It is a famous fact that selling an old customer is much cheaper than getting a new customer. More and more hotels have realized this fact and are now focusing more on increasing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty to retain existing customers. In the world of online reviews, potential guests can easily assess and estimate the quality of services that a particular hotel offers and therefore it is imperative that hotels perform extraordinarily well at all times. Also, don’t let the guest be dissatisfied with their experience at your hotel. Good reviews ultimately lead to attracting new customers with credibility and brand image built in the process.
Don’t give wrong expectations – Don’t pin guests’ hopes on things you can’t deliver. Just like hotels, they should stop glorifying their budget hotels as luxury hotels. This practice does more harm than good in the long run. Rather than over-glorify, hotels need to stand out and advertise what they are capable of offering. They must delight the customer with every service they provide so that their guests spread positive comments about the hotel on all review websites and remain loyal.
An easy piece of advice may be to remain an underdog and offer more services than expected.
Hotel staff are the heart of any hotel and need to be motivated at all times. Only they are the point of contact with the guests. Therefore, they need to be trained to handle unpleasant situations at all times, even when the customer is angry or making unnecessary demands. The staff should be well aware of the hotel’s policies and offer so that they do not have to contact the manager for every small demand from the guests and provide a solution immediately.
Staff must be empathetic and have a problem-solving approach to customer complaints.
Hotels need to be able to recognize repeat guests and repeat visitors and make them feel special throughout their stay. Repeat visits explicitly imply that you are doing something right that these guests appreciate. The hotel needs to make sure that the service quality graph only goes up. Returning guests are like brand ambassadors for your hotel spreading positive word of mouth both offline and online.
A quick tip can be to remember all loyal guests by name and, if possible, also by their faces, and give them a warm welcome every time they visit your hotel.
Hotels can achieve customer satisfaction by continually learning about guest expectations from their stay experiences. The medium can be as simple as a short feedback form when they pay or an email survey. From the information guests provide, whether they praise or complain about your hotel, the more the hotel will learn about its guests’ preferences. Therefore, the better the quality of services they can provide.
That is why guests should be encouraged to post and share reviews, write testimonials, give feedback and suggestions on review websites and even on the brand website. Since this will help hoteliers to better meet customer expectations.
Revenue Managers and other hotel staff should also ask their guests to follow the brand on social media so they can stay up to date on the latest deals and discounts.
Once guests have checked out, hotels should take the initiative to keep in touch with their guests, asking them about their stay and also what else they would like to add to the existing hotel services etc. Engaging previous customers increases the chances that they will visit us again.
The hotel can keep in touch with previous clients through SMS and emails informing them about new facilities, food menu, new festivals and exclusive offers, etc. However, that does not mean at all that they bombard emails every day that can irritate them and force them to unsubscribe. In addition, hoteliers must also ensure that offers are reasonable, do not have irrelevant terms and conditions, and are easy to take advantage of.
The hotel business can be very rewarding and profitable if it is managed with empathy and effort. Hotels must be able to easily adapt to changing customer demand and continually improve their services and offerings. Proper staff training can play a key role in ensuring a promising guest experience. Incorporating the latest technology in the hospitality industry, such as Revenue Management Software, Online Reputation Management (ORM) tool, along with a collection of guest reviews, can further help hotels gain more revenue and maintain a bright brand image at the same time.