Ideas to improve your guest experience.
Following are the five major points which we shall elaborate in the article, which I am sure help you in pleasing your guest journey in your hotel.
- Personalise the experience… They are not just a couple treat them like a King & Queen.
- Inclusiveness do wonders
- Redesign your value addons
- Be attentive and be responsive to the guest’s expectations
- Keep evolving keep learning
- Personalise the experience… They are not just a couple treat them like a King & Queen
Despite the technological advancement in the tourism industry, the irreplaceable value of personal service plays a significant role. Customer would be more loyal to travel experience providers if they understood their needs through marketing To understand your customers better and foster loyalty, following six proven tactics can be implemented:
- Start talking to the guest with an aim to know the reason of their travel and the outcome of their visit which they are expecting. This will help you in making more personal report with the guest.
- Install a strong Customer relationship management system and draft deep operating procedures, which are foundational requisites to keep track of everything.
- Define a goal to provide all guests with a hyper-personalized service
- Partner with ExQ-Experiences & Excursions to provide experiences which may include waling trips, Ebike trips, local cooking class, dance class etc
- Collect and display all happy faces reviews, this will improve your online reputation and work seriously on those who have given negative reviews, this will help in improving your process.
- Encourage word-of-mouth marketing by urging your guests to share their positive experiences with friends, family, and colleagues. Word-of-mouth remains the most potent and effective marketing strategy. By doing so, your guests become influential brand ambassadors, advocating for your business and spreading the word about their exceptional stay
- Inclusiveness do wonders
Most of the hotel managements commit the mistake of not sharing their own specific tools, experiences, information, processes, goals, proven recipes of success, with their counter parts across the hotel.
Frequently, departments have the potential to assist one another, but sometimes, competition arises between them and different management groups. Instead of inadvertently encouraging a competitive environment among various business areas, your hotel can cultivate a culture of mutual support. By doing so, all departments work together for the greater good and the overall success of your hotel.
Consider the following, and think how what would guest’s thoughts be about your hotel:
Guest is greeted by a coordinator upon arrival
A refreshing drink is provided with a wet towel to refresh them of arriving journey, meanwhile the check in formalities are done, the coordinator starts conversing with the family head on kind of excursions which hotel may provide during their stay. This will give an opportunity to know your customer choices and tastes.
Offer to make a restaurant reservation for forthcoming meal timming.
Provide a handy menu of excursions & experiences and hand it over to the guest enabling them to enlist the things which they may opt to explore.
Arrange a transport
Offer guest a cup of coffee or refreshing drink on the house if you see them waiting for transport or rain to stop or for room to get ready.
Provide them umbrella if it’s raining even before they ask for it.
Always be smiling, communicate with them when see them waiting on how their journey is going and check if they have explored all the available offers which hotel is providing to inhouse guests.
Delivering such a personalised experience paves the way for the development of a meaningful and lasting relationship with the guest. It enables your hotel provides seamless guest stay and services.
Some of these tips might sound rhetoric but we have personally followed this at our hotels and this is what made us different. All this makes the guest feel special and appreciated and the interaction become more natural.
- Redesign your value addons
Customers are now placing greater emphases on the overall experience as a key differentiator, ranking it as equally important as price and value. Consequently, hoteliers must shift their focus from primarily competing on price alone. To stand out and attract guests, it is essential to identify unique selling propositions ( USPs) that are not price-related. By offering something distinct that competitors can not match, hotels can elevate their appeal. This applies to before, during and after the guest’s stay.
Guest journey to your hotel does not start with their arrival to the hotel instead, starts from the stage of choosing the hotel out of multiple choices available.
Here We will start start our suggestions of improving guest experiences from the marketing front first.
On Marketing Front:
We have witnessed how a successful hotels can leverage personalized offers to engage their guests effectively. By tapping to the customers data stored in your CRS and PMS systems, you gain valuable insights to tailor offers based on individual preferences.
With this wealth of customer information, you can deliver personalise recommendations for events and activities within the hotel and local areas, adding significant value and motivation for travel. When offers are thoughtfully personalised to meet their specific needs, guests perceive them as more valuable
Make sure all options such as packages, upgrades, add-ons etc are instantly bookable at the same time of booking with a simple online interface or over the phone too.
And for an extra revenue opportunity, you can build on your online strategy by offering a small portion of experiences that are exclusively available through direct bookings. Or you may simply tie-up with ExQ to manage your guest experiences in your hotel.
On Operations Side:
You can create value through outstanding service
This could include special moments that are unique for guest interaction. For instance, a cocktail hour or to provide complimentary snacks. These act as low-cost opportunities to add value to the guest experience.
On special occasions, your chef can create bespoke culinary delights to elevate guest’s experience. Whether it’s a birthday celebration, a momentous announcement, or specific festive occasion like Diwali, Holi, New year Celebration or any local festival, offering personalised dishes can add a touch of joy and create lasting memories for your guests. By catering to these special moments, you show thoughtfulness and care enhancing their overall stay and leaving a positive and lasting impressions.
Optimising your resources and reduce waste by utilizing quality ingredients left over from banqueting, breakfast service and kitchen. With virtually zero cost, the kitchen can create some thing special, such as small cakes, or treats, to enhance the guest experience. Adding a personalised touch, like frosting the guest’s name or including a thoughtful card can truly make their day and stay memorable.
To ensure a personalized touch that resonates with each guest, consider gathering information from group members during check-in. By inquiring about individual preferences and specific personalization details, you can tailor these special treats to suit each guest’s preferences, resulting in a delightful and unforgettable experience that fosters guest satisfaction and loyalty.
It is very easy to make personalized pancakes/treats or to include a silly, fun message or art on them. This can be especially delightful for children. And they are tasty too! This is especially the case if your hotel has an in-person, cooked-to-order cooking station front-of-house. It creates such a memorable, enjoyable experience
Free itinerary designing:
Offering persnalised itineraries for each guest can be an exceptional option to enhance their stay. By creating a template that can be easily customised to fit individual needs, your hotel can efficiently provide tailored experiences, For example a morning at the spa followed by an afternoon bike tour, aling with a delicious lunch basket prepared by your hotel
Every interaction with your guests presents an opportunity to inspire and delight them. By curating memorable moments throughout their stay, you can foster a positive and lasting impression. This, in turn, leads to improved revenue, as satisfied guests are more likely to spend on additional services and amenities. Furthermore, positive reviews and word-of-mouth marketing generated by these exceptional experiences contribute to a win-win-win outcome for the hotel, the guests, and your reputation in the hospitality industry.
- Be attentive and be responsive to the guest’s expectations
The fundamental cornerstone of meeting your customer’s genuine desire is to comprehend their needs intimately. To achieve this level of understanding- to genuinely connect with them, your hotel must proactively create an initiative to establish a closer relationship. This can be achieved through a combination of diverse approached, all unified under a cohesive strategy.
The following are some of the key tactics that can be employed:
- Engage with the guests and inquire about personal requests or preference that can be accommodated without significant cost constraints. By proactively seeking this information, you can tailor their experience to better align with their individual needs and create a more memorable enjoyable stay.
- Focus on delivering exceptional service to your guests, going above and beyond to exceed their expectations. Following their stay, actively request a feedback from them and carefully pay attention to the insights they provide. By valuing their opinions and taking their feedback into account. You can continuously improve and refine your service, ultimately enhancing the overall guest experience and fostering guest loyalty.
- Conduct a through review of the amenities offered by your hotel to identify those that are genuinely valuable and relevant to your guests. Assess which amenities may represent an opportunity cost. Where alternative options could potentially provide grater value based on guest’s tru preferences and desires. By carefully evaluating and adjusting amenities to align with guest needs, you can optimise guest satisfaction and differentiate your hotel from competitors, ultimately creating a more enticing and memorable experience for your guests.
You may try some of the features as enlisted below, which Certainly can significantly enhance the guest experiences at your hotel.
Choice of Pillows: Offering a variety of pillows with different thickness, size and material options.
Complementary In-Room Breakfast ( If A Honeymoon Couple) Or Brunch ( if Stags travelling ) or a Cocktail Hour with drinks and snacks, include local delicacies showcasing the destination’s unique flavours creating a more immersive experience.
Tablet or a Phone for guest use: Equipping guest rooms with a tablet or phone for their use simplifies communication, access to hotel services and information about local attractions, It enhances conveniences and connectivity during their stay.
Local Turndown Gift: A thoughtful local turndown gift, such as a small token representing the destination, shows appreciation and creates a sense of connections between the guest and the locality.
Small Exercise Equipment or a Yoga mat: Providing these for long stay or regular guests encourages healthy habits and ensures they can maintain their fitness, Your hotel demonstrates attentiveness to guest preferences and comfort., resulting in a memorable and delightful experiences that fosters guest satisfaction and loyalty.
- Handling Complaints professionally and appropriately is paramount in the hospitality industry. It is crucial to address guest concerns with empathy and respect, refrain from letting personal feelings influence the response. By approaching level headed and solution oriented mindset, you can effectively resolve issues and turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one.
However, it is equally important to proactively work towards preventing complaints altogether.
By striking a balance between effective complaint resolution and proactive guest satisfaction measures, your hotel can build a reputation for excellent service and create a positive and lasting impression on your guests.
- Keep evolving keep learning
When something doesn’t work, it’s important to recognize it and try a new approach. This requires being humble, accepting when things don’t go as planned, and being willing to start again. It also means thinking critically about what can be improved, looking at what competitors are doing better, and finding ways to make the team work together for better results.
To achieve success, it’s essential to share goals and information between departments and teams. This helps motivate and align everyone in the same direction. Learning from each other and sharing knowledge is also vital. Sometimes, managers may overlook the valuable insights that employees, like bartenders, waiters, concierges, and receptionists, have about guests.
Managers should constantly ask employees for valuable information, like any complaints, feedback, or comments from guests. Employees may not share unless they are asked, so it’s essential to be proactive in seeking their input.
Effective communication is crucial for achieving goals and targets. Inefficient communication between departments can lead to missed revenue opportunities.
Creating synergy between departments can bridge this gap and drive better results. So, gather your team, work together, and aim for new heights in achieving success!
Have A Happy Guest!
Piyush Bhatnagar II Director-Strategic Alliance II 3Q Progressive Alliance