GUEST SURVEYS
Most online surveys engage with
guests soon after they check out.
These are essentially digital comment
cards and most are easy to create.
The more sophisticated ones provide
performance measurement, highlight
areas where the property should focus
their attention, and can help properties
deliver an improved guest experience.
They are usually emailed to post-stay
guests asking for input on their stay.
Guest surveys require low effort from
the property. The best of comment
card systems are integrated into the
property management system (PMS)
which automatically emails a survey
to each guest at check out. Some go
further and also offer post-check-in
surveys that proactively ensure the
guest experience is off to a proper start
while the guest is in-house. Greater
staff involvement is required when
the surveys come back. Although
satisfaction thresholds are available
to automatically alert a staff member
when a response is particularly low,
someone must read all returned
surveys and determine which require
action by the hotel and if management
response is needed. This is important.
If responses are not monitored and
responded to, the penalty may be a
bad online review for the hotel and loss
of business.
ON-PROPERTY TEXT MESSAGES
Text messages are an excellent way
to engage guests with full 2-way
communication. Greater staff
engagement is required for this
approach. Some text systems have
the smarts, based on an AI (artificial
intelligence) component,
to direct incoming guest
communications to the
appropriate department
(e.g. housekeeping for
towels, or the engineer
for room maintenance).
Some offer group guest
messaging to notify
of event changes and
updates in real-time.
Nevertheless, staff must
continuously monitor
guest texts and respond
in two to three minutes
to ad hoc requests such
as recommendations on
local attractions, or dinner
reservation inquiries. Text
engagement demands a
more sophisticated level
of communication that
requires staff training
and accountability. For
example, housekeeping
tablets are gaining wider
adoption in hospitality.
These systems enable
housekeeping staff to have seamless
mobile communication to and from the
PMS for faster room status updates.
For personalized guest engagement,
staff can change room statuses on
a tablet while auto sending text
messages to guests to notify them
when their room is ready.
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