How to improve revenue from existing hotel guest?
If your hotel business needs to grow, it needs to attract new guest. If you get new guests, it is great, however it is very important to improve revenue from existing hotel guest.
Every company focus on acquisition but if you concentrate equally on improving revenue from existing guest, you will be able to improve your revenue in a cost-effective way.
It is a known fact that you need to spend more to bring in new guest into the door and even more to get them to come back so that you have ROI for your marketing effort. Sometimes this cost is 6 to 7 times more.
Imagine how much more money your hotel will make with just an increase in the number of existing guest using your business. Running after new business is great, but to truly improve your revenue, you must also track efforts to improve business from your existing guests.
Many hotel chains have loyalty programs because they understand the importance of the loyalty efforts. In fact, in most loyalty programs, the highest tier is reserved for people who spend more than 75 to 80 nights per year in their hotels worldwide. These programs are meant to pamper and reward those who keep using the hotels in the chains.
So what can you do to improve revenue from existing guests?
Ask for feedback:
In order to focus on retention, it is important to know why your guests are leaving you. In the hotel industry, people change brands because they feel they were not recognized or did not feel valued enough. Not many people leave because of the price, but they do leave because of lack of service. So if you do take care of your existing guests and ask them the questions they will feel valued and will come back. This feedback from your loyal guest can also help you to improve your business as they can act as your additional eyes and ears
Implement a customer loyalty program:
Even a simple loyalty program that is implemented well will ensure that you can pamper your guest and they will keep coming back. Simple gestures of an upgrade to better rooms, early check-in or access to premium Wifi will help but a consistent loyalty program is also sure to boost your bottom line. Mobile apps based solutions are simple to implement and can improve the brand perception among the users as well.
Provide excellent service:
I touched upon the fact that people do shift their business because of service. All your good intention will fail if you fail to provide good service. Make sure that you train your team well and they are able to deliver top notch service to your guest. Only by reading guest cues and going the extra mile to take care of your guest can you succeed in converting guest into fans for life. Customer service starts right from the booking process all the way to check out and you must make sure that all the segments of the guest journey are covered by your service standards.
In conclusion:
Acquiring new customers is important for the business, however, increasing business from your existing guest is a cost-effective way for your business to make more money. Look at how you can improve your revenue by improving guest loyalty.