Think back to your best hotel guest experience. What did you enjoy about your stay? What, specifically, made your time at the hotel memorable? Maybe you forgot some basic toiletries, and the staff provided you with complimentary products. Or maybe the front desk employee struck up a conversation that really resonated with you. These small, but meaningful details are the difference between a good and great stay. Avoid the dreaded hotel horror story and learn how to enhance the guest experience at your hotel with these three tips. You’ll even discover how our hiring platform can increase staff retention by an average of 43%.
Importance of the Guest Experience in Hotels
Guest satisfaction in the hotel industry is crucial. Good hoteliers should constantly think about how to improve the hotel guest experience as it is pivotal to maintaining your brand. Excellent experiences leave guests happy, drive customer loyalty, and increase revenue. In fact, one study found that positive online reviews significantly increase the number of bookings at a hotel. When guests are happy with their stay, the next time they need to book a vacation or travel for work, they’re more likely to return to one of your locations. If they feel they had an exceptional experience, they may even recommend your hotel to a friend, coworker, or family member.
The same study found that word of mouth from a “good friend” can outweigh the opinion from the online majority. But beware, the same is true for negative experiences — which can severely damage your brand’s reputation — as a friend’s opinion can outweigh a majority of positive online reviews.
How to Improve the Hotel Guest Experience
Be sure to take the time to really wow your guests. This could be their first lodging experience since the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow these three tips to ensure a smooth, satisfied hotel guest journey.
1. Hire Hotel Staff for Fit
Of course, enhancing the guest experience at your hotel starts with your employees. They are the foundation of your business, and without a strong foundation, your hotel could easily crumble under pressure from industry challenges.
Hiring for fit focuses on job seekers’ mental makeup, rather than their industry experience. You may want to hire people who are empathetic, outgoing, and adaptable for your hotel. Consider asking applicants specific questions during the interview process to evaluate whether or not they will mesh well with the rest of your staff.
Tip: Use Sprockets’ hiring solution to reveal which potential hires are the right fit for your hotel based on shared personality traits between applicants and your current top performers, empowering you to retain a strong, cohesive staff that will stay long-term.
2. Personalize Each Guest’s Experience
Once you have the best staff for your hotel, train them to personalize each guest’s experience. This is especially important for your front-desk staff as they are likely the first hotel employee your guests will see. Encourage your team to strike up a conversation (another reason why hiring for fit is important!). This could be as simple as asking where they are from, what their plans for their stay are, or offering restaurant recommendations. When they check out, you might even follow up on the chosen topic. Regardless, you want your interaction to be memorable so your guests can see your staff truly cares about the quality of their hotel experience.
3. Encourage Guest Feedback
What better way to understand how you can enhance your guests’ experiences than by asking your guests themselves? Feel free to get creative with this. For example, you might promote a campaign on your website that if your guests leave a review, they get a certain amount off on their next stay. Or maybe you simply ask them if they enjoyed their stay upon check-out. Whatever the case, be open-minded and willing to listen. Remember, not all feedback is going to be a glowing five-star review, so active listening is key.
Enhance the Guest Experience by Hiring the Best Staff From the Start
Sprockets’ hiring solution empowers you to predict applicant success — before the interview and without a resume – so you can easily build long-lasting staff for your hospitality location. Check out The Essential Guide to Attracting Hourly Workers: Hotel Edition to learn how to optimize job postings to fit your ideal hire and retain high-quality staff before your competitors.