5 Customer Service Stats for Hotels

To operate a successful hotel, it’s essential to have a solid understanding of guest behavior, and customer behavior in general. We’ve compiled some interesting statistics that provide insight into what guests want and expect when staying at your property. We hope that this information will help you increase bookings and guest satisfaction. Enjoy!

In today’s digital world, where 77% of adults use smartphones on a daily basis, your hotel needs to be prepared for mobile interaction. Guests use their mobile devices for everything from shopping to watching television to booking flights, and staying at your hotel should be no exception. Options like mobile check-in and mobile keys are shifting from luxury to expectation, and it’s crucial that hotels implement them as soon as possible in order to keep up.

Furthermore, mobile booking is becoming increasingly popular. If you haven’t done so already, ensure that your hotel’s website is mobile friendly for easy, on-the-go access. For a potential guest, an intuitive mobile interface could mean the difference between choosing your hotel or a competitor. These trends aren’t slowing down either. The same study by Software Advice found that 77% of 18- to 24-year-olds seek service on a mobile device several times a week, and that 52% of consumers say a bad mobile experience makes them less likely to engage with a company in the future.

A lackluster review can elicit a negative, or even a defensive reaction from many hoteliers. But instead of being negative, be grateful for the critical customer. This guest has given you valuable information, considering that 25 out of 26 customers will simply take their business elsewhere without giving you the chance to make things right. When you are given the opportunity to address your guest’s concerns, you may be able to avoid permanently losing this customer. This also allows you to identify an area in which your hotel may be falling short and develop solutions to minimize similar incidents in the future.

Take this approach one step further by training hotel staff to ask deeper questions throughout a guest’s stay in order to identify areas for improvement before checkout.

Offering post-stay surveys (incentive or no incentive) allows you to reach guests who are unlikely to post on TripAdvisor or social media, and often allows for more nuanced feedback. Another element to consider: don’t ignore the power of a simple yet sincere apology. Guests who receive an apology in addition to compensation report double the satisfaction of those who receive compensation alone. If you have the proper feedback, it will be easier to solve common problems and hold onto those guests who may have otherwise abandoned your brand.

Keeping your existing customers happy is even more important than attracting new ones, a study from Glance shows. Your hotel is more likely to increase revenue if you focus on retention. This is true not only with repeat bookings but also with opportunities to upsell. Glance found that businesses have a 60-70 percent chance of selling to an existing customer, but only a 5-20 percent chance of selling to a new prospect.

Offering incentives to frequent guests is a tried-and-true strategy, as loyalty programs are often crucial in determining where a guest will stay next. Your hotel can also go above and beyond by providing free upgrades, or having a complimentary beverage waiting in a loyal guest’s room when they arrive. It’s these small details that make all the difference.

Customer retention involves integrating feedback, as previously mentioned, and also ensuring that your guests are well taken care of during their stays. Paying extra attention to building memorable, error-free experiences is half the battle. This can be well worth the effort, as one recent study estimates that increasing customer retention rates by 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%.

With our culture of instant gratification, it’s no surprise that guests are getting more and more fed up with long wait times. One only needs to look to TripAdvisor reviews to see that long lines at check-in are a key area of dissatisfaction, as are rooms not being prepared in time for a guest’s arrival. Yet another common problem is guest communication. Sixty-four percent of consumers expect companies to respond and interact with them in real time.

Guests are increasingly willing to reduce their interactions with hotel staff in order to get what they need more quickly. Hotels can reduce lines and improve overall service by harnessing technology to outsource basic tasks. Properties across the world are allowing guests to use their mobile devices for everything, from ordering room service to requesting a late checkout. At Ameniti, we’ve seen firsthand how automated communication management improves guest experience. By providing automatic answers to frequent questions, it brings guests the luxury of a 24/7 personal assistant with no extra effort from staff. It’s technologies like these that will increase efficiency and shape the future of hospitality.

There’s no doubt that integrating technology and “self-serve” options can increase guest satisfaction by creating a seamless, error-free stay. However, this doesn’t mean that human interaction should disappear altogether from hospitality. In fact, the opposite is true. Guests want hotels to automate basic services in exchange for efficiency, but most still prefer a personal touch alongside these improvements. Today’s automated, digital world makes it essential that every guest-hotel interaction be of the highest quality.

Studies show that poor customer service costs $83 billion annually. It’s more important than ever to train your employees, as representatives of the hotel, to provide top-notch service. Here are some helpful tips to ensure that your team is equipped to go above and beyond for guests. Hiring the right personalities, for example, is a proven method for ensuring your guests have the best possible experiences. Above all, no matter your position, you should be fostering meaningful interactions with your customers every single day. Talk to your guests–get to know them, where they’re from, and why they’re in town. They will appreciate your kindness and reward you in loyalty and repeat bookings.

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