No one can deny the importance of engaging with your hotel guests, and emailing is an indispensable tool to achieve this closer relationship. If you’ve read our last blog post you’ll already know the best ways to secure these important addresses. However, now that you have them, what should you do with them? We here at LoungeUp have created a step-by-step guide, outlining how to use emailing to increase guest satisfaction and revenues.

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Pre-stay

The time period between a guest booking a room in your hotel and their arrival can be one of the most lucrative, particularly in the days just before their arrival. They are excited for their stay and want to ensure that everything runs smoothly, and so this is the perfect opportunity to send them a welcome email with a few added extras.

Confirmation and thank you

Give your guests peace of mind whilst adding a personal touch by sending a confirmation email, thanking them for their reservation. By saying thank you, you show them that you appreciate their booking, making them feel like more than just a number in your system which could make them more likely to engage with your offers and later emails. Furthermore, by letting them know that there will be further emails in preparation for their stay, you can build up a relationship of trust, as they see your emails as useful rather than spam.

Prepare for their stay

Use this time to make your guests feel catered for, before they even set foot in your hotel! Give them the opportunity to ask questions about the arrival, restaurant, spa etc. Even if they don’t have any questions at the moment, this will make them feel as though you care about their opinions and desires, and that you want them to have the best stay possible. Furthermore you can offer them specific amenities, such as feather pillows or cots for young ones, catering for their every need.

You can also give them the opportunity to check in at this point; letting them indicate their estimated time of arrival and provide all the required documents, making their arrival as fast as possible as they bypass any queues.

Sell your services

Do not let this opportunity to sell some of your services go to waste! Why not give them the chance to order a parking space, an airport shuttle, or even a bottle of champagne in their room for their arrival? There are endless possibilities, all simultaneously contributing to increased revenues and guest satisfaction, it is a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Using pre-stay emails in such a way is undeniably very effective, a stunning 75% of clients open these emails, of which 25% take the time to fill in the form and order additional services.

During their stay

Highlight your services

Do not be afraid to send your guests emails during their stay with you; this is a great time to highlight your services and offers, whilst they are here to appreciate them. Why not tantalise them with photos of the dishes from your restaurant, or treatments in your spa? You could even offer them a discount code through the email, making them feel personally appreciated, all whilst increasing revenues.

Promote your app

Use this opportunity to highlight your app to your guests. Through the app you can provide some more advanced functionalities such as restaurant menus, hotel services and tourist recommendations that will be invaluable to your guest’s stay.

Feedback Survey

This is also a great chance to send out a feedback survey. It’s a win-win: if you get positive replies you know that what you’re doing is right and can assure them that this high quality service will continue. If any feedback is less than positive, you can nip the problem in the bud, not only assuring them that things will improve but showing them this improvement for the remainder of their trip. This way you can avoid negative reviews on TripAdvisor and make the guest feel listened to and valued.

Post stay

Even though by this point your guest has left the establishment, this is a great time to keep in contact.

Feedback Survey

By filling out a feedback survey at the end of their trip, guests can provide you with a rounded picture of their stay. You could ask them what they thought of the hotel, its service and its surroundings, in order to know what to focus on improving in the future. You could also use positive reviews in future marketing initiatives. Certain software tools are even authorised to upload this feedback automatically onto platforms such as TripAdvisor, Zoover, Google and others, saving time and increasing the visibility of your hotel.

Book a next stay

By sending guests a link to book their next stay with you directly, you can save both of you money by avoiding OTAs. Entice them by providing a promotion code, so that they feel catered for even after leaving, securing some loyal customers. It is far better to provide a 5% discount to a loyal customer than a 20% commission to an OTA.

With all of these ways to utilise your guests’ email addresses, it would be a shame not to put them to good use! By targeting and personalising the emails you can increase customer satisfaction and revenues. What is there to lose?

Sources

• Our clients: through our many discussions with independent hoteliers and the marketing departments of hotel chains

Written by Marylou

Photo credits: Damian Zaleski - Unsplash