Lucy - BQ Magazine EditorAll businesses including those in the hospitality industry can benefit from repeat custom. After all, it’s far less costly to get a customer who has already decided to trust your business once to do so again than it is to convert someone completely new. The good news is that by getting your customers to fall in love with your hotel, you can encourage them to stay with you repeatedly. Find out more in our detailed post below.
Make their special occasions even more special
Many guests stay at a hotel as a treat for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary. You can get your guests to fall head over heels in love with your establishment if you acknowledge this occasion and provide some extras to help them celebrate it.
The first thing that comes to mind here is offering an upgraded room. You can do this if a more expensive room has not been sold, as will cost you nothing as it would stand open anyway. However, the payoff is that the guests will have a significantly better time, and are more likely to leave positive reviews, recommend your hotel to other people, and come back themselves.
If a room upgrade is not available then what about putting together some party packs? You can pre-make these by theme and age and then hand them to the guest when they arrive or place them in the room. Packs can include simple things such as a hand-signed card, party hats and streams, age-appropriate drinks such as cans of wine for adults and cans of soda for kids and some age-appropriate snacks.
Provide welcome packs for every guest
Similar to the party packs mentioned above, a welcome pack provided to every guest as they arrive is another way you can ensure they are endeared to you from the very first moment. What you choose to include in your welcome pack is up to you, but a pair of branded slippers that the guests can keep, along with a sewing kit, hygiene kit, and shoe polish kit can work well. Add some high-end snacks and drinks to make it extra special and your guests will begin their stay feeling special and delighted.
Alternatively, another option to consider instead of welcome packs is giving your guests access to a pantry of treats and refreshments. Stock it with a fridge full of cold drinks in bottles and cans, high-quality chips and snacks, and home-baked pastry goods like cookies, and cakes. Then allow your guests to visit as many times as they would like during their stay, with no charge.
Make their stay as personalised as possible
Another way in which you can make your guests feel super special and help them fall in love with your hotel is to do everything you can to personalize their stay.
The good news is there are lots of ways you can make a guest’s stay more personal. The first is to customize their accommodation. This means finding out a bit about them and the purpose of their stay beforehand. For example, if you know that your guests want to do lots of exploring of the local area, leaving maps, a local guidebook, and leaflets for local activities in the room will be welcomed. However, if you know your guests will be prioritising rest, a hotel-branded robe and slippers along with all the toiletries they need, and an eye mask and a spa menu are the best options.
You can also offer a selection of curated experiences based on what you know about your guests, including their age, and intentions for the trip. For example, for a family, you could put together a pack with all the local amusement parks and family-friendly restaurants. While for a couple a pack suggesting the most romantic places to eat and visit would be best.
Invite feedback and use it to improve
People love to be listened to, and nearly everyone has an opinion especially when they are paying their hard-earned money for a stay in your hotel. What this means is you can delight your customers by encouraging them to leave feedback and interacting with them to show that they have been heard.
One way you can do this is to leave a comment card in their room which can be filled in during their stay. Another option is to allow guests to fill in anonymous comment cards and post them in a box in reception. One of the great things about using an anonymous system is that you are much more likely to get honest and valuable feedback. Acting on this type of feedback ensures that you will improve the experience for customers in the future.
Another great channel for feedback is comments online. Sometimes guests will leave these on your official social media accounts, or tag you in them so you can see them easily. Other times these comments will not be so easy to find without the right software which collects them all in one place.
Offer irresistible deals
Everyone loves to think they are getting more bang for their buck, and offering your guests a real bargain can help them fall in love with your hotel. Often the best way to do this is to combine the services you offer at your premises such as rooms, spas and restaurants into a single price.
The right way to frame this is that if a customer pays for their room, they get access to the spa and a certain amount of money to spend in your onsite restaurants as a gift from your hotel. Such deals can be irresistible as they allow guests to upgrade their stay and experience the highest tier of services your establishment has to offer.
By offering these deals on weekends that would otherwise not be sold out you can raise your room occupancy, delight your customers and ensure they experience the full range of what your hotel has to offer. This will then make those who stay with you even more likely to come back and pay for all the services the next time they stay.