All Guests We Accommodate Must Leave Willing and Longing to Return!

1. Focus on existing customers. This is critical, especially at a time when demand is lessening in various markets.  If a hotel’s efforts are focused primarily on acquiring new customers, existing customers will feel that from the staff and consider options. Think of advertisements for any product that is only offered to “New Customers”.  You may have had that residential cable service at your home for the past five years and today “new” customers are offered a value or incentive far better than what you receive.  How do you feel about that service? 

2. One of the leading causes of the high turnover of hotel sales managers isn't necessarily the economy - it's often ignored syndrome of customer attrition. The difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer is the first might return to your hotel again and might refer others, while the loyal customer will return again and will tell others about your hotel and its’ service.  What are the messages that your sales team is delivering? What does your marketing plan say about existing customers?

3. Stress value and guarantees.  There is no doubt relating to the success of the Hampton Inn brand industry leading 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.  Every customer has their own preferences or definitions of value, but when your staff communicates the hotel’s sincere commitment to meeting those preferences and needs, the customer/guest is impressed enough to become a repeat guest. 

4. A key point in training is to calculate and leverage the lifetime customer value. For example, if a guest stays 3 nights per month @ a rate of $150 per night, the monthly gross revenue is at least $450 or $5400 annually.  While that may not seem like a huge number, when one calculates the number of existing customers that might be in this category (say 50 customers) , the value of the existing customers is has now grown with those 50 customers to more than $250,000 annually. These 50 customers do not need to be wooed or convinced to choose your hotel but they do need to feel appreciated and valued.  Nearly all successful infomercials and other business models are based on repeat sales and word of mouth testimonials. 

5. In an age when the cost or magnitude of  mass communications makes it difficult to attract new customers, keeping the existing customer is so fundamentally obvious.  With the technology available to create a simple or sophisticated CRM or guest history, there is no reason to ignore this. 

6. Look at your hotel and its operational practices through your customer's eyes … and you might be shocked at what you see.  A simple illustration is found at every front desk.  When someone approaches the desk, do they hear the question “Checking in??”  or something more hospitable, such as “welcome” or "We've been waiting for your arrival!”   Which sounds more inviting and personal? The approach should be personal, but it does not require much more than a little bit of creative staff team brainstorming and paying attention. "Have a Nice Day" tired expressions don't work anymore.

7. Refocus all of your operational practices around your customer's needs and desires. They have changed over the last ten years. Have you? 

8. Invest in your capital improvements each year to improve customer loyalty, not just satisfaction. Assess which aspects of customer satisfaction drive retention as well as those which do not.

9. Segment your customers for improved retention.  Remember the expression : “different strokes for different folks”, which means as people may choose their preferred swimming stroke, hotel customers also have their own preferences.  A corporate traveler has different needs than a youth sports team.  The resurgence of women’s’ floors is not the same as the “Lady Sheraton” rooms or suites offered a generation ago, but are targeting the unique needs of the professional woman traveler today that has become a major segment.  What do your customers want?  Are they receiving it?

10.  Make the interaction with your customers real and personal – after all, people conduct business with people.    Stanley Marcus,  the co-founder of luxury stores Neiman – said it very clearly  -  Consumers are statistics. Customers are people.