3 Examples of Using SMS Messaging for Hotel Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Even great hotels sometimes have a mix up or some sort of problem that can affect a guest. And with social media and hotel review sites, chances are a disgruntled guest isn’t going to keep their complaints to themselves for long. In my previous blog I talked about using SMS messaging to ask guests about their stay before they hit the web and write their review. Here are three examples of how to use SMS messaging to gauge customer satisfaction.
- Ask a single question. This is probably the most straightforward and easiest approach to use. Send the guest a message asking them to rate their visit from 1-5 stars. If you don’t get five stars, you may want to follow up with them to get more details. You could follow up with other text messages, but a phone call from management is probably best. If you can understand their issues and relate to them personally, you might make them feel better about your hotel. That might mean the difference between a bad review and a good (but maybe not great) review.
- A short series of questions. If you can put together 3-5 short, easy to answer questions, you might be able to use a series of text messages as a survey. These are a little harder to construct for a number of reasons. The questions need to be short, but clear. The answers need to be short so they’re easy for a guest to type. And the whole survey needs to be short so it doesn’t take up too much of the traveller’s time. As for example number one, if the answers are not as positive as you’d hope, then follow up personally.
- Send a message with a link to a survey. Online surveys are great. They offer the chance to get more detailed feedback than you can in a simple text message. The downside is that the guest needs to click on the link, rather than typing in their response immediately. Fortunately, click through rates in SMS messages are much higher than you’ll find in email. So this method could work for you if you want more feedback than a warm fuzzy star rating.
Whichever method you choose, don’t make it hard or too big. If you send the message out shortly after they leave (before they write their online review), they may still be travelling. With the visit fresh in their mind they’ll probably be willing to answer your questions – as long as it doesn’t take too long.
Once a guest has sent you feedback, definitely send them a thank you. A text message expressing your gratitude is good, but a coupon code or discount for their next visit will certainly leave them feeling appreciated. With each message costing you 3.5p or less you can see how SMS messaging is a massively cost effective way of communicating with your customers.
If you would like more ideas on how SMS messaging can benefit your business download our free “Hotels Guide to SMS Messaging“.
Related Articles
SMS Marketing: Four Sectors Successfully Using Text Messaging
SMS marketing has seen a huge uplift in popularity in recent years, with big brands investing in the technology to better engage with their customers. There are so many benefits of SMS marketing, from the ability to directly to reach customers with your communications, to the fact that over 80% of SMS texts are read. With over approximately 90% of the world receiving mobile coverage, you’re highly likely to be able to reach your audience, regardless of where they are. SMS marketing is cost effective, and campaigns are quick to develop, in as short a time period as the time it takes to write a text message. This gives you the advantage of being able to communicate quickly, and effectively with customers, reacting to information almost instantaneously. With so many reasons to use SMS marketing, we’ve highlighted four sectors successfully using SMS messaging as case studies to highlight the advantages of investing in the technology.
Drive Up Attendance During Festival Season with SMS Messaging – Part 1
People love live music. Ticket sales worldwide are expected to reach $20.5 Billion (~£14.2B). The UK alone has around 900 festivals each year. There just aren’t enough headliners to go around. What else can you do to draw people to your event (whether you have a headliner or not)? The answer: Make your event an experience rather than just a destination.
What Hotel Impossible Taught Me about SMS Marketing
In Hotel Impossible, Anthony Melchiorri saves struggling hotels. It turns out some of the advice he gives them could make you a lot more money. It’s all about marketing and knowing where to get the best ROI. Read the blog to see if you’re spending in the right places.
The Art of SMS Marketing for Bars, Pubs and Clubs
SMS marketing can be a double-edged sword, which is why it's crucial to ensure that each one of your campaigns is well thought out, immaculately spelt, financially accurate (i.e., the prices listed are correct), and, perhaps most importantly, the time and date is 100% accurate. Only once you have triple-checked each one of the components should you then consider sending out a batch.
Drive Up Attendance During Festival Season with SMS Messaging Part 2
Festival season is upon us! Experienced festival organisers predict that to be successful you need more than just music. You’ll need to offer an experience to your attendees. In the last blog I covered some of the reasons for that, and ideas on how to start building your SMS marketing list before your festival begins. In part 2, we’ll take a look at how to use SMS to create engaging experiences for attendees while they are at your festival, and even after they leave.
Travel Agents Should use SMS Messaging During the Off Season
Now that the peak travel season is over, how can travel agents stay top of mind in their customers? If you look around, you’ll notice everyone seems to have a mobile. That means SMS is the perfect way to reach them and make sure you’re not forgotten.
SMS Marketing for Hotels – Upsells and Cross-Sells
With the summer peak season fast approaching, now is the perfect time for hotels to keep in touch with their guests and take advantage of upselling and cross-selling techniques to increase revenues. In this article, we demonstrate how to use SMS marketing to make the most of the opportunities in both and unlock added value for your business.
5 Ways the Travel Industry can Make Use of SMS Marketing
In order to appeal to new customers and interact with existing ones, businesses are always looking for new marketing methods. Whilst many companies are using traditional and online marketing techniques, these aren’t always effective. Email filtering, for example, means that many recipients may not even be aware that they’ve received contact from your company. As many email hosts provide in-built spam filters, it’s easy for email marketing content to be overlooked or ignored completely. SMS marketing, however, overcomes many of the obstacles associated with online and email marketing. Whilst potential customers may not see your company emails, SMS messages aren’t filtered in the same way. The delivery rate is, therefore, far higher for SMS messages in comparison to marketing emails.
Hotels Use Text Messaging to Help Improve Customer Experiences
Hotels constantly strive to improve customer experiences, but sometimes things go awry. Many problems could be fixed if the customer complains while at the hotel rather than later when they return home. By having a 'textline' you can give guests the opportunity to share their views directly with management without a direct confrontation.
How the Travel Industry can use A2P Messaging
The travel industry has made some inroads into using SMS messaging, but hasn’t yet taken real advantage of the potential of A2P messaging. Find out how it can be used to save time and provide the high-quality service today’s mobile travellers expect.