Efficient service for hoteliers is vital for building repeat guests and maximizing revenue. However, it can be difficult to handle guest issues effectively while also making sure the operations behind the business are running smoothly.
Improving efficiency is a way for your business to streamline the process of guest interaction as well as simplify everyday duties for employees.
In order to improve customer satisfaction and your bottom line we’ve compiled 4 tips to improving efficiency at your hotel:
Implement Automation Software for Requests.
For interactions that don’t require much uplifting from hotel staff, you can implement and utilize automated software. Automated software streamlines the process of guest ordering and inquiries, so they don’t have to put in the extra work.
With the Loop Experience Platform, your guests can make orders right from their smartphone or desktop, which allows them to bypass the front desk and reduce their wait times. When the request is submitted, they are then routed to the appropriate department – saving your employees time and ensuring the right team member is notified of the task to improve workflow.
As an added bonus for your guests, using the Loop platform means all requests are logged electronically. This makes it virtually impossible to lose a request and in the event that a request doesn’t get fulfilled, the technology has a chain of accountability built into it. Management can easily identify where the issue occurred on the service side and resolve it to deter it from happening again in the future.
Pre-Populate Answers
When using a messaging system to facilitate guest engagement, a manually entered response isn’t always required to respond to a guest’s needs. This is especially true when employees have more pressing issues and the inquiry is simple, such as “What time do you open?” and “What is your address?”
If a guest asks a routine question such as; “Where is your hotel located?” Your team members should be able to answer that quickly and effectively. Having pre-populated answers provides an affirmative response and enables your employees to send follow-up questions about their travel. In conversations that become more complicated or that need more engagement, the employee can intervene and craft their own message.
By adopting the Loop Experience Platform, you can pre-configure responses. This means that the platform stores answers for the user to search and select. If your employee is receiving messages that are routine they can use the search filter to send a response in a timely manner. This streamlines the process of the employee responding and makes it so the guest receives a correct response without having to wait.
Encourage Guest Reviews
Understanding your guests is imperative to understand your business and to make improvements on efficiency and satisfaction. If your team members are slow with task fulfillment or if valet is unorganized, your team may not know until the guest says something weeks or months after their stay – and by that time it may be too late.
Encouraging reviews means you have greater visibility into guest satisfaction and things you can do to improve efficiency in real-time. With the Loop® Platform you can encourage guests to give feedback with TripAdvisor, the largest review platform in the world. Loop lets you, prompt guests, to write reviews by sending them a message upon check-out. This message can either pre-populate your guest’s information right on the spot or if their information isn’t recorded, it can automatically direct them to the TripAdvisor’s site to input their own information.
This technical partnership with TripAdvisor means that engaged guests who messaged with the hotel during their stay are given an easier gateway to provide feedback, while also making sure you provide more efficient service.
Have an Omni-channel Messaging Solution
You can improve efficiency by streamlining the messaging process between guests and team members. Instead of making team members log in and out of multiple platforms to speak with a guest or having guests download apps to communicate with you, try utilizing a platform that can take multiple messaging channels and deliver them to one inbox. This not only makes it easier for employees to read and respond to messages but it also ensures the guest is receiving a response in a timely manner.
With the Loop Messaging feature set, your team members can easily access guest messages on their preferred messaging platform. Whether a guest chooses to connect with your team over Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter DM, or using your Native App, Loop Inbox brings all of the preferred messaging channels into one central location so your team has easier access to conversations and can stay organized the entire time.
Running a hotel can be a daunting task when you have so many things to consider. From operations to customer service, taking steps to improve efficiency can alleviate the time you spend on certain tasks and help you build loyal customers.
What are some ways you could improve efficiency at your hotel? Let us know in the comments, or on social media: LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
