’d
be happy to help you craft one, as we’re looking to create a database of
sample responses. Please email us on keepusbusy@fossick.com
“When tempted to fight fire
with fire, remember that the fire
department usually uses water”
— unknown

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SECRET 7:
Learn to shape
your customer’s
expectations
Any guest’s level of satisfaction with their stay is largely determined by
their expectations prior to even setting foot in your premises. For you,
that means walking a fine line between selling your place with enough
“sizzle” so that they choose to book with you, and presenting a fair
representation of your property. Many properties get this wrong, and the
result is negative reviews.
Why mismatched expectations can give a great
place bad reviews
Unhappy customers are usually unhappy because they “expected”
something else or were disappointed. There are two reasons for this:
1. The marketing blurb, photos and information “over-sold” the offering.
2. Their expectations were unrealistic.
While the cause of a guest’s dissatisfaction is usually a combination
of both factors, you only have control over the first one. A guest’s
expectations will be influenced by what they paid, what other options
they compared you to, how much the guest has travelled, and how many
other hotel rooms they are comparing this stay to. If they don’t travel
regularly or stay in 5-star places for work, they could have unrealistic
expectations. While this isn’t exactly fair, as we highlighted earlier,
reviews are opinions, and there is nothing fair or balanced in an opinion.
It’s personal and it’s subjective.

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Instead of getting annoyed, remember that customers use reviews as
“taste testers” to help them feel comfortable about their decisions. Focus
your energy on the aspects you can control such as the information you’re
presenting about your property.
If you receive a string of negative comments about a similar issue, you
could choose to either fix the problem or try to change/downgrade the
expectations of your guests. Ironically, the latter approach can often be as
successful as actually fixing the problem (and potentially a lot cheaper).
You can’t always renovate the bathrooms, but you can create ways to
lower the expectation of your guests - by having more realistic photos,
for example. This then works to manage their expectations and improve
your reviews.
Why negative comments can be really good for
balancing expectations
There is a natural but incorrect assumption that negative comments will
put people off. Negative reviews can actually be profoundly positive.
A great example of this is a small Australian campground that we’ve
worked with. On the surface they would appear to have very mixed
reviews. On deeper analysis it becomes clear that families love this
place, while groups of young people hate it. Both groups of customers
arrive because it is an inexpensive, nice looking place to have a holiday.
However, the target audience is actually families, so there are many rules
about noise, drinking and curfews. Whilst these rules are perfect for
family groups, they’re not to the liking of young people.
The negative feedback they’ve received from these young patrons has
helped dissuade other young people from booking in the first place. A
well-timed negative comment each year, actually serves this business very
well in helping to maintain their ideal customers - families.

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What about people with ridiculous expectations?
Ever read the opinion columns or letters to the editor in the newspaper?
Society is made up of people with some fascinating opinions, many
of them contrary to your own. While you run a business with a much
narrower target audience, you will always find customers that are
difficult to please.
Many properties get hung up about these reviews. Don’t. Yes, reviews are
influential, but that doesn’t mean every review is influential. Customers
are also not stupid. They understand that opinion is mixed and tend to
naturally brush over overly positive or negative comments.
Remember that customers are usually looking at a long list of options.
Ironically, ridiculous comments can sometimes have a positive effect in
that they make your place memorable.
Are your own expectations too high?
When you work hard all day, everyday, it’s hard to see the downsides to
your business. I have seen many accommodation owners sabotage their
own experience of customer reviews because they expect customers to be
more appreciative than they are. There is a lot of work behind the scenes
in running a motel or B&B. Unfortunately, your customers don’t see or
understand this - and there is very little you can do to change that.
Step back for a moment and try to see things from a customer’s
perspective. Or have a go at writing reviews yourself, for businesses
that you interact with. Remembering what it’s like to be a customer
evaluating a service on face value, will help you moderate and analyse
your own feelings.
How to go the extra mile and create delight - how to
get exceptional reviews
To get truly amazing reviews, it’s not enough to meet expectations, you
really need to exceed them. Whilst this sounds daunting, it’s not as bad as
it sounds.

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Expectations and satisfaction are not on an even scale
There is some interesting research to show that the things that create
delight are quite different to the things that can detract from an
experience.
We all expect our hotel room to be clean, have hot water and for
everything to be in working order. Improving these basics often doesn’t
result in happier customers. To truly delight customers you need to do
things they don’t expect. And when you have a clearly defined target
audience, it’s easier to find positive things to do for them.
The thing that makes a difference could be:
• A list of things to do when it’s raining, delivered with the morning
newspaper on a rainy day.
• Offering free printing for business travellers.
• A box of toys to rent for families.
There are hundreds of small and inexpensive ways to delight customers
and it’s these random acts of kindness that will be memorable and
encourage guests to recall your place positively.
Another equally effective approach is to choose to do one thing,
exceptionally. Think of the Westin, with their heavenly beds. You could
choose to be exceptional by offering an amazing shower for a 3-star
place; having stunning pillows or mattresses; or buying a coffee machine
and handing out vouchers for a free morning coffee.
The problem is not that there are
problems. The problem is expecting
otherwise and thinking that
having problems is a problem.
Theodore Rubin

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SUMMARY
The 7 dirty
little secrets
To get great reviews, there are seven things you’ll need to work on.
1. Choose a smaller group of customers to delight
Get off the fence and define exactly what sort of customer you’re aiming
for and what’s needed to ensure they walk away with a “that place was
great” feeling.
2. Give customers reasons to choose you over the
place next door
Customers have a choice, in fact, they usually have too many. To make
your place stand out make sure you have clear reasons as to why they
should be choosing you. Focus on the emotion, the reason why a
particular feature is of benefit to them.
3. Customers want free samples
When customers book online they need psychological cues to help
reassure them that they are making a good purchase. Reviews are your
free samples; your taste testers. Despite their downsides, they fulfill a real
need in your customers’ decision-making process.
4. You must ‘share’ the microphone around
If you could control what people said into the microphone of reviews,

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then they wouldn’t be genuine reviews. Where you can take back some
control, however, is by sharing the microphone around and getting
a balanced perspective of what it’s like to stay with you. Ignore this
opportunity and you will potentially give annoyed or frustrated guests a
bigger share of voice than they actually deserve or represent.
5. Feedback is always a gift
You need real feedback - both good and bad - to understand why
customers choose you. Positive feedback is great, but the real gifts are the
constructive comments that will help you drive change in the right areas.
6. Cultivate a thick skin and respond to comments
Unfortunately, building a thick skin is a part of being in the hospitality
sector. Build your emotional resilience and start being clever in writing
responses to deflect and minimise negative comments.
7. Learn to shape your customer’s expectations
Finally, honesty is always the best policy. Be wise with your limited time
and resource; you might not be able to afford improvements, but you can
still improve your reviews by setting up more realistic expectations. Then
work out the subtle, but clever and often even cheap ways that you can
exceed expectations and create delight in your target customer.
By focusing on these little things - the dirty secrets to managing
customers - smart businesses are getting positive referrals and winning
a greater share of customers. We hope that this e-book will help you
become one of them, and that you will embrace and make the most of
this new sales tool.
We look forward to seeing you on Fossick.

www.fossick.com
A little bit about Fossick
Fossick is a travel guide for women travelling locally in Australia, New
Zealand and the South Pacific Islands. It works on the simple premise
that before people head off on holiday, most of them - currently around
60%, according to the statistics - invest significant time in researching
the destination; choosing places to stay and things to do. Most of that
research is now occurring online, and what’s more, most of the decision-
makers are women, which is why our site is designed for, and targeted
just to them.
At the end of a holiday, each traveller is briefly a mini-expert on the
subtleties of that destination. What are the great cafes? What things
would they recommend or not bother with next time? Was where they
stayed awesome? Would they choose that place again? By capturing this
expertise in the form of reviews and recommendations, Fossick can then
help inform other women planning holidays, making the process a little
easier for all. We hope you choose to join us.
You can start off by customising your free Fossick profile - and make sure
you tell us the top five reasons why we should be choosing to stay with
you!
About the author, Genevieve & the Fossick team
Fossick is personal company made up of real people who you can contact.
So please do get in touch, we love feedback and like you see the good
and the bad as gifts to our business. You can reach us on
keepusbusy@fossick.com or write to me, Genevieve, on gen@fossick.com
I am the founder and driving force behind Fossick. As a mum to 3 kids
I am someone that understands busy women. I’m joined by a team of
fabulous freelancers, particularly mums. The team excels because they
seriously love what they do, but prefer to be flexible in the times and
hours they work. Fossick is a company that not only accommodates but
thrives on this style of workforce.
To keep us on track with the industry, veteran travel marketer Tony
Marks is the key adviser. Previously GM Marketing for Air New Zealand,

www.fossick.com
inaugural CEO of Pacific Blue and on the Board of House of Travel for 5
years , Tony is current chairman of Rotorua Tourism and on the Board of
Virgin Samoa. He has joined by an advisory group of passionate women
marketers, offering strategic input and direction.
We’re looking to expand our team, so if this sounds like a company you
should work for please get in touch.

www.fossick.com
10 ways your business
can benefit from
working with Fossick
1. Create a free accommodation listing
We offer a free listing to all commercial accommodation owners and
operators in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific on our site.
If your business is not already listed, you can add it here NOW on www.
fossick.com/add_property
2. If you are already listed on Fossick (most are),
take charge of your page and tell us more about your
property.
We pre-listed a lot of accommodation. To take charge of your page,
register, claim the page and then you’ll have access to change anything,
and add loads more detail like the top 5 reasons to choose your place. It’s
quick and FREE . Do it today.
3. Do you want customers to go to your website or
phone you ? If so, add your contact details to the
listing for $50/yr.
Fossick covers a whole host of styles of accommodation. If you’d prefer to
highlight your website or phone number on your listing you can. Simply
choose the “Nearly Free plan” at $50/yr. So cheap, you’re silly not to.
4. Promote your favourite review and make sure
customers read that one first.
Reviews on our site are listed by the most recent, but if you’d prefer
customers read a particular review first, you can promote it.This is the

www.fossick.com
key feature of our “Still Very Cheap plan”. At $100 yr, it’s a great way to
always put your best foot (review) up first.
5. Get noticed ahead of the pack by sponsoring the
locals guide ( travel guides for locals not tourists)
Do you want to stand out from the other properties in your region. Then
nab your space as the sponsor of our locals guide ? This is an exclusive
spot and allows you the opportunity to be the authority on your region,
town or suburb. Share your local knowledge and highlight your business
exclusively to people actively planning their holiday.
6. Get exclusive advertising space by sponsoring an
article or set of recommendations for your town.
Recommendations save time and busy women are well, busy. As a
local you have a unique insight into the best of your town like cafes,
favourite shops, walks, playgrounds, things to do. Use this local
knowledge to engage with your target customer by sponsoring a set of
recommendations for your town.
7. Create a “review” fundraising page and raise
money for a good cause, school or sports team with
your reviews.
Are your kids fundraising for their school or sports team? Now you could
help them through your reviews. Fossick offers small groups and good
causes the ability to create a fundraising page on our site. Reviews left on
this page are then tracked and raise funds for the designated cause.
8. Join our Facebook pages. For consumers
on fossicktravel. For the industry at
artofreviewsbyfossick
Are you on Facebook? Join our consumer site or join our industry page
that focuses on reviews.

www.fossick.com
9. Write a guest post for our industry blog “Art of
Reviews”.
We love guest posts on our blogs. If you have an opinion or something to
share about reviews, be that positive or negative, share your thoughts by
writing a guest post for our industry bloghttp://artofreview.fossick.com
10. Send us a review and we will help you draft a
response if you wish while retaining our integrity.
We’re collecting sample reviews and answers, so if you are struggling
with a tricky review and owners response; send it to us. We’d be happy to
help you craft a response and include your review (anonymously) into our
collection.
Get in touch, we love to chat and chew the fat about reviews.

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