With a hotel sector with great growth prospects after difficult years, competition between hotels has once again reached important heights. In this context, the strategy linked to the guest experience has become the main workhorse by which hotels manage to differentiate themselves, attract more guests and multiply their income.
In a context of almost obligatory digitization in the hotel business, with a more horizontal relationship with customers, this concept is becoming a priority objective.
Therefore, and from our experience in the management and digital integration of hotel businesss, at Cerium we want to point out some ideas and keys to optimize the customer experience in hotels.
What is the guest experience?
The guest experience in a hotel speaks directly to the ability of hotels to satisfy and retain customers, at a time of great demand and expansion. It is a concept that, within the hospitality business, speaks of the satisfaction that guests obtain in their interactions with a hotel.
It is a notion that has become more important in recent years, in part due to greater competition between businesses, along with their digitization.
For this reason, the customer experience in hotels today is understood as a broad concept that includes not only the stay in the hotel, but many other processes such as:
- Reservations.
- Cleaning.
- Ease and speed in all procedures.
- Adequate communication and customer service.
- Attractions, facilities and entertainment.
- New technologies: includes the commitment to IPTV solutions, chromecast WiFi, the latest WiFi technology, captive portals, home automation… We are talking about solutions that guests demand to feel at home.
- hotel cybersecurity: undoubtedly a transversal element to all the new technologies that a hotel implements. Protecting your guests' data and putting in place the means to make them feel more secure is vital to improving the experience at all stages of the trip.
Understood as a kind of "sum total of experiences" offering an extraordinary experience is already a requirement of today's customers: 66% expect a company understand their needs and expectations and knows how to solve them, according to a report by Salesforce.
Keep learning: What is the guest journey and how to meet the new needs of guests
5 keys to improve the guest experience in your hotel
1. Focus on segmentation
Customer segmentation is based on the current ability of technologies to obtain guest data (needs, interests, expectations...) to then offer services that fit them.
Through social networks, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data or software like CRM, hotels are better understanding the specific needs of different types of customers, to better align their actions and strategies for them.
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2. Invest in a guest experience manager
The figure of the guest experience manager means having a person in the hotel's human team capable of obtaining a global vision of the customer experience within the hotel, managing and optimizing it.
Among the advantages of making an investment in this figure are improvements such as:
- Optimization and customization of the experience. The guest experience manager will take care of covering the needs of the client in all their interactions, from the moment a reservation is made until the client leaves the hotel (sending farewell mail, satisfaction surveys...).
- Generation of a communication channel closer between hotel and guests and even direct, aimed at minimizing the role of intermediaries in communication or reservation processes.
- Global vision and, at the same time, specific knowledge about this universe, including all the technology linked to improving at this point.
On the other hand, taking into account that it deals exclusively with optimizing the guest experience, the possibilities of building customer loyalty are multiplied, making this figure a profitable investment.
3. Bet on technology that helps you improve the customer experience
The same Salesforce report cited above already pointed to the need for hotel companies to apply technologies to improve the guest experience: 88% of consumers today expect companies to speed up their digital initiatives, an aspect that has increased after the COVID-19 crisis.
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In this sense, technology facilitates interactions, speeds up all processes and allows hotels to offer a high degree of personalization.
Some ideas in this regard include:
- Smart rooms: It is a model aimed at offering maximum autonomy and personalization to customers within their room, from lighting control to temperature, among other variables.
- La domótica and IoT They can also be applied to common areas, providing extra resources.
- frictionless experiences: from the traveler's own mobile or tablet (for example, with the installation of an app), processes such as check-in or check-out can be streamlined, in addition to communications with the hotel for contracting services, among others options.
Here it is vital optimize Wi-Fi network and have a infraenetwork structure adequate to incorporate technology with agility and ensure the best connectivity and navigation quality.
It is also very important that any technological element is safeguarded through technologies of specific cybersecurity for hotels, taking into account the proliferation and greater complexity of cyberattacks.
4. Establish a Customer-Centric culture in all areas of your hotel
Here we refer to working in a series of norms, customs and processes in which the customer and their needs at the center.
It is a profound change in the business culture that requires redefining the priorities of a business to put the generation of value for the customer first.
Thus, customer satisfaction (measured through specific tools, such as digital surveys or social monitoring tools) becomes the favorite factor from which to make business decisions.
5. Improve your communication and make it more personalized
Technology supports the ability of hotel companies to improve their communication processes in order to improve the guest experience.
Some actions in this regard include:
- Provide information through IPTV networks and display screens (showing, for example, the services available that week).
- Generate secure networks for guest connections. At this point comes into play GPON technology that facilitates the maximum quality of the Internet through a FTTR network (Fiber To The Room).
- use systems of emailings and automated SMS to send personalized communications, including reservation confirmations and all kinds of reminders, in addition to communicating with customers who have already left the hotel to send them offers or review requests, among others.
From Cerium, we know first-hand the need to integrate technological services to improve customer satisfaction. Therefore, among our products and services, We stand out as a strategic partner for the design of the hotel GPON network, the heart from which the different technological services are deployed to improve the customer experience in hotels.
In particular, our The DATA department is dedicated to developing solutions that help hoteliers get to know their guests better so that, based on data, they can achieve a greater impact through more personalized messages.
The goal: rely on digital tools to enhance the guest experience and make it memorable.
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