Tag: customers

The One Problem that Costs Hotels the Most Customers

If you consider the number of problems that can befall hotel customers during a stay, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Angry Hotel CustomersBroken remote controls. Plumbing problems. Noise from adjoining guestrooms. Incorrect orders from room service. Room key issues. HVAC issues. Kids running in the halls. Not enough chairs at the pool. Slow service in restaurants. Incorrect room type at check-in.

And the list goes on and on.

Studies show that product problems account for nearly sixty percent of all guest complaints.

But there is one problem – over and above all others – that causes not only dissatisfaction, but a complete break in a hotel customer's trust.

What could negatively impact hotel customer loyalty so greatly? According to data-analysis firm Market Metrix, staff-related problems in hotels can lead to a whopping 26.2% drop in guest loyalty Click to Tweet.

Service problems, on the other hand, make up a much smaller portion of reported problems, but have a much more dramatic impact on guest loyalty. Just look at staff-related problems in the table below. They are only 4.7% of reported problems. But staff problems punch way above their weight causing loyalty to plummet by over 26 points when they do occur.

On the other hand, the nearly 60% of hotel customer complaints COMBINED only account for a 12% drop in hotel customer loyalty.

This study begs the question: With such a large number of guest product complaints, how much time is your hotel spending to fix staff problems?

Television remotes can be replaced, but a disengaged hotel customer may be lost forever.

 

3 Great Sales & Customer Service Reads for the Week

Here are three short, compelling reads regarding customer service and sales. I found each of these very poignant for guest service and hotel sales in our industry:

For more customer service and hospitality sales insights, please follow me on Twitter: @mrkevindonahue.

How to Convert Social Media Followers to Buyers

Since the rocket-like launches of Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest years ago, organizations have been asking the million dollar question in regards to social media, "How can we convert fans into buyers?"

Social MediaCountless books, seminars, blogs have been devoted to the topic of social media ROI, but (sadly) most seem to miss the most obvious point.

While I don't proclaim to have all of the answers, the answer to the question of converting social media followers to customers seems a rather obvious one:  The same way you converted your existing customers.  

From my perspective, there's too much status placed on 'fans' and 'fan counts' by most social media "experts". The people who "like" your brand are essentially giving your company a virtual high five. Click to Tweet They appreciate something you've done or a perception you've created about your products. They may or may not be your current customers. And – unless you work to convert your followers into buyer – they may or may not be your future customers.

In a traditional sense, your Facebook fans and Twitter followers are the digital equivalent of window shoppers. Click to Tweet Some of them know your brand well, they enjoy your products  and actively share their experiences with their friends.

But some  of your fans – a large majority – are standing on the sidewalk.  They like your window display, but it hasn't compelled them to open the door and try your brand. And this is where your business acumen and experience - more so than your social networking skills – come into play.

Social media is a tool for increasing your sales, not the solution. Click to Tweet

So ask yourself and your team: What do you do as a brand that brings potential customers in off the sidewalk?

If you can answer that question, then you can convert social media followers into buyers.

Insights: Why Multigenerational Travel is THE Emerging Trend

A recent presentation by Peter Yesawich, vice chairman of MMGY Global, highlighted a number of trends and insights for the hospitality market in the near term. While there was definitely a lot of beneficial information presented, one key insight may emerge as the number on trend in hospitality: multigenerational travel.

"Multigenerational travel" or "mutligen travel" most commonly refers to grandparents traveling with grandchildren, but can reflect any number of generations traveling together.

According to MMGY Global, more than 20% of travelers are grandparents. Of those, 40% have taken a trip with a grandchild during the past year. And eight out of 10 times that a grandchild comes along, so does a parent.

As you can see, the market is already well developed. As more affluent baby-boomers retire and begin traveling alongside children and grandchildren, this market will will just continue to mature (pardon the pun!)

Several elements are key to capturing this target market, but most important among them is a well-developed recreation program that meets the needs of these guests collectively. Broadly inclusive cooking classes, walking tours, and lower-impact activities that can be enjoyed by all age groups are key.

For the hospitality market, multigenerational travel represents one of the few demographics that shows extensive growth potential domestically. Beyond just welcoming family guests, multigen represents a new gateway for luxury hoteliers. Traveling alongside affluent parents and grandparents, economically stretched GenX and GenY consumers are discovering brands that can serve them for decades to come as their affluence grows, making this a significant play for the luxury market.

How To Position Yourself as an Expert – ROLL UP YOUR SHIRT SLEEVES!

I happened upon a curious article entitled "How to Roll Up Your Shirt Sleeves" via a luxury company's social media and it really struck me. As a man who wears shirts, I suppose I am well-within the blog's target demographic for this post; however, what really interested wasn't the content, but rather the positioning. 

The article details (with photos AND videos!) different ways for men to roll up their shirt sleeves. This is, I suppose, interesting information for a number of readers. 

Beyond the content, I think this is a great example of how to position yourself as an expert.

Each of us has a number of interests in which we have a great depth and breadth of knowledge. Be it personal or professional, I'm sure there are several areas in which you could be considered an expert. And therein lies the opportunity. 

By taking the next logical step and SHARING your expertise, you can not only impact your audience but also establish yourself as an expert – a status that can reward you handsomly in career pursuits. After all, who would you rather hire/work with/buy from? An expert or the other guy? 

In what areas are you an expert? Find your niche and roll up your sleeves!

Who writes hotel reviews?

Travelers today are innundated with resources to assist in planning trips. Among the tools are first-hand "unbiased" published on the major booking sites, including TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Expedia and others. 

But, have you ever wondered, "Who writes these reviews, anyway?"

Olery, a reputation management company, has taken a stab at answering that question and the answers are pretty interesting. 

Generally speaking, Olery found that hotels receive about 300+ reviews per year on average and that 46% of travelers post hotel reviews. Reviewer demographics skew slightly towards female guests, with a plurality of reviews being written by 35-49 year-old guests.

Interestingly, guests on vacation and leisure travel – those who are spending their own money – write the majority of hotel reviews. 

 

The best iPhone / Droid app you're not using

Question: What's the best iPhone / Android app that you're *NOT* using? 

For 95+% of the iOS and Droid users, the answer is BUMP. 

This great app allows you to quickly share your contact information or photos with other new contacts by simply bumping your phones together. Seriously, it's that easy. You don't have to call one another and save the number in your phone, download VCards or any other legacy sharing strategy. Just bump and done!

Recently the development team upped the ante a new update that allows you to bump photos from your phone directly to your computer. How cool is that?

And the best part? Yeah… it's free. Download Bump for iPhone and Android. 

Still have questions? Watch this video demo. 

 

The Sales Rep vs The Sales Expert

Ryan Estis posts a great blog on the value of sales positioning and how the role of the sales professional has changed in the last ten years, including this slide on the difference between the sales rep and the sales expert.

 

 

 

I'll give you two shots on who wins more business, but I bet you'll get it on the first guess.

More from Ryan Estis here.

 

Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – 2. Don't Feature Dump

In the first installment of my series "Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal", I outlined the importance of focusing your proposal directly on your customer's goals and concerns, rather than on your company's accomplishments and background. 

The second step to writing a sales proposal that will increase your capture rate is to avoid "feature dump". In this installment, we'll detail exactly what that means and how to best present your strengths. 

 

Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal

 

STEP TWO: DON'T FEATURE DUMP

It slices. It dices. It mowes your lawn. It washes your car. It even changes diapers!

In my experience, "feature dumping" is the achille's heel of so many salespeople. From day-one on the job, salespeople are taught the in's and out's of their products with such a fervor, it becomes easy to believe that specs are what customers want to hear.

The harsh reality is that SPECS DON'T SELL. While it may be fascinating that your {INSERT PRODUCT HERE} does {INSERT SPEC HERE}, the truth is no one buys because your {PRODUCT} does {THAT}. 

Take that long list of bullet points and trash it.

Instead, focus on BENEFITS. How does you're product fill the need that your customer has? How does buying your product enrich their business or enhance their experience?

If you watch an infomercial, you'll immediately understand the difference between features and benefits and how to emphasize the latter.

Perhaps you are familiar with the the Showtime Rotisserie Oven from Ronco. Pitched as a simple oven for experienced or novice cooks, Ron Popeil takes only a moment to explain that the oven has many programmaned time and temperature settings for different foods, but focuses his presentation on the benefits – you can cook many foods easily, you save time in cleaning and you can "set it and forget it!" – just walk away knowing that the oven will cook your food properly. You get a delicious meal and you also get free time. Set it and forget it!

By emphasizing the explicit benefit of your products for your customer, you demonstrate that you understand your clients needs. In focusing on how your solution benefits the client, you differentiate yourself from 99.9% of your competition who only knows how to feature dump.

By presenting your offering as a solution to their pressing business need, you create worth in your product. And worth, my friends, is a psychological and emotional need for buyers.

Remember it's never the number of "settings", it's "set it and forget it" that truly sells. 

 

 

While this one tip is going to make you stand out from the pack, be sure to check out the rest of the tips in this series on Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal!

 

1. Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER

2. Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – DON'T FEATURE DUMP

 

 

Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – 1. FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER

Not a week goes by that I don't receive an unsolicited, impersonal pitches promising to help draft better sales proposals. I'm sure you've seen them. They all seem to start like this:

This class will….

This speaker will….

This "award-winning" training will….

Blah, blah, blah.

Isn't it ironic that these mass mailings – full of cookie-cutter "solutions" that aren't targeted to your specific needs – are going to "improve" your presentation to your customers?

The obvious truth is writing sales proposals is a direct extension of the sales process. 

With that in mind, here is the first of six steps I recommend to write a more effective sales proposal:

Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal

 

STEP ONE: FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER

Like you, your customers are tasked to be more efficient. Your customers are handling more projects and have less time to accomplish them than at any time in their careers. And with procurement under the microscope at most US companies, some customers may even feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of purchasing.With that in mind, you must make certain that your proposal is about them.

Buyers are more concerned with how you can best meet their needs than how wonderful your company may be. After all, they have probably Google'd your company already, right?

Instead of detailing your company's mission statement and history, skip ahead and focus on the expressed and unexpressed needs that your probing skills have uncovered. Use this knowledge liberally throughout your proposal as you present the benefits of your solution. Are there gaps in your notes? Get back in touch with your customer and fill in all the blanks so that you can write an awesome sales proposal. 

This one step will differentiate you from approximately 80% of your competition. While they are spending paragraphs and pages on themselves, you'll be focusing just on your customer. And, honestly, wouldn't you rather buy from someone who is completely focused on you? 

 

While this one tip is going to make you stand out from the pack, be sure to check out the rest of the tips in this series on Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal!

1. Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMER

2. Six Steps to a More Effective Sales Proposal – DON'T FEATURE DUMP