Tag: expérience

5 benefits of personalizing your property’s guest experience

personalizing-guest-experience
Posted on by Sarah Trépanier

Increase your guests’ satisfaction

Whether it be by having a lot of variety in your packages, paying particular attention on special occasions or even sending personalized emails, all your actions contribute to your guests’ satisfaction throughout their stay. Thanks to a powerful and efficient PMS (Property Management Software), you can retrieve all your customers’ data and personalize each step of their journey, from the booking to the post-stay message. For example, if a guest is used to staying at your property and already knows several of your services, it could be more relevant to promote your new products to them. On the other hand, it would be more interesting to mention your iconic and unique services if the client is new. Several other criteria, such as the type of client, their origin, or how they heard about you, are useful in personalizing their stay. Therefore, the role of your Property Management Software becomes important as it allows you to collect statistical data on your clientele and provides you with customer lists. 

Build customer loyalty

A loyal clientele is a considerable advantage for your establishment, and personalization can help you reach this goal more easily. There are several indicators that can measure loyalty to your property, such as the NPS (Net Promoter Score). When guests feel that their needs are being met, there is a good chance that they will come back to stay in your hotel. Moreover, offering a unique experience tailored to the customer’s type and their needs would encourage them to come back no matter what type of getaway they want. It will also help to strengthen your guests’ loyalty to your property.

Multiply your additional sales

Another undeniable benefit of personalizing guests’ stays is the increase in additional sales. Whether it be at the time of booking, before arrival or during the stay, guest information is essential to personalize their experience. By using your PMS, you will be able to make many other suggestions such as adding an in-room breakfast or a relaxing spa experience.

Have targeted communications with guests

Personalization can also improve the relevance of your communications with your clients. Indeed, you should not hesitate to analyze the information collected by your PMS in order to adapt your communications to the type of guest you wish to target. This will help you to increase your newsletters’ opening rate and click rate. A simple touch of personalization such as using your guest’s first name or information about their previous stay will make your emails more personal and more effective.

Attract Millennials

Millennials represent a significant future clientele for the hospitality industry. This generation of travelers is constantly looking for memorable experiences, so personalizing their experience by offering them a customized stay that meets their needs will increase their satisfaction and strengthen their loyalty.

Personalizing the experience offered by your property will undoubtedly allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Do not hesitate to use the data collected by your PMS to better understand your guests and implement a strategy that will not only increase their satisfaction but also strengthen their long-term loyalty. This customer data will also help you design and offer new features while improving the customer experience offered by your property.

New hospitality experiences for your guests

experiences-accueil-hotellerie
Posted on by Karine Thibeault
experiences-accueil-hotellerie

Checking-in at a welcome kiosk is not reserved for airports

Your property is not an international airport and yet your property management software may offer you check-in kiosks. Indeed, these kiosks allow your guests to check-in directly in the lobby, as if they were with a receptionist. By using a welcome kiosk, your guests will have a better perception of your property, because you offer them a new experience. It allows them  to quickly access their room, regardless of their arrival time.

Moreover, your guests can use the welcome kiosk anytime, 7 days a week, to identify themselves, validate their stay’s information and confirm their credit card pre-authorization.

Since social distancing is mandatory, the check-in kiosk helps limit contact with your staff and avoid contamination concerns. Nevertheless, it is still important to disinfect it regularly!

Online check-in, an evidence in a world full of mobile phones

Mobile phones have become an essential device in people’s daily life. Since most of your guests have a mobile phone, why not take this opportunity to offer them the possibility to check-in online, directly on their phone? From home, on the road or even at the office, your guests will be able to complete their check-in process anywhere and anytime, before they arrive at your property. Once in your lobby, all they have to do is get their key with the QR code that their mobile check-in will have provided them.

Pre-check-in is hybrid, so it’s trendy!

Thanks to the PMS, a few simple technological solutions that are easy to implement allow guests to anticipate the actions that the receptionists’  will have to take when they arrive at the hotel. Thus, these solutions help simplify communication with your guests and give them the opportunity, prior to their stay, to validate and correct their personal information and accept property’s policies. These anticipated actions allow your front desk to complete the check-in more efficiently.

La technologie a cet avantage d’être disponible à tout heure à tout moment, en plus de permettre aux clients d’être plus autonomes et donc de limiter les contacts avec votre personnel. Les options technologiques permettent de proposer de nouvelles expériences qui pourront rafraîchir votre établissement mais aussi de limiter le personnel dont vous aurez besoin à la réception. De ce fait, votre rentabilité sera d’autant plus importante puisque vous rendez votre lobby attractif et vous limitez les personnes qui y sont présentes.

New technologies at customer experience’s service

nouvelles-technologies-experience-client
Posted on by Catherine Daoust
nouvelles-technologies-experience-client

Nowaday, guests’ consumption habits have evolved, they are looking for more emotions, interactions and sharing. Thereby, a positive customer experience isn’t only compose of basic services such as comfort or cleanliness but by all the contact and interaction points between your establishment and your customers, throughout its customer journey. As for example, the ease of booking, the staff availability, the welcome’s quality, the speed of check-in, the bedding’s quality and the degree of personalization offered are part of the customer experience. 

But what is the goal of a unique customer experience? To offer an innovative experience that makes life easier for your customers and increases their satisfaction. In addition, this memorable experience could be a real advantage for you and a true loyalty sign. Since a traveler would be willing to pay 5 times more than the initial price in order to have a better customers experience, it becomes essential to understand what your customer are going through and to adapt all of your strategies and actions. The typical customer journey should be as simple and smooth as possible if you want to have satisfied and loyal customers.

1- Personalized marketing

Current travelers’ expectations have evolved, each of them is unique and has different expectations from the others. Creating interactions with them will help you to identify their preferences and to create more personalized contents. Talking in a more personalized way with your customers will make them feel unique and not just one among many others. Moreover, personalized marketing favors a more personal discussion with your guests and allows to gather a multitude of information. The personalized marketing’s goal is to create interest among your customers and to maintain a strong relationship with them. Thereby, 3 out of 5 customers say that personalized experiences based on their purchases and preferences would increase their loyalty towards a property.

2- Online check-in

Considered to be a very popular technology, online check-in allows travelers to use a mobile device or a laptop to complete their check-in process before arriving at the hotel. It also enable them to validate their personal information and their payment guarantee remotely. All they have to do is to go to the property’s check-in kiosk in order to collect their room key, or to follow a special “express check-in” line in the event that the establishment wouldn’t have any check-in kiosks. The two main advantages of having this technology is to make customers fully autonomous and to reduce the waiting time at the reception. Thus, your employees will have more time to discuss more personally with your customers and help them if necessary.

3- Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is made of several techniques that allow machines to imitate a real form of intelligence. Within properties, tools have been developed thanks to artificial intelligence and voice recognition. For example, chatbots which are available H24 and help to improve the customer experience by quickly answer to users’ questions. This technology can answer in less than one minute when there are no employees available. We can also take the example of smart rooms, which allow guests to control some aspects of their own room through voice recognition such as light, television or air conditioning. Moreover, artificial intelligence is used for data analysis such as customer reviews and surveys. As a hotelier, using this technology is very helpful for taking the best decision and optimizing your performance and income.

4- Virtual reality

Virtual reality allows you to immerse an individual in a fully artificial world created digitally, by using headset, a mobile application, a video game or even a virtual reality simulator. It is an excellent idea for a property because it offers the possibility of living a unique virtual experience before making a reservation such as a visit of their future travel destination, their room, the establishment’s infrastructure and activities available.

5- Augmented reality

Reflecting a virtual interface in 2D or 3D, augmented reality works via a terminal that screens the real world while adding virtual objects, animations and sounds. It allows the user to view it thanks to a mobile device. As an example, your guests will be able to point your restaurant or spa and see the online reviews of your previous guests or they will also be able to take a tour of your establishment and learn more about the activities offered.

6- Robots

The purpose of using robots isn’t to replace the daily work of your employees. Representing another form of innovative technology, robots are able to perform some daily tasks, giving more availability for your employees to interact more personally with your guests and also to optimize your establishment’s performance. In addition, some robots with advanced features can occupy the role of a concierge, a porter, a receptionist or even a housekeeper.

As a hotelier, using new technologies is a great way to revolutionize your customer experience. The hospitality industry is highly competitive and constantly evolving, the main goal is to offer a unique, personalized and enriching experience that will satisfy your guests and retain them. Moreover, a satisfied customer will not hesitate to leave a positive online review, to subscribe to your newsletter, to follow you on social media, to use the word of mouth in order  to spread a good message about your establishment but more importantly to comeback and stay at your place!

Are your guests sleeping well?

clients-sommeil-hotel
Posted on by Catherine Daoust
clients-sommeil-hotel

The bed

Quality of sleep is strongly correlated with the bed and its components. Ensure that all the pillows and sheets are clean, comfortable and of high quality. The mattress is also a crucial component. Your clients expect your mattress to be as comfortable as the one they have at home, if not better. If your mattress exceeds their expectations, they will enjoy their night and remember the wonderful sleep that they had at your hotel. Additionally, do not forget to flip the mattresses over when the time comes, in order to extend the mattresses’ lifespan and improve your guests’ comfort. Do not try to save money on beds because if your clients do not get a good night’s sleep, they will be irritated and more likely to leave negative online reviews and thus not stay with you again. It is therefore important to invest in quality components when it comes to beds.

In order to avoid having to change your mattress often, pick the ones that have a 10-year guarantee. You will save a significant amount of money.

The bedroom

In addition to the beds, make sure that the bedroom allows a good night’s sleep. Peace and temperature are two aspects that could make or break your client’s night. If you are aware that some of your room can be noisy, consider offering ear plugs or white noise machines upon request. However do not offer these complimentary solutions upon the client’s arrival, as this could cause them to be more aware of disturbances or pick up on some noise that they could have perhaps ignored otherwise. The light peeking through the blinds in the morning could also wake up some light sleepers. Make sure your blinds are as dark and as thick as possible and that the alarm clock’s light is not too bright.

Everything else

Obviously, you cannot control everything. Some external elements can cause your clients to have an agitated or unpleasant night, such as stress, jet lag or simply breaking their routine. To compensate for such elements out of your control, offer complimentary coffer in their room or at the front desk. You could also offer essential oils to breathe or to bathe with to promote relaxation. Additionally, you could replace the classic chocolate on their pillow with a soothing cream which they can apply on their neck to improve their sleep.

Do not forget that nothing is better than a restful night. Your client’s satisfaction is very much based on the quality of their sleep. Those who sleep like babies will be much more likely to come back and leave positive reviews online.

A successful Valentine’s day experience

saint-valentin-hotel
Posted on by Sarah Trépanier
saint-valentin-hotel
Une expérience Saint-Valentin réussie en hôtellerie

Many elements can be considered, such as creating packages and special offers marketed for couples, offering welcome gifts in your rooms upon arrival and/or putting together a special romantic dinner menu. All these ideas will help you market your hotel and allow your clients to remember their stay as a magical and memorable moment, and for your hotel to become their ultimate romantic destination.

Couples packages

When the atmosphere of Valentine’s day starts to take over, it is time for you to upload all your Valentine’s day special offers and display your couples packages. 

As this is a celebration of love, take this opportunity to be loved by your clients by offering them special packages such as ones with a complimentary breakfast in their room or a complimentary spa treatment. This is also the opportunity to include in your packages some of your own outdoor activities or to establish a partnership with local businesses offering activities which highlight the area. These all-inclusive packages are usually very much appreciated by couples, as they then have nothing to plan themselves. They can thus enjoy their stay and relax without worrying about what to do.

You may also want to establish a discount theme which relies on the number two, to emphasize couples, such as a discount on the second night rate, on the second bottle of wine, on the second spa treatment, etc… It is especially important on Valentine’s day to make the whole booking process accessible and pleasant. You need to consider the fact that many couples will want to book their Valentine’s day getaway together. You therefore need your offers to be clear and attractive and for your booking platforms to be working efficiently. A booking platform connected to your PMS System will be vital for this period of the year. There will be very few no-shows during this period, and this period also comes with a high risk of overbooking considering the significant number of people wanting a romantic getaway. The packages you are offering must be available to book online directly from your website. The couples need to be able to easily see which rooms are available, the offered rate and additional offers you have for you to be in their final choice. If you do not do so, you will then mostly rely on last minute bookings, as all your competition will already be fully booked. The people who still want to celebrate Valentine’s day will then turn to you and when they do, you can use your yield management module to lower your rates to guarantee at least a few bookings.

This day of celebration is also the time where people tend to spoil themselves and spend more. Make sure that you have an efficient upgrade policy, whether using your booking platform or offering upgrades upon your client’s arrival, when you still have some superior rooms available. It is also the time to highlight all the services your hotel offers: have an upsell strategy which will allow you to maximize your revenue by increasing your REVPAR. Your restaurant, your spa and the activities you offer must be promoted during this period. You must also mention that they can request a bottle of wine or cocktails, gourmet meals or a basket full of candles and massage oils to be brought to their room. These are some examples amongst others which can help boost your REVPAR. Keep in mind that your clients are at your hotel to connect with each other and make unforgettable memories together. By having efficient strategies, you will be able to see a significant improvement in your REVPAR on your PMS System and thus notice a progression compared to the previous year.

Personalized experience and welcome packages upon arrival

To show your clients that they can count on you and that they mean more to you than just a booking number, have a look at the data collected by your PMS System. The distribution of this data with your staff eases communication and coordination of tasks in order for your clients to get the best possible service. For example, if your client had called you to book and mentioned he would be staying with his wife celebrating their 15th Valentine’s day together, you could put this data into your PMS System and upon their arrival and give them a chocolate wishing them a happy 15th Valentine’s day. These little details matter and show your client you really care about the quality of the service you offer them.

This data inputted into your PMS system can allow you to stand out from your competition and ensure you client feels at ease and special.

Another way to boost your client’s satisfaction and your name in general is by offering gifts in the rooms booked via your special Valentine’s day packages. These little touches are always pleasant and help your clients to remember their stay with you as a magical getaway. It does not need to be complicated: bring a fruit platter with some chocolate to their room, offer a small discount when they order a wine bottle or simply offer them a rose upon their arrival.

Special Valentine’s day menu

Your hotel has a restaurant? It might be worth creating a special menu celebrating Valentine’s day. You can set up a table d’hôte menu available exclusively on this night or serve a chocolate dessert which is not usually on the menu. If you have high occupancy but limited space in your restaurant, you could offer your clients to bring a dessert to their room so they can enjoy their evening peacefully and deliciously. They will definitely enjoy this offer and you will be able to free some table very quickly. This will allow you to welcome other clients and maximize your revenue while leaving your clientele satisfied. 

Another way to personalize your restaurant’s menu on Valentine’s day is to include a complementary drink in the menu in order to encourage your clients to order another drink or a whole bottle. By promoting these packages and add-ons on your website, you allow your clients to pick you over your competition when they realize that you have everything they could wish for.

Do not forget to pay special attention when it comes to your restaurant’s ambiance on this special day. You might want to play some soft and romantic music, dim the lights for the evening, light some candles on the tables… This is because, as you are certainly aware, the atmosphere plays a role just as important as the meal itself when it comes to these special celebrations. If your restaurant offers lunch or brunch, you could slightly modify your presentation by highlighting this celebration of love by cutting strawberries in heart shapes for example. It is a simple gesture but it goes a long way and will definitely be picked up by your clients.

Valentine’s day represents a time of enormous spending during a short period. It is then key to maximize your revenue from each client as this period is prone to being very busy and will trigger a lot of spending.  It is time for you to establish good upgrade, upsell and yield management strategies in order for all your performance indicators to improve compared to your previous years.