With online reservations being at an all time high, there aren’t a lot of hoteliers that don’t send out email communications to their guests before, during or after their travel. However, are the emails you’re sending convey the right message for your property? Every property is different, and the amount of email communication a flagged property sends out may not be the same as an independent hotelier. For example a flagged property may only send out a confirmation email to their business travelers, whereas an independent hotel may be sending out a confirmation, a pre-arrival email welcoming the guest, and a room upgrade email within two days of the arrival. Regardless of how many emails you send to your guests and whether they are staying for business or pleasure, there are ways to improve your communication that can enhance your guests’ stay.
What’s in a Winning Pre-Arrival Email?
Guests can be creatures of habit, right? So, what are the items that guests want to see in their pre-arrival email confirmations? They want to see items like their confirmation number, their check-in and check-out dates, address of the property with a link to a map service so they can easily navigate to the property. They like to see links to local information that they can tour, book, or reserve nearby, they like to see the amenities they will experience at your property, and any other pertinent information that will make their stay more comfortable. Of course, it helps if your property also sounds excited to be sharing in their experience as in the example below where the hoteliers demonstrate enthusiasm when welcoming the guest via pre-arrival email.
What Are the Best Questions to Ask in a Post-Stay Email?
Perhaps the most shocking thing about hoteliers and email campaigns is that over 52% of hoteliers don’t see the value in sending a post-stay email to guests citing that the primary reason for not sending post-stay emails is lack of time. However, of the 48% of hoteliers that do send post-stay emails, they are using this strategy to obtain valuable guest feedback. Trust us when we say, if your property needs to boost its online reputation, or its reputation in general, asking for and heeding guest feedback is the way to achieve it. The items that are most appreciated by guests in a post-stay email are questions relating to feedback that include links to review sites, information on bills or invoices, deals or special promotions for future visits, and links to the property’s social media accounts.
What Is Email Personalization?
Everyone in the free world is accustomed to personalization in some form or fashion; your email campaigns should be no different. If you want to build long lasting relationships with your guests, encouraging them to stay at your property personalize your email campaigns as much as possible. With property management integrations like Cendyn’s Guestfolio it is easy to personalize guest email correspondence by filtering by market segment, source code, or some other user field. For example, if you have guests taking advantage of your “once in a lifetime” yoga package, you’ll want to be sure to create an email campaign targeting them when you have another popular yoga instructor visiting the property. Guests appreciate the inclusion of the event, and as a hotelier, you reap the benefit of creating a repeat guest.
Wrapping Up
Hoteliers will state that any well thought out email campaign will improve sales, but more importantly, it will improve guest engagement leading to lifelong guest loyalty. There is something about a personalized email that can’t be replicated through social media. While email is sometimes overused, it is a great way to build loyalty with a large group of guests by using a little personalization, and a lot of creativity.
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InnQuest Software is a leading technology provider for the hospitality industry. For over 25 years, innQuest has combined hotelier experience with innovative technology to deliver an all-in-one solution that empowers hotels to attract guests, drive customer loyalty, and increase profits. Our flagship property management software, roomMaster, helps manage over 5,500 properties across 100 countries. InnQuest develops scalable solutions ranging from a Hotel PMS, Cloud PMS, Channel Manager, Hotel CRM and helps properties enable guests to Book Direct. We believe that everyone deserves a great guest experience, whether they’re staying at a small B&B, a thousand-room resort, or anywhere in between.
Call us today at 1.813.288.4900, or email us at sales@innquest.com. We will be happy to walk you through innQuest’s solutions.
