Did they see it, but didn’t respond?
Were they online, but said nothing?
NB: This is an article from asksuite
All of us have been annoyed by not getting a quick response, especially when using WhatsApp Business. You, a hotelier, have certainly had an episode of stress trying to answer everyone at the same time and felt frustrated when a possible customer complains about your delay in service, right?
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We are impatient when sending and replying to a message. This impatience is also reflected in the business world. Who has time to wait for a company to respond? Or a hotel?
If you don’t respond quickly, your chance of closing the reservation decreases dramatically. Whoever texted you asking for a quote, will probably contact another hotel if you take too long.
WhatsApp is one of the leading means of communication with more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries using the app. Therefore, it has significant relevance as a sales and communication channel in the hospitality industry. Your hotel needs to be where your customer is.
However, managing WhatsApp Business for hotels is not so easy. For this reason, many hoteliers still hesitate to adopt this application as an official channel and do not take advantage of the sales opportunities that can be generated.
Answering by WhatsApp requires organization and availability for quick service. If we think about the current hospitality scenario, this task becomes even more difficult. With many hotels operating with a reduced staff, how can excellent service be provided via messaging, social networks, phone, e-mail as well as the hotel’s own front desk?
Here, in this complete guide, we will help you on this mission by showing:
Why is it important to serve your potential guest via WhatsApp?
Does losing reservations on WhatsApp impact your business so much? What is the sales potential of this communication channel?
a) Main Communication Channel in the World
It is not new that WhatsApp has become one of the main means of communication. With more than 5 billion downloads in the Google app store in 2020 alone, WhatsApp is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, being present in about 99% of active smartphones.
Do you see the great sales opportunity for your hotel?
b) Interaction for Personalized Service
WhatsApp facilitates your communication and maintains closer contact with travelers looking for their next destinations. This way, you can get to know your customers better and thus, know their expectations. With that, they will arrive at your hotel with the experience they envisioned. No expectation x reality, okay?
The integration with a chatbot and an intelligent service platform, for example, increases your chances of impressing even before their arrival in the lobby and allows the delivery of a unified service for each customer.
Also, there is no need for the customer to repeat everything several times for each attendant or communication channel. How?
The use of virtual assistants equipped with Artificial Intelligence on WhatsApp coupled with the platform allows all chatbot interactions to be shown on a single panel of calls, along with calls made on the hotel website and Facebook.
It also organizes service by categories (tags), so you, the hotelier, do not get lost when responding, knowing each conversation history exactly. With this, the service gains agility, enabling you to deliver a superior experience to your customer.
WhatsApp Business for hotels
You may have noticed that some hotels have their own app. However, is downloading each hotel app a good practice from the customer experience point of view? What’s more, why invest so much money building your own app if most people already use a free app?
In fact, WhatsApp’s potential has long been detected by major hotel chains. In 2014, the Starwood hotel chain in Qatar, W Doha, started a pilot project for WhatsApp. The idea was to test the app as a way for regular customers to send messages to the hotel, with requests and questions. Since then, the project, which made the name “Let’s Chat” official, has expanded to 150 more units.
Travelers, like all of us, are constantly exchanging messages through their cell phones. Communication by messaging creates an even greater expectation of service speed compared to, for example, email.
Especially on a cell phone, where the interaction speed between a hotel and a potential guest is already expected to be much higher than that of other service channels.
Therefore, it is not for nothing that some of our customers, including those in Mexico, already report that WhatsApp is the responsible channel of communication, some reaching an impressive 90% of all hotel service.
That is, being present on WhatsApp is, in many ways, more effective when investing in a personalized app, as it is in the daily life of every consumer, it is free and has a huge reach!
