With decreased occupancy rates and hyper-sensitive travelers, the hospitality industry is facing a challenge like never before. In the past, guests would make hotel decisions based on more simple factors such as location, price, and hotel amenities to name a few. While this hasn’t changed, travelers are now looking for additional features to make their stay both safe and comfortable, such as contactless technology, which helps to limit face-to-face interaction while staying at a hotel. With that being said, the importance of contactless communication with guests cannot be understated. Not only can this help create a more personalized guest experience, but it also provides guests with pertinent information regarding their stay, measures being taken to ensure their safety, and a contactless means of communicating with the property for the duration of their stay. Let’s take a look at some of the direct benefits of contactless messaging when it comes to enhancing the guest experience.
Gain a Competitive Advantage
With 99% of all text messages being read by the recipient, as compared to an average 20% open rate for emails, it is easy to see why text messages are already a more reliable option for communicating with guests. In addition, with 20% of all emails going to spam folders, hotels can no longer be sure their email communications are even reaching the guest. As a result of this, many forward-thinking hoteliers have begun implementing two-way text message communication at their hotels, which has become increasingly more valuable due to the current pandemic. In today’s climate, aligning your hotel with a property management system that is fully integrated with a guest messaging solution, such as Chorum PMS, can be the difference between a guest staying at your hotel versus a competitor. As guests look for a quick and safe way to communicate with hotel staff, it is quickly becoming apparent that text messaging is the ideal solution for hotels to operate in this new normal.
Increase Guest Satisfaction
With the ability to send text messages before, during, and after a guests’ stay, this form of communication can have a big impact on guest satisfaction overall. From sending pre-arrival communication regarding enhanced cleanliness standards and safety protocols to providing information on local attractions during a guest’s stay, guests can truly feel connected with a hotel at all times. In addition, guests can send and receive messages from wherever they are and can do so at any time, giving them access to information at a moment’s notice. Hotel staff can communicate with multiple guests at a time, compared to speaking to a single guest over the phone, which results in quicker communication overall. Answering each guest’s text messages in real-time also allows for personalized responses to each inquiry, creating a more seamless interaction with each individual guest. With the ability to request additional amenities, make reservations, and even order room service, guests will feel empowered to do more from their mobile device, all while promoting a contactless environment at the hotel.
Improve Service Recovery
While hoteliers do their best to provide each guest with an experience that goes above and beyond, the reality is that not all guests will be satisfied, especially in these unknown and challenging times. Often times, dissatisfied guests will opt to leave a negative review online instead of discussing their concerns with the hotel directly. In normal circumstances, this can often be attributed to a guest’s apprehension to confront the hotel staff face-to-face. However, as a result of this current pandemic, the likelihood of a guest addressing their dissatisfaction directly with hotel staff or management is very low. With that being said, text message communication allows for guests to voice their concerns using a method that promotes social distancing and mitigates anxiety for both guests and staff. Rather than a guest writing a poor review online, opportunities exist both during and after a stay to correct any issues relating to their experience that guest may have had while staying at your hotel. Simply by opening the lines of communication between guests and hotel staff, hotels have a unique opportunity to increase guest satisfaction, which ultimately will lead to more positive reviews online, while reducing the probability of a negative review as well. Check out our contactless solutions infographic for even more benefits and download our complete guide to contactless solutions for hotels!
Did you know that Jonas Chorum offers an integrated guest messaging platform? If you would like to learn more about this integration or see our cloud property management system in action, request a demo today! Our team would be happy to show you how to enhance the guest experience by leveraging our fully integrated guest messaging solution.
