Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Reviews Make a Difference



By ActiveCaptain

The one feature that boaters seem to appreciate the most on ActiveCaptain is the reviews. Captains love to read them and love to write them. Everyone appreciates the opportunity to speak their mind and to see the uncensored opinions of others.

But what you might not realize is that your reviews can make a significant difference in the boating experiences of all of us.

We've had a unique perspective these past 5 years. Not only have we seen an ever increasing volume of user reviews, we've often interacted with the marinas who are receiving these reviews and have witnessed an interesting trend.

There was a time when it was not uncommon that a less than positive review would generate a call to us and even threats of a lawsuit.

Tens of thousands of reviews later we are finding an increasing number of marinas that are using their reviews, both positive and negative, to offer better services. The smart marina knows that when customers talk, they should listen. This is something we all benefit from. A great example of this happened last week.

Morningstar Marinas - Golden Isles, St. Simons Island, Georgia has 21 reviews and averages almost 5 stars. That's a pretty incredible accomplishment. But even the best business can have a bad day. Recently a boater complained in a review about the bathrooms. Golden Isles didn't make excuses or get angry. They took action. They fixed the problem with the bathrooms and then apologized to the captain who had the bad experience through an ActiveCaptain message.

You know the cool result of this example? That captain went back and added a couple of stars to their review for Golden Isles because they were listened to and the rest of their experience there was exceptional.  How great is that?

The moral of this story? Your opinions are important, not only to your fellow boaters but also to the marinas you visit. Be heard, write reviews - and not just when things go wrong. A positive review lets a marina know what they're doing right so they'll keep doing it.

To see Golden Isles marker, go to:
https://activecaptain.com/X.php?lat=31.166176&lon=-81.415042&t=n&z=14

We at Mile Marker "0" AICW  also very much appreciate your comments as well and want your stay here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and especially here in Olde Towne Portsmouth to be the best that we can offer. We encourage you to write and leave comments about your visit, our marinas and services available to you. This is how we can weigh our performance and see where we need to improve.

 We're looking forward to seeing you again this spring and beyond. Let us know how we do. Have a great day!
Joe Elder
Mile Marker '0" AICW

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Welcome to Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia's historic seaport and a major boating destination. We're located at Mile Marker "0' of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and directly across the river from Downtown Norfolk.