As a hospitality business, it will be your mission to exceed expectations. But how can you ensure that you are continuously providing a high level of service in line with guest expectations? The answer lies in getting the right feedback from your guests. In this blog post, we revisit some great advice from Shiji ReviewPro’s product specialists and explore how Guest Surveys help create great experiences.
What’s the Difference Between Using Feedback from Guest Reviews And Guest Surveys?
Reviews and surveys are both important tools in the arsenal, and they offer different insights that can be used to improve operations.
Reviews: provide an ‘open comment box’ which could limit the detail that can be gathered from guests. Reviews are led by what the guest chooses to comment on or miss out. This makes great data for big trends that hoteliers may or may not be aware of. The volume of guest reviews is usually high, so data-driven decisions can be relied on.
Surveys: allow hoteliers to ask more specific questions and receive answers with greater depth of detail. This means that you can gain a better understanding of topics mentioned within reviews, as well as gain an understanding of how your guests feel about their recent stay.
Most importantly, surveys enable a deeper understanding of guest feedback by connecting survey responses directly with available customer data within your PMS. By doing this, you are able to see which guest types feel about their stay, which room types generate different experiences, or how recent refurbishments or policy changes have affected the experience at your property.
All this information is invaluable in helping hotels create great guest experiences for future guests.
Gathering Guest Feedback Throughout The Entire Journey
Guest feedback is important, and it can be used to improve the entire guest experience from market research to post-stay surveys. By surveying your guests at various points throughout their stay, you can gain valuable insights that will help you improve your property’s operations.
Here are five points to consider when implementing guest surveys throughout the guest journey:
- PMS: one of the most important things to remember when implementing a guest feedback survey is that it needs to be connected with your PMS in order to be effective.
- In-stay surveys: sending a survey upon check-in or on the day after is a great way to gather information about their overall experience so far. This includes questions about their room, service, and anything else that may have come up already during their stay.
- Post-stay surveys: it’s also important to collect post-stay surveys in order to understand how satisfied they were with various aspects of their stay and determine whether any upsell opportunities should be pursued.
- Market research: should also be taken into account when surveying customers. By understanding what areas interest hoteliers and what type of services might appeal to potential guests, you can capitalize on opportunities before they even arrive by creating targeted offers ahead of time.
- Pre-stay online experience: can also be considered when surveying customers as this often determines how satisfied they are once on property.
Collecting guest feedback throughout the entire journey is important for keeping hotels one step ahead of the competition and ensuring customer satisfaction across multiple touch points during their stay (including digital ones!).
By using surveys as an effective tool for gathering data, hotels can ensure that they’re always keeping up with the guest’s needs and providing the best experience possible.
Key Features To Look For In A Hotel Guest Survey Tool
When it comes to selecting the perfect guest survey tool, there are a few key features that you should take into account.
First and foremost, high levels of customization are essential. This includes the ability to integrate with and segment your PMS (Property Management Systems), create personalized questions, and collect feedback in a variety of different ways.
Secondly, flexibility is key. Make sure that the survey tool that you choose is flexible enough to meet your specific needs. Consider how the solution deals with post-stay surveys, pre-stay surveys, in-stay surveys, and one-off surveys.
Thirdly, consider an Open API when selecting a guest survey tool. This allows all responses to be collected and stored within the solution you are using but can still be connected with other systems such as the CRM or business intelligence tools for further insights.
Last but not least, ask yourself what type of feedback you are looking for once selecting a guest survey tool – do you want more general information or more specific details? Once you have answered this question, it will be much easier to decide on the guest survey tool that suits your needs.
Mission: Create Great Experiences!
Guest Surveys are an essential aspect of guest experience management. If you would like to find out more about how to create great guest experiences, feel free to schedule a call with our team and we will be happy to assist you.
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