From keyless room entry to online booking, automation has been assisting hotels large and small for decades. The convenience and experience of this advanced technology continue to raise the bar of guest expectations.
Guests look for ease and quality when booking hotels. Whether you’re a rustic B&B or a modern tower high above city streets, automation can help ensure that your guests are fully satisfied with their experience.
You can improve your guest’s experiences and ratings by implementing automation technology in your hotel. Read on to learn about some ways automation can make your hotel smarter, and your guests happier.
The Booking Experience
You can create a smart booking experience by implementing automation technologies like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Channel Managers. These technologies can automate your booking system both in-house and online.
RPA can work to automatically price check competitor rates, and subsequently, adjust the rates your guests see to ensure that the best deal is always found on your site.
This technology not only allows you to beat competitor rates but will ensure that your prices match the market.
In the long run, your hotel won’t lose money by having the best prices. Instead, RPA can increase and decrease rates accordingly, all while increasing your booking volume.
Channel Managers can work with RPA to ensure that all of the data for online booking is as accurate as possible. This can serve as an automatic solution for overbooking.
Your customers will be able to see specific rooms that are available and book according to their preferences.
RPA and Channel Managers can work together to create a smart booking experience, drawing more customers in.
Guest Check-In
Guests may book at your hotel, but the experience of their stay begins the second they walk through the door to check-in. A long line at the main desk or an unhappy employee can make for a bad start to any guest’s stay.
Automating the check-in process makes for a smoother experience all around. You can use automation technology like RPA or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to automate guest data to expedite check-in.
CRM does more than just automate guest data for a speedy check-in; it can also be used to automatically remind guests of check-in and check-out times. Messages can be sent through email or to a mobile device within these systems, improving timeliness for guests and employees.
While technology can be used to improve the check-in experience, employees can still be an unpredictable factor. If improving your company culture is out of the question or too far into the future, kiosks could be your solution.
Hotel kiosks are being implemented to create a completely automated check-in experience. After receiving a digital check-in code, you can enter it in the kiosk and get everything you need to begin your journey without waiting in lines or encountering unpleasant employees.
The Hotel Stay
Automation can also be used to improve the guest experience while they are staying in the hotel. The more satisfied a customer is with your service, the more likely they will be to stay at your hotel again. This doesn’t mean removing the human touch from the hospitality experience, instead, it means creating a personalized experience for each guest.
Automated review systems can be implemented in a hotel to send requests for customer reviews during and after their stay. This provides guests with the opportunity to present issues during their stay and have the problems resolved before they leave. Ensuring your guests are happy before they end their stay will increase the likelihood of their return.
Implementing mobile concierge services creates a convenient way for guests to view menus, order room service, contact the front desk, and more. Mobile concierge services can be implemented on a hotel’s website or developed as a mobile app.
Concierge services apps aren’t the only apps that can be implemented in hotels. Check out other mobile apps that can improve the guest experience at your hotel.
No matter the size or style of your hotel, implementing automation technology will improve the guest experience. From booking to checkout, a smarter hotel will help ensure you’re able to retain and gain customers more effectively in the future.
Related article: 5 excellent reasons to adopt Artificial Intelligence in hotels!
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About Are Morch
Hi, I am Are Morch. Your Digital Marketing Coach and Customer Experience Expert specializes in creating effective digital customer experience offer for hotels while growing and scale customer acquisition and revenue.
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