In today’s complex hospitality marketplace, making personal connections with guests is critical. Not only do customers have more choices than ever, they’re significantly more sophisticated than even 10 years ago and expect more. Much more.
They’re also increasingly well-traveled and more frequently looking for personalized experiences. Practically, that means hoteliers aren’t just competing against the hotel down the street, they’re competing against memories created in every hotel that potential guest has ever visited.
Consumers have created the need for what’s called mass customization, creating both experiences and specialized pricing for each individual reservation. Meeting those needs was impossible not too long ago. Fortunately, new hotel technology driven by innovative hospitality software is assisting hotel executives forge meaningful customer relationships.
With the right PMS system, it’s easier than ever to understand what your guests want, what they’re willing to pay, and even understand who they are in the online universe. To truly foster great relationships with customers that keeps them coming back again and again, we recommend you consider a few ideas:
Collect Data
This is essential. It’s the primary means by which a hotel’s staff can crowd source information on customers. All that data will give you the power to set the stage for experience. During guest interactions, especially at the front desk, desires, likes and dislikes should be captured and recorded. From there you can create actionable moments. Capturing such basic information as the guest’s favorite type of soft drink, or if a person requires extra shampoo each time they stay,. Imagine knowing a very frequent guest loves a particular sports team and surprising them with tickets, or an autographed photo of their favorite musician as a Thanks for their frequent visits. By creating memorable moments you’ll differentiate yourself, help boost loyalty and open the potential for achieving premium rates.
Continuous Connectivity
Communicate with registered guests both before and after their stay. An email sent several days prior to a visit engages the customer in their upcoming stay experience. Now you have their attention and opportunity to capture information to personalize their upcoming stay. This email is also a prime upsell opportunity. Perhaps you have extra suites to be sold; make them an offer!
After a guest’s stay, an email is an effective tool for thanking customers for their stay while reinforcing the experience he or she had with you. It’s also a chance to garner meaningful feedback.
Personalize Marketing
Hospitality management software, such as a PMS system, enables the creation of offers for specific guests, or subsets of guests. This can help maximize sales by creating opportunities potential customers are already predisposed to crave. Say there’s a golf tournament coming to town. Since you have collected all that great data, you now know which of your growing number of loyal guests have played the local golf course near the hotel. Bundle a hotel stay with event tickets and market a premium priced package to those customers. They’ll pay more for a room, and thank you for giving them an amazing experience.
Pricing Power
Win back pricing power! Regularly rewarded guests generally become loyal guests. Those guests having individualized experiences are also the least price sensitive. That’s because people willingly pay more to have great experiences. Especially ones that create a sense of access others cannot easily replicate. When guests have experiences they truly value, or feel valued by the hotels in which they stay, they are generally willing to pay more. With the right web based property management system you can position your hotel to earn more dollars by actually understanding the threshold of what guests will pay to stay at your hotel.
