Hoteliers would love nothing more than for their guests to keep coming back to their hotels over and over again. One of the best ways to build customer loyalty is to adopt a guest-centric hotel strategy where guests feel that they are valued and treated exceptionally well, regardless of whether they’ve booked a standard room or an executive suite.
NB: This is an article from BEONx, one of our Expert Partners
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What is a Guest-Centred Hotel?
A guest-centric hotel puts the guest at the centre of everything, focusing on meeting and exceeding the specific needs of guests and providing them with an excellent experience through every interaction during their stay . It involves creating a “personalised” experience to make the guests feel appreciated and special.
When guests feel respected and their needs are meticulously met, it builds a lasting impression which can easily lead to repeat business, positive feedback, and brand loyalty. A guest-centric hotel strategy is an effective way to attract new guests, whilst also encouraging guests to return.
8 Ways to Adopt a Guest-Centred Hotel Strategy
If you are not yet employing a guest-centric strategy in your hotel, perhaps now is the best time to start. Below are 8 ways how to tailor your services and design them according to your guests’ needs and preferences:
- Know your guests
The first step to implementing a customer-centric approach in your hotel operations is knowing who your guests are and understanding their unique needs and expectations. To do this, create detailed guest profiles, identify their preferences, and analyse their behaviors. Using customer relationship management (CRM) systems to gather and store information about guests can also help hotel owners and managers get a clearer view of what type of guests visit their hotel.
By knowing and understanding this relevant information, you can tailor your services to meet guests’ individual needs, creating a more personalised and impressionable experience for them.
- Focus on personalisation
In hospitality, personalisation means tailoring guest experiences to offer services that cater to each guest’s needs and preferences. It involves understanding and anticipating their individual expectations in order to customise your approach. This way, your guests will received a highly personalised and unforgettable experience.
Among many ways to offer personalised guest services are creating loyalty programs, celebrating special occasions with them, understanding guest profiles, and using personalised communication.
To do this, use available insights from your database or leverage technology to analyse guest data and deliver personalised services to enhance their overall satisfaction and loyalty to your hotel.
- Offer flexibility
Recognize that each guest has unique needs and expectations. Provide flexible options in terms of check-in and check-out times, room configurations, amenities, food and drinks, and housekeeping schedules. By offering choices, you are giving your guests the comfort and convenience to tailor their stay to their preferences—which will likely contribute to a more positive experience.
- Elevate your staff’s customer service skills
A guest-centric hotel doesn’t only value VIP and executive guests. Every guest should be treated equally and with the same level of respect as everyone else. And your hotel staff should be well aware of this.
Provide comprehensive training on customer service, communication skills, and problem resolution. Encourage staff to anticipate guest needs and go the extra mile to exceed expectations. Positive and attentive staff contribute significantly to creating a memorable and guest-centric experience.
- Embrace feedback
Actively seek feedback from guests to help you identify your hotel’s strengths and rooms for improvement. You can do this through surveys, online reviews, and direct communication.
Analyse this feedback to identify areas for improvement and understand what is working well. Make sure to address negative feedback promptly to demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement. Guest feedback is a valuable tool for refining your services and maintaining high standards.
