Customer service is the only thing people remember once they leave hotels. This means you need to provide top-notch customer experiences.
If you want to generate more bookings for your hotel and make better revenues, you must do the extra work.
Who wouldn’t want better revenue and fuller hotels?
In this article, we have outlined ideas. Experts back these ideas as they enhance the hotel guest experience.
You can put these in place today and start seeing results. Let’s dive right in.
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7 ways to make your guests happy round the clock
According to Ameniti, only 1 out of 27 customers complain about a bad hotel experience. This is an alarming statistic for anyone in the business of dealing with people.
But you can change this by implementing these tips to make your guests happy. Hospitality experts shared these tips.
Start before your guest pops in
Ahmed Mahmoud, Founder of Revenue Your Hotel, says many hoteliers hardly consider engaging their customers before they arrive.
To buttress his point, Ahmed uses the ‘what if’ scenario to ask the following rhetorical questions.
“What if, before the guest checks in, you send a welcome note by mail or mobile message with reconfirmation for the booking?”
“What if you could alert a guest that their room is available by sending a message to the guest’s mobile device?”
“What if your hotel app could be engagement enabled to serve as a property concierge where guests can click on a link or help me button within your hotel app?”
Ahmed encourages you to try this idea to enhance your hotel guest experience to get an edge over your competition.
As you do this, you amp up their customer experience and your chances of getting recommended.
People may be apprehensive about your hotel and its services. Especially if your hotel is not a known brand and they have never visited it. Doing this gives you a better chance with prospective guests.
The idea is easy to incorporate, and Ahmed has laid it out for you.
Add a button to your hotel app or website which will take them to a video or audio call with your hotel staff.
This beginner’s guide on SMS marketing can help you gain a deeper understanding.
You can also add a trigger SMS to your existing bulk SMS plan. These SMS can reconfirm bookings to your customers.
Anticipate your customer’s needs
Start working on the next idea as soon as your customer arrives. This enhances their hotel guest experience.
“Delivering exceptional customer satisfaction begins with understanding who the customer is. It helps with anticipating their needs. Also, creating an environment that exceeds those needs.”
“The needs of business customers will likely differ from those of leisure customers.” Jeff Gurtman, COO of Coyle Hospitality Group, says.
This means training yourself and your staff to work and align with what your guests are looking for.
It will help you come up with solutions for extraordinary demands. Remember, the idea is not responding to their needs but figuring them out beforehand.
The easiest way to put this in place is to install guest experience systems.
The guest experience systems take continuous feedback from your guests.
As the data builds up, you can see a trend. The trend will help you expect the future needs of your guests.
Here’s the exciting part, these systems also keep track of the patterns and preferences of your customer.
You can enhance your guest’s hotel experience with real-time data and reports.
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Measure and improve
You do not want to miss this next part. Use this next idea to enhance and elevate your guest’s experience.
“You can only improve what you measure, and this is particularly true in the world of customer experience.”
“The customer experience journey involves different people from different departments. They come together with different goals at the journey touchpoint,” says Matt Myszkowski, VP of Customer Experience at Cision.
“Everyone should have part of their bonus aligned to improving customer experience. Only then will you see a true change in a company-wide approach to customer obsession,” Matt further suggests.
It is challenging to set a bar and improve. You’re good to go if you can measure customer experience and employee success in creating it.
Also check out the bulk SMS integrations for e-commerce platforms
Imagine offering variable standards and then thinking about improving across the board.
It will be challenging to do, leaving your customers confused.
Measuring customer experience helps you define standards for everyone involved.
This idea to augment the hotel guest experience will make you take a step back and check.
Start by paying attention to the languages your guests are comfortable using. This will help you craft websites and hire people who can converse in familiar languages.
You can identify booking trends and gauge customer satisfaction through surveys. Use the chatbots in your hotel for this data.
The data from both these markers can uncover any issues in the guest experience.
Use it to create better expectations for your employees.
Attract the right customers with the most straightforward tools.
Where best to improve your hotel guest experience than on social media?
“Social media is the tool that makes it fun and easy for customers to share their stories with a large network.”
“Happy employees have the unique trait of meeting customers’ needs.”
“Word of mouth starts when your customer’s experience goes beyond their imagination,” Are Morch, a Digital Transformation Coach, says.
The idea is to keep employees happy, who manage your hotel’s image on social media. Because who better to project a positive image than the person working on the inside?
This idea plays on the psychology of your guests. Instead of sharing reviews of happy guests, you share stories and the delights your hotel offers. It puts prospective guests at ease, and they start to see your hotel positively.
Here’s why that’s important, the idea programs your customers’ minds for optimal hotel guest experience.
First, see which platform gives your hotel more leverage by checking statistics. Then, devise strategies that can bring you, quality followers. These followers will share information without you asking them to.
Add self-service to your set of offers
Here’s something you should know, incorporating self-service helps improve the hotel experience for your guests.
“Self-service is not a luxury or expendable. It should be a part of customer service. Guests expect a contactless experience as much as possible now.”
“You should automatise check-ins and check-outs,“ Paula Carreirão, a Content Coordinator at Asksuite, says.
The idea focuses on automating repetitive and mundane tasks. As your employees gain time, they focus on being hospitable to your guests.
Not having to respond to simple tasks such as check-in and check-out makes your staff free. They can then answer and respond to the guests present.
You can use chatbots to take reservations and respond to repetitive queries. You can also use omnichannel software to respond to quotations across various platforms.
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Use SMS to connect
SMS is one of the easiest ideas to enhance hotel guest experiences.
“SMS has a 98% open rate compared to email’s 22%. 90% of customers open their message within 3 minutes of receiving it.”
SMS can help deliver important information straight to your customer’s pockets. Also, guaranteeing that read it,” Tim Forde, Key Account Manager at ThinScale Technology Ltd., says.
There is no rocket science here. SMS works in your favour almost 100% of the time. As soon as your customer reads your non-invasive SMS, they build a brand perception. This leads to a response.
This is where your brand can take advantage and elevate the guest experience at your hotel. You can send relevant messaging to your guests throughout their customer journey. Keep them up-to-date and engaged.
Here is how you can put this into action. Text your customers special and seasonal offers, especially when they might be travelling.
By doing this, you will build a loyal customer following. If your customers are going on holiday, why not stay with you?
You can also send an SMS to your guests as soon as they make a booking.
Also, send one before they leave your premises to book another stay or extend the current one. This will add value for your customer.
You can also send reminders for table reservations and car bookings. Share information about any fun activities you run at your hotel.
The SMS will help your customers book and interact with you. This will make them feel appreciated. But, you do not have to hire personnel for each guest in your hotel.
For this purpose, use bulk SMS software, like SMSCountry, to create all your SMS and send them out as and when needed.
You can create 2-way SMS, Promotional and Transactional SMS, and Group SMS to cater to all guests.
It starts and ends at the front desk
Returning to where it all starts, the front desk is the hallmark of first impressions.
Paula’s idea to enhance the hotel guest experience forces you to take a new look at it.
“The hotel front desk agent often has to play different roles: concierge, bellboy, reservation agent, housekeeper, and even bartender if necessary,” says Paula Carreirão while talking about small things affecting hospitality.
Paula continues to say that adaptability and versatility are key requirements for this position.
Any guests that arrive at the front desk forge a connection with the front desk. They keep returning to this connection with feedback and complaints.
The front desk can make or break your guest’s experience at the hotel.
The idea is to make your guest’s hotel experience as memorable as possible. And make sure to do so without hindering your employee or overburdening them with many roles.
This calls for special attention. You can help by choosing front desk employees with care. Hire people with good people skills.
Get people who are good problem solvers and can manage multiple tasks without getting frustrated.
One key trait your front desk employees should have is a smile and a winning attitude. No matter what the circumstance, they should be able to welcome all guests with a warm spirit.
Give your customers the best hotel service experience
So there you have it.
7 ideas you can apply without wondering how to improve guest services in your hotel.
Most of these ideas pertain to your customer service staff and how they interact with the guests.
However, using technology will make the task easier for your employees. Especially tasks that build a reputation.
That is why you must have bulk SMS in your plan. You should definitely choose SMSCountry. Sign up with SMSCountry.
Alternatively, schedule a free demo with our team. We would love to help you serve your guests better.
