As guests return from 18 months at home, they’re looking for new experiences and expecting top-notch service. Hoteliers, meanwhile, are struggling to find line-level workers and are moving more operations above property. Fortunately, the accelerated adoption of technology like Customer Data Platforms and digital communication tools are helping hotel companies provide instant gratification and personalized experiences all along the guest journey, including the on-property experience. With the right data integrations, hoteliers can drive ancillary revenue while creating “wow” moments for their most valued guests.
Even before the COVID pandemic, the traveler journey was continuously evolving and guests were setting new expectations for what they wanted out of a trip. One could simply look to the airlines – an industry that has always led in innovation – for where the future was headed. Airlines have completely changed the way they market and sell seats on their planes using more touchpoints along the customer journey. Personalizing your entire flight experience can be accomplished with a few clicks of a button, and customers have the option to book a base, no-frills rate and add ancillary services like bag-check and preferred seating. Travelers no longer wait in long-lines at the gate to check-in with a person – mobile or kiosk check-in options are the preferred methods.
On the hospitality side, it has been said that COVID and the subsequent travel lockdowns accelerated the industry’s digital adoption by five years in just an 18-month timespan. Today’s guests are returning with more demanding expectations – they want similar personalized experiences – amid a time when owners and operators are struggling with a labor shortage.
As seen in the airlines, a heightened focus on personalization and tailored offers will increase both guest satisfaction and profitability. The more hotels know about their guests, the better they can impress them at each stage of the guest journey, creating “wow” moments that make travelers feel special and ensuring they come back to your brand or your hotel time and time again.
But true personalization has been tough for hotels to achieve. It relies heavily on data – collecting, storing and actioning data about your guests and their transactions in a central location that can be accessed across wide portfolios of hotels at the right time throughout each guest’s unique journey. It requires operators to customize every touchpoint for each guest.
Thankfully, there’s been a rush of digital tools to help hoteliers accomplish these goals. As the industry reacted to COVID health and safety concerns by installing an onslaught of digital communication tools, a bi-product emerged for more seamless ways to collect, manage and store traveler information.
In a new Special Report produced by Virdee in partnership with Cendyn, we discuss how hoteliers can use a well-integrated CRM alongside in-lobby digital communication tools to drive loyalty membership signups and then deliver tailored guest experiences, driving both guest satisfaction and increased revenue.
The report discusses how hoteliers can implement upselling and other ancillary revenue capabilities, such as pet fees and early check-in and late check out.
It also dives into what hotels and hosts can learn from digital guest experiences, answering the following questions:
– How can you use guest feedback to improve operations?
– What data can you collect, where do you store it, how can you build reports with it?
– How can you improve your 360-degree view of the guest?
Download “Guest Satisfaction Goes Digital: Using Technology to Create Personalized Experiences”
