Written by our CEO and Founder, Steve Risk, on the benefits of ensuring a BAE (Best Available Experience).
Rather than being all things to all people, hospitality tech needs to be the right solution for the right people.
Why? Well, it’s time to address the balance. Offering choice is an incredible thing, but it neglects the principals of our business; to provide a memorable experience is the most important thing that we do. Forgetting that, is a sure road to disaster. The old adage of “less is more” is far from a cliche in this example. Less most certainly is more when it comes to tailoring a guest’s experience.
Technology is incredible, there is no doubt about that. It’s fascinating. Among all the innovation, though, there is inherently a mass of distraction, moving us further and further from our original purpose.
What we believe at Inspire Loyalty is that we should use the technology we have to assist hospitality, not to replace it.
How can we use guest data to enhance customer engagement? It’s time to interact with customers and get personal, online and offline, learn what makes them tick and tailor experiences within the hotel to their desires. It’s time to actually show your face, not FaceTime.
Amazon has undoubtedly conquered the world of fast shopping experiences. All it takes is two clicks, and you’re done. They even have buttons on your washing machine, shipping by drone and video on demand. The difference between us and Amazon is that we are delivering an experience, not a commodity. We aren’t selling a pair of jeans, washing powder or books.
The first step in providing a truly unique and memorable experience for guests is to look into your data records, identify experiential preferences, and anticipate and deliver that need. Welcome your guests, deliver incredible food, wow the masses with your hospitality.
Yes, to do all this you need systems in place, but it’s likely that you have a lot of them in place already. Do more with less.
So many times I stay in hotels who have no record on my profile of my dislike to being allocated a room under ground level. I need to ask every time. It’s 2019, and they still don’t welcome me by name!
These issues were apparent back in the year 2000 when I worked at Gleneagles. Profile duplication was evident. Technology has advanced so far in that time, but in many cases, there has been no eradication of the lack of personalisation on customer profiles like mine.
Oranges have segments. None of the segments are exactly the same, but they are grouped into each piece of the orange.
This, unsurprisingly, is called segmentation. In our broad world of hospitality, there are two main segments: corporate and leisure. Think about that—only two types of guests amongst millions!
BAR (Best Available Rate) and deliver BAR (Best Available Experience) are a starting point, but we need to do more.
Check out what some of the customers at Whitehouse Hotel had to say about their stay:
“We have stayed in this hotel many times in the past five years since our son first came to live in Worcester for uni. Looking forward to many more visits!”
The hotel now has a reward card, which we have benefited from a few times now. It is well worth signing up for, as you can earn points each stay for money off future bookings, Sunday lunch, afternoon tea, gym personal trainer sessions and more.
Get in touch for a demo and to find out more about how to reward and engage with your guests.
