Nobody wants to be a support ticket - power of real-time comms and service recovery

In our real-time economy, even the slightest delay or missed expectation can be the difference between a positive or negative guest experience.

Living up to these rigid consumer expectations will prove challenging for businesses that have failed to modernize their approach to customer service.

A recent consumer research study revealed that only one out of four hotel guests say they’ll report any issue that impacts their overall guest experience.

Among the reasons: there’s not a fast or convenient way, they don’t know how, or they don’t like confrontation. When consumers have a complaint or urgent need, the last thing they want to do is wait in line or on hold. Nobody wants to be a support ticket.

So what happens? The vast majority — 75% of consumers, according to the survey — do not report every issue that impacts their stay. The hotel doesn’t learn of those issues, the guest likely leaves unhappy and maybe posts a negative review online, and those issues develop into bigger problems that impact the next guest.

This is a major challenge for hotel companies, whose entire business revolves around serving guests and providing exceptional experiences. The same survey also revealed how important service is to the bottom line:

• 86% of travelers are willing to pay more for superior service, including 25% who will pay up to $50 more.
• 51% say online reviews “greatly” impact their purchasing decision, but 37% of guests say that an experience must “surpass” their expectations before leaving a positive review.

And my favorites:

• 42% of guests would return to a hotel if it turned a poor experience into a positive one.
• 35% say they are more emotionally connected to brands that solve customer service problems.

Hotels are missing a massive opportunity because their guests aren’t communicating with them. Simply put, you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken.

But when guests engage, hotels can anticipate needs, recover from missteps and deliver the types of experiences that drive loyalty and boost bottom-line results.

The power of real-time communication

Communication is the core of exceptional guest service. When you can establish real, two-way conversations with your guests, you can identify exactly what your business is doing right, and wrong, and set the stage for personalized moments that transform an average experience into an unforgettable one.

But how do you establish and cultivate these conversations? It’s not easy. And that’s why, amidst a backdrop of rising labor costs, operators are tasking employees with more responsibilities and relegating guest “conversations” and interactions to technology and  automation.

And while many hotels are not placing an emphasis on meaningful, real-time communication, guests are literally heads down, bypassing the front desk for check-in and using their phones as a guestroom key.

Consumers today don’t have the time or desire to spend minutes for something that could be answered or resolved in seconds and studies show that today’s younger generations have an aversion for face-to-face communication.

So it’s not surprising that the same survey found 45% of guests would prefer to report issues through SMS text messaging, and skewed even higher for Gen Z and millennials. Texting has become the most common form of communication for Americans under 50, according to Gallup.

With traditional forms of communication being marginalized, how can businesses establish the type of meaningful communication that leads to exceptional guest experiences? Well, the truth is texting can be meaningful.

What it can’t be is a one-way street or another piece of technology you deploy, sit back and watch.

Another recent survey revealed that 57% of consumers believe customer-service agents are more effective in problem solving than chatbots (8%). Interestingly though, 46% said they would prefer conversing with a chatbot if they knew it would solve the problem faster.

Consumers want their problems solved quickly and efficiently, and most importantly, they want to be understood. Today’s automated chatbots simply can’t do that. If guests feel like they are talking to robots and being treated like service tickets, they will disengage and you may not get a second chance.

But if you can leverage their preferred communications channel in a way that provides personal attention and solves their problems, than even the shortest text conveys a very powerful message that you understand your guests’ needs and care about their experiences.

Instead of deflecting conversation with impersonal technology, text messaging provides a fast and easy way to communicate and can help create a more personal connection between hotel and guest.

Transforming service recovery from reactive to proactive

I heard a great example from the general manager of a large resort we work with about how technology can augment and increase personalized service. He saw a text message from a guest asking if she could extend her stay by a night because her husband wasn’t feeling well.

The GM didn’t text back, but instead called the woman to ask how her husband was and to let her know the reservation was extended a night. He later texted that evening to check in and share information on the nearest medical facilities — just in case.

He never received a response, but days later saw an online review from the woman, who said no matter where else her travels would take her, she would always come back and stay at this property because of the personal care they offered.

That perfectly illustrates the opportunity text messaging can bring and more importantly, the power of combining high tech with high touch. By opening meaningful lines of communication, the guest felt comfortable engaging and the GM knew when to pick up the phone for even more personalized attention. The reward: A glowing online review and a very satisfied and loyal customer.

When guests are engaged, they are far more likely to provide honest feedback and let you know what would make their stay better. This gives the hotel the chance to identify and recover from service issues. No business is perfect, and in the 24-7 world of hospitality, mistakes are bound to happen. The mark of a great hotel is how you recover from those problems.

As the consumer survey indicated, 42% of guests would return to a hotel that turned a negative experience into a positive one and 35% become more emotionally connected to the brand. If we assume negative experiences are going to happen, hotels must have plans in place to quickly identify, respond to and resolve those issues.

That’s the definition of service recovery and an area where hotels can become far more proactive. If you’re engaging guests in real time between check-in and checkout, why not ask them how their stay is going?

Encourage them to let you know what they need and make it easy for them to complain through something as convenient as a text.

Many hotels do exactly this by proactively sending a mid-stay message to guests asking if everything is satisfactory and if there is anything they need. This opens a new line of communication and can make your guests feel comfortable addressing their issues in an easy and non-confrontational way.

By having meaningful conversations with your guests throughout the entirety of their experience, you better anticipate their needs and identify issues before they become real problems.

This communication can reveal important clues and signals for how a guest’s stay is going and allow you to identify the moment an experience starts heading off the rails. It also provides a vehicle to deploy a proactive recovery strategy that can turn a forgettable experience into an unforgettable one.