Hotels are frequently told how the latest tech tool will improve the guest experience. A lot of these gadgets have real value, but arguably, the easiest and cheapest way to enhance the experience is to have better communication with your guests.
From the time a person makes a booking through to the end of the stay and beyond, there are numerous engagement points where you can start a conversation. Simple pre-stay emails, asking about personal preferences on arrival, and periodically checking guests are happy during their stay all play their part.
In the following post, we’ll dive deeper into these topics and provide examples of how your hotel can improve its entire guest communication strategy.
Anticipate guest needs before they arrive
When a guest arrives at your hotel, it’s important to be prepared. Knowing what they might need and want in advance can make a world of difference to their experience with you.
For instance, a lot of young parents will appreciate certain amenities and services, such as a baby crib and babysitting services. If that family arrives with a screaming infant at 10 pm, the last thing they want is a long wait for you to set up a crib. By simply checking their needs in advance, situations like this don’t need to happen.
As another example, a lot of business travelers staying at a hotel spend their time networking and rushing off to meetings. By acquiring pre-stay information, you can discover specific ways to make their life easier. That might involve arranging transport to their meetings, booking a restaurant near their first appointment, or recommending work-friendly cafes in the nearby area.
By sending out pre-stay emails or questionnaires using hotel-specific survey tools, you can learn what your guests need in order to super-serve them. To help with this, Travel Tripper offers a built-in guest questionnaire that you can employ during the booking process, as well as member profiles that enable guests to log in to an account that already has many of their preferences saved. At a glance, hotels can check this resource to preempt, rather than hastily react, to all of their guests’ changing needs.
Find out why they are coming
Every guest has their own reason for booking with you. For some, it might be their annual vacation. But for others, it could be for a significant event, such as a birthday, graduation, wedding anniversary, or a big family reunion. The point is, the guest picked your hotel to celebrate an important occasion, so you really want to make sure they have a great time with you.
