Whether you’re running a luxury independent resort, city center hotel or multi-national chain – there is only one great equalizer that impacts every single hotel. Guests.
For most people, travel, whether in the form of a vacation, business or a mix of business and pleasure, is an opportunity to escape from ordinary. Today’s demanding guest doesn’t just expect easy check-in, clean rooms, and a picturesque property — they don’t want to pick and choose the elements of their stay which stand out. Instead, guests, today expect a seamless, personalized experience from start to finish, from before they step foot on in the lobby to after they leave. Guests want to know their needs are understood and taken care of, so they can lose themselves in their vacation or log a successful business trip without the stress that can so often be associated with travel and accommodations.
Fortunately, technology, especially mobile, has come a long way in giving hoteliers more opportunities to optimize the guest stay – driving new standards of personalized experiences and resetting the competitive bar at the same time. To improve guest satisfaction, you need to make sure each touchpoint leads to a great visit, and that the journey as a whole delivers on guests’ expectations.
Pre-Arrival
The mobile evolution is impossible to ignore, for business owners and hoteliers alike, as guests continue to demonstrate a preference for hotels which optimize their mobile functionality for pre-arrival communications, check-in and more.
Further to that, 83% of guests want hotel service promotions (including restaurant, spa, etc.) on their mobile devices (SmithMicro). This desire comes as no surprise, with a mobile device being one of the most important accessories for travelers today. After all, almost every one of your guests is likely carrying a smartphone or tablet, and time spent on mobile apps is only increasing. People expect to remain connected anywhere, at any time — and if some of the primary touchpoints of their stay can be conceptualized within their favorite device? Even better.
With the right technology in place, hotels can offer the complete mobile experience to their guests before they even arrive with pre-arrival messages, curated upgrade offers and reservation overviews available right from their smartphone.
Day of Arrival and On-Property
The shift to a more mobile experience can, in many ways, be attributed to the desire for daily task simplification. Guests today want more from each experience, but never at the cost of their time or convenience. Simplification of tasks is noted as the most important factor in the mobile travel experience (65%) while having a more personalized stay is important to mobile users and younger travelers (Adobe).
Investing in the mobile experience presents hoteliers with a unique opportunity to simplify primary touchpoints of the guest experience (embracing a low-touch, convenience-driven model) while also offering increased personalization (high-touch). Guests get the best of both worlds — quick, easy check-in when they’re in a rush, and personalized offers and communications when they want something more unique. In fact, according to hotels.com, 67% of travelers are “more likely” to choose a hotel that allows guests to check in and open doors with a smartphone than a hotel that doesn’t. When a hotel is optimized for a complete mobile experience, they can offer their guests frictionless, mobile check-in and check-out and mobile key entry to rooms, which further streamlines the arrival process for each guest. This freedom from check-in and other arrival duties empower your staff to connect with each guest in a more personal way, with those more arduous registration tasks and long lines out of the way.
Furthermore, reports show that guests are more likely to engage with (and invest in) hotel upsell opportunities and upgrades without the presumed pressure of hotel staff interaction. Guests feel empowered to ‘choose their experience’ when given the opportunity to make purchases or upgrades through their mobile device. According to hotelexecutive.com, there’s an 18% increase in room service orders when made via mobile and guests typically spend 20% more when ordering via mobile (Business Insider). This is a major revenue opportunity for your hotel powered by the inclusion of mobile for upselling, upgrades, promotions, concierge and room services.
Post Stay
The guest experience should not end as soon as they step foot off your property — after all, the world of online reviews and feedback can make or break a hotel’s success in the modern age. According to JD Power, 46% of guests wrote a review in the past six months. With the right technology in place, hoteliers can extend their guest courtship efforts beyond the confines of each guest’s visit with personalized post-stay communications, surveys and relevant offers to drive loyalty and direct bookings.
No matter how big or small your hotel business is—at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings interacting with other human beings. Each touchpoint of a guest’s journey is an opportunity to connect with them and transform their stay with you from being viewed as an accommodation, to an experience. By investing in every step of a guest’s journey with your hotel with mobile technology and a holistic, personalized approach, you can ensure that each guest will continuously invest back in your hotel.
Zaplox eliminates friction and enhances guest experiences before, during and after their stay. To learn more about how our mobile key and engagement technology can play a major role in elevating your guest service to drive loyalty and revenue, request a live demo at zaplox.com.
About the Author
Mr. Magnus Friberg has served as Chief Executive Officer of Zaplox AB since 2013, and he is also Director of the Company. He previously served at Securitas, responsible for Business Development & Marketing in Europe. He previously also established the company S Reg with SmartSafety concept.
