The local mail carrier had good intentions. When she met you at the mailbox, however, she handed you a stack of envelope and letters that were not yours. In hind sight, you wish you had not said anything, but the second that she gave you the neighbor’s mail, you explained the stack belonged to someone else. She tried to cover her tracks by handing you another set of items. These too were wrong. On the third try, however, she was able to hand deliver the right set of bills and correspondence that belonged to you.
Even though the mail carrier had good intentions, she was simply too busy to know that she was connecting the right face with the right postal customer. Mail carriers, however, are not the only ones who have so many tasks that they cannot always provide the personal touch that they would like. Hotel staff, for instance, are tasked with so many details that they cannot always make the personal connection that will keep guests coming back.
With the right property management systems, however, an owner can make sure that their staff is able to successfully make the personal connections that are so important to the success of any hotel. Although there are many benefits of property management systems, one of the biggest might be that front desk employees, as well as cleaning and maintenance staff, are able to greet customers by name and make these visitors feel welcome.
Any time a front desk employee opens a file, for instance, they should have access to the last name of the person they are serving. The latest trends in hospitality technology allows for these connections. Having a hotel front desk software package in place that manages the details of the length of a reservation as well as personal preferences that a guest may have, allows the employee to look up from the computer screen and make a personal connection with any guest.
Travelers Have Many Choices Where They Stay While They Are on Vacation or on Work Trips
Owners who make the most of the benefits of property management systems train their employees to make eye contact and make a guest feel welcome. In fact, the latest trends in hotel industry technology often offer screen prompts that help a new employee get started. Although these prompts may not always be needed by the more tenured employees they can serve as a valuable resource on the busiest of days.
Today’s travelers conduct approximately 17 research sessions before booking, but it is often a human connection that will encourage these travelers to return to a property instead of scouring the internet for the best deal. One of the added benefits of property management systems and the accompanying software, for instance, may be the prompt to ask if a front desk person can help book the next stay during the check out process. When the suggestion is tied to a personal greeting including a last name and wish for safe travels back to a specific location, the guest is more likely to consider rebooking at a location. Even if that booking is months away, and not immediate.
By taking care of all of the necessary business related details for a guest, the best property management and hospitality packages allow real human interactions. the frightening facts are that 86% of consumers quit doing business with a company in 2011 because of a bad customer experience, according to Harris Interactive/RightNow. Finding the right way to make sure that every employee every day makes a positive connection can pay dividends for many years.
As many as 74% of travelers plan to return to a destination they have visited previously. Are you taking advantage of the latest benefits of property management systems so that you can make sure these guests come back to your property? Like the postal carrier who wishes she knew the names of the people coming to the mailbox, the hotel front desk employees do as well. The main difference, of course, is that hotel staff have a computer system taking care of the details so that they can focus on the face of the guests.