People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you make them feel. It is all about how you leave your guests feeling when they head home. Your interactions with your guests during their stay are all important, but we’d like to suggest that some are more significant than others.
Five Make It or Break It Moments
- Booking: This is where it starts for your guest. It sets the tone and expectation. Is your booking engine user friendly so your guests can book easily? The confirmation and supporting emails you send your guests should help them plan for their trip with important information, including things for them to do and your restaurant suggestions.
- Check-In Process: This is your first in-person interaction with the guest at your B & B. Make the guests feel welcome after their day of travel to your location. (Refer to our previous blog-“You Have One Chance at a First Impression”).
- Guest Requests: Be present on property and available to answer questions and provide key information so your guests make the most of their visit to your city. Be genuinely interested in what they may need. It may be as simple as a restaurant suggestion, dietary restriction, something needed in their room, great hiking spot, etc. You need to be the expert in your city.
- Details: The details you provide your guests will make them want to return to your establishment. Is their room set up so everything they may need and want is available for them? Remember their names and call them by their names when you see them. If they are staying with you to celebrate something, make sure to acknowledge or congratulate them. A personal card in the room at check-in is always a nice touch.
- Casual Interactions: We’ve all heard the phrase: “A smile is worth a thousand words”. The small interactions from you and your staff are crucial to a guests overall experience. When your guests return after a day of activity meet them with a warm smile and hello. When staff walk past a guest smile and ask if they need anything. Offering to carry their luggage or heavy packages, a warm cookie from the oven or ask if there is anything they might need for their room are all small gestures that go a long way.
It’s all about the guest satisfaction and the impression that we leave them with. You want them to head home singing your praise and telling their friends of the wonderful experience you provided for them. Better yet, we want them to become return guests of your property!
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