How to increase your guests' satisfaction (and your revenue) by leveraging technology

Every guest who books at your facility creates expectations about their stay.

Consequently, their satisfaction is based on how well you can meet those expectations.

If you offer a service that is in line with, or even exceeds, their expectations, customers will feel satisfaction, otherwise they will be dissatisfied.

Your guests' expectations are based on precise elements of your service offering, called "attributes."

There are five of them, let's look at them in detail.

These basic elements that cannot be lacking in your facility, otherwise your guest will not be satisfied.

An example of a basic attribute is the housekeeping service.

Elements that guests expect and that, if provided in the right way, increase their satisfaction.

An example of a performance attribute is a larger-than-expected breakfast.

These are elements that the guest does not pay attention to and that do not affect overall satisfaction.

An example of an indifferent attribute is door locks with a key rather than an electronic card.

They have the same characteristics as the basic attributes, except that they do not always occur.

An example of an inverted attribute is Wi-Fi that does not work (but the guest may not use it).

These are the ones that the guest does not expect, but their presence greatly increases satisfaction.

They also allow you to differentiate yourself from competing accommodations and create a competitive advantage.

A satisfaction attribute can be a personalized experience you offer your guests.

They basically represent the aspects you should work on the most to make your guests happy.

To offer services that will delight your customers, it is essential to first get to know their needs and wants.

To find out what they are, follow these steps.

1. Conduct a sociodemographic analysis of your typical customer by obtaining data (usually from your management system) such as age, gender, origin, social status and interests.
2. Analyze your reviews and those of your competitors by identifying the strengths and points of improvement that emerge from each. Read this article to learn how to do an analysis of your competitors.
3. Talk to your guests, capture their motivations for coming to you, understand what activities they do during their stay.

This way you have all the elements that allow you to create additional services to offer your guests.

Now all you have to do is put them up for sale.

There are two effective sales techniques that allow you to propose extra services to the guest, personalize their stay and increase your revenue.

This is a sales technique that involves proposing an upgrade to the service the guest is buying or has already purchased.

If your guest is booking the superior room, and you propose the suite, then you are upselling.

In this article, we explain everything you need to know about upselling in hotels.

It consists of offering a product or service that is complementary to the one in which the buyer has shown the most interest.

Offering breakfast in the room to someone who is booking a stay is a classic example of cross-selling.

The main benefit of upselling and cross-selling is that, in addition to increasing your revenue, you actually improve your guests' experience.

In addition, customers are more likely to accept these kinds of proposals because they are already making a purchase from you and have already decided that you are the right choice for them.

Let's see now how technology can come to your aid during this process.

Technology can help you increase sales and customer satisfaction by offering the right product, to the right customer, at the right time.

There are several ways it can do this, let's find out the main ones.

To succeed in satisfying customers, you should start by getting to know them even before they make a reservation.

One way to do this is to study their buying behavior on your website thanks to web analytics tools offered by, for example, Google or your management software.

Thanks to these tools, you can know what information on your website really interests the guest and understand at what times to propose certain services.

The check-in phase at the facility is crucial for interacting with guests and offering tailored services.

It is also a valuable time to talk to them and get to know them better.

Technology can support you during check-in if you do not have a physical front desk and only perform the process online.

Technology allows you to offer your extra services at any time and any place during your guests' stay.

With QR codes placed in rooms or other strategic locations, for example, you can allow your guests to see what services are available and choose what they want.

If you don't feel you have enough additional services to meet the needs of your guests, one solution is to make arrangements with local partners. In this way, you can help the local economy and give your guests a more authentic experience.

If you don't have the time or expertise to analyze your customer data, create personalized newsletters and sales offers, and upsell effectively, try Smartconnect! The software that automates guest communications to help you increase loyalty, revenue from ancillary services, and direct bookings.