Hotel loyalty programs can be an excellent way to retain customers and earn recurring sales revenue for many years into the future. The process of finding, attracting, and retaining new customers is always a top priority for a hotel business. However, it also remains an area where most hotel owners struggle to succeed. In the current new normal for hotels and hotel groups, and the current hardships the hospitality industry overall is facing, now is an opportune time to invest in customer relationships and engaging with
When it comes to garnering loyalty, a personalized experience is key to recurring hotel sales and to form a long-lasting connection with customers.
Hotel sales teams often forget that after their first contact with the customer — a lot needs to be done to maintain that relationship.
In the hospitality industry, the first experience of a customer sets the tone for future business with the customer.
An article published in the Harvard Business Review rightly points out that acquiring a new customer is 5 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.
By improving loyalty among existing customers, the hotel sales can improve and provide a consistent revenue stream for any establishment.
But how do you retain customers and make them loyal to your brand? We have some ideas.
Improve Recurring Sales With Hotel Loyalty Programs
A 5% increase in repeat customers can spike a hotel’s revenue by 25 – 95%, according to Forbes. But to expand customer base and induce loyalty, the management of a hotel needs to keep a few elements in mind to develop a long-term association with customers.
Form A Connection With Your Clients and Customers
In today’s age of innovation, it has become easy for businesses to connect with potential customers. To develop a connection with customers, a hotel CRM software can be used by the hotel sales department or the management to market services.
Hotel guests now seek a quick response from a business they engage with. Therefore, hotel sales tools and venue management systems should be used to interact, educate and attract customers.
Hotels can also encourage customers to choose their services again — by offering incentives to join hotel loyalty programs through text messages or email.
Social media is a very potent platform to promote a hotel’s offerings. The number of mobile subscribers is expected to pass the 5-billion mark in the coming years.
By sending out relevant messages on hotel loyalty program memberships, special events or latest offers, customers feel better connected with a hotel. Regular engagement helps customers choose a business when they need it.
Also, customer feedback through social media helps determine pricing options and promotional campaigns to improve the bottom line. These types of promotions can be used to invite past, present and future guests to your hotel loyalty program, or to provide them with valuable information through email marketing.
Prioritize Customer Experience
The importance of customer loyalty cannot be stressed enough in the hospitality industry. All major hotel chains realize the importance of using interactive apps to improve guest experience.
From a warm welcome to a cordial check-in, attendant services, recommendations, and small in-room gifts, all can improve the visitor’s experience and foster loyalty.
Similarly, a customer relationship management (CRM) software helps analyze the customer’s preferences. The use of a hotel CRM software helps the management improve their offerings and prioritize customer preferences on a regular basis.
Track Your Activity and Efforts
The hotel sales team needs to monitor their sales efforts regularly to tweak campaigns. It ensures that a hotel’s service remains up to date and no marketing efforts are wasted.
The sales department must use hotel sales tools to analyze data and to keep daily operations organized. Through a hotel CRM software, employees can interpret customer data in real time and make timely decisions.
With a mechanism in place that tracks sales throughout the sales cycle, hotel managers can analyze and measure the efficacy of their marketing campaigns and adjust.
The Way Forward
The hotel industry is all about understanding the needs of a customer. Hotel managers should focus on improving customer experience and devise ways to promote recurring sales. All hotels seek customer loyalty and customer retention to improve revenue. But ensuring a long-term relationship with customers through easy direct bookings and positive referrals and reviews is just the start.
Once the challenges of the current pandemic are overcome and travel and hospitality slowly come back to life, it will be your past customers who will most likely be your first customers.
A changing landscape of the hospitality industry has caused a shift in the roles and responsibilities of hotel managers. Using the tactics discussed above can only help to make things easier in terms of sales and revenue in the near future.
