Are you happy with the results you get from engaging with your guests? Do they book directly with you for their second or third stay or are they flocking to the OTA to make reservations?
If so, then there are a lot of things you are missing out on during your interaction with your guests.
Guest engagement is the core part of any business. For example, Zappos, the leading online shoe retailer is well known for its customer service.
They believe that enforcing call time tracking is a waste of both their and customers’ time. Their reps spend that extra time with customers instead of focusing on getting through every call.
A study by the White House Office of Consumers Affairs revealed that about 80% of U.S. Consumers are willing to pay more for a product or service that delivers a superior customer experience.
So it is clear from the study that the customer experience a brand delivers is an important way to increase satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.
The same philosophy can be applied in the hospitality industry after all guest engagement is about making a relationship with them.
It’s an act of adding and creating your brand identity in the minds of your guests. You can do so by adding value to that relationship and convincing them to book with you repeatedly.
Let’s have a look at the ways to make the relationship stronger with your guests:
Communicate Instead of Selling
In your day-to-day life, you must have got repetitive calls from salespeople who try to sell you their products.
If the product is not of your interest you may have declined the offer politely, but they keep trying harder to sell you the stuff. You do get annoyed and irritated, don’t you?
You’ll get the same reaction from your guests if you just think of selling to them instead of establishing communication with them.
Companies that offer information that makes their customer’s live better tend to enjoy the better guest engagement. That is because they are adding meaningful value to their relationship.
You must follow that same strategy while engaging with your guests whether it’s through email, over the phone, or while have face to face interaction.
Be proactive and communicate like a friend with the guests. Try to know more about them and then provide new information according to their needs. It will add value to the relationship and you’ll positively get results in your favor.
Don’t Assume that your product is enough
According to a survey by Accenture, 81% of people stated that it’s frustrating to deal with companies that make it difficult to do business with them.
When you shop on Amazon, it suggests products you may like based on your search and purchase history. Even Twitter suggests people for you to follow because it knows that you’ll it more if you are likely to follow and read tweets of your favorite celebs, stars, or sportsperson.
Step back a little, and follow every sale made at your hotel. Think about what more you have to offer to your guests to make their stay exciting and have an unforgettable experience.
A good strategy would be to send tailored messages or emails with suggestions based on the needs of your guests.
For example, you can create segments of your guests based on their previous stay for business or leisure travelers, with family or as a couple, etc.
The such message will show your guests that you care about their wants and pay close attention to their needs. They will gain confidence in your hotel, which is willing to provide valuable service to them.
Don’t just try, Do More! Attitude for Guest Engagement
Have you ever thought that why only a few brands are famous worldwide? That’s because they don’t just try but take the extra mile to engage with customers.
It takes time for people to get used to a brand. The first step is the initial purchase, and after that, the brand has to engage more with customers to make them purchase a second time.
In this way, customers will repeat the purchase cycle and the brand successfully establishes a strong relationship.
Pursue your guests to leave online reviews on review websites and social media. Ask for their feedback so that the next time they get a better service from you.
All of these efforts will provide a foundation to build an ongoing relationship just like other renowned brands.
Be the Brand When the Need Arises
The presence of a brand at the right time makes it a perfect choice for consumers. This is what many companies fail to understand associated with customer engagement as a constant and day-to-day activity.
Some companies bombard the inbox of customers with promotional emails and very few open them. It is all right to be consistent but sending quality information frequently is more important.
Quality wins over consistency because your brand will be the first choice in the minds of your customers.
Therefore, most of the guests aren’t constantly looking to make reservations. So when the need arises your brand must be the first choice to reflect in their minds.
Build strong enough relationships you get calls from the guests to confirm their bookings.
Share Engaging Content for Guest Engagement
You must have seen videos about brands sharing some cool tips and secrets related to their services. It feels amazing to see how brands do their stuff and it gets us excited as well.
In the same way, you can share a lot of things about your hotel. Share a video tutorial about the special dishes made by your chef or tips on how to arrange a room in awesome ways from the house cleaning department.
Similarly, you could also share stories of your guests and how they felt about their stay at your hotel in a testimonial video.
As a result, such content will display your expertise to the world and will remind guests of the experience you have to offer. Thus, it’ll let people connect with your brand and lead to a long-lasting relationship.
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