How to create the ultimate guest experience
You put in a lot of work to gain your customer, so now that you have them, how will you provide them the ultimate guest experience? What comes after the booking is the most important part of the customer’s journey. Guests are looking for an experience and want to know that everything from their travel time to their hotel is what they expected.
How a person feels about their overall experience with your property can mean the difference of them choosing you again vs. going to your competitor or even the likelihood of them recommending your property to their friends and family.
Creating the ultimate guest experience can be accomplished through many different avenues that include both in-person and online interactions. Implement the following strategies and leave your guests feeling happy that they chose your property.
Creating the ultimate guest experience:
- Seamless front desk experience – Your guests have just arrived and are ready to start their vacation. So, a long line, rude reception, or a lost reservation is not the way you want your guests to start their trip. Ensure your front desk is a well-oiled machine that runs smoothly at every moment.
- Rapid response – With an increasingly obvious expectation of having questions quickly answered with the internet at our fingertips, answering any inquiry at lighting speed is vital. Various ways to stay in constant contact is by phone, email, and social media, like Facebook messenger.
- Ensure staff is trained to the highest standard – Your hotel staff might be the first real touch-point your guests will come across. Training your staff to provide the utmost customer service will help to ensure your guests are being well taken care of.
- Feedback is your friend – Whether positive or negative, feedback should always be welcomed at your hotel. Carefully read your reviews on sites like TripAdvisor or social media sites like Facebook. Take the time to respond to both positive and negative reviews to let your guests know you are listening to them. Consider making some changes based on the feedback you receive to help improve the overall experience.
- Personalized experience – More and more, people seek a personalized experience in services they seek out. Travelers don’t want to feel like they are just a room number. Create a personalized experience that your guests will remember and share with their friends and family. A few ways in which you can make it personal:
- Handwritten notes.
- Use social media to personally reach out and respond to your guest.
- Provide insider tips for the “local experience”.
- Surprise guests with “not-listed” in-room amenities.
- Provide useful travel content – Travelers want to know from locals (that’s you at the property) where to go, best places to eat, activities to do with their kids, etc. By providing your guests with valuable content about the area, spark the inspirational and emotional reason they chose to visit. People appreciate the guidance and it helps create the experience they want to brag to all their friends about.
- CRM – Using a CRM (customer relationship management) tool utilizes your own data, technology, staff, and processes to better manage your relationship with your customers. When finding useful data about your customers, be clever and enhance your services by customizing the guest experience. Knowing your customer allows you to provide better service, thus delivering an overall better guest experience.
Your guest experience is the most important factor in creating a lifetime customer and building customer loyalty. Returning guests are one of the best ways to increase your overall revenue and create brand advocates. Win them over with your personality and uniqueness and they will be yours forever!