Every hotelier aspires to achieve the ultimate goal of having their guests return and recommend their hotel. This signifies a delightful guest experience, stemming from a dedicated and efficient workforce, streamlined operations, and a high-quality product that aligns perfectly with guest expectations.

Although hotels employ different measures to assess guest satisfaction, the intent-to-recommend score (ITR) stands as the benchmark of excellence in the hospitality industry. It serves as the litmus test that separates the best from the rest. There are several factors that can impact your property’s ITR scores, and guest messaging can be the tool you need to improve those elements at your hotel. Here are five ways guest messaging can help boost guest recommendation scores.

1: Staff and Service

The biggest factor to have an impact on  your ITR score is staff and service. With welcoming staff that provides excellent service, you are sure to get more recommendations from guests. There are several ways to improve your guest service and staff efficiency, including clear communication and prompt responses. Guest messaging allows you to personalize your conversations with your guests as well as respond to multiple guests in a timely manner. 

2: Service Recovery

Mistakes are inevitable, and service failures happen. But that is where the service recovery paradox comes into play. When there is a blunder, people are actually more satisfied after a service failure recovery than if nothing were to have happened at all. While we want to avoid issues, resolving them promptly with quality service can give a great boost to your ITR scores. Take it a step further follow up afterwards with a text to make sure the guest is satisfied with their service experience. 

3: Cleanliness

Cleanliness is another big factor when guests consider recommending a hotel. It’s critical that housekeeping staff is efficient and responsive to cleaning rooms, they are ready to go.

Guest messaging can help streamline the housekeeping process. Managers can text room numbers down to the front desk to let them know the room is ready to flip. This saves time and allows for quicker turnover with less effort. Top messaging platforms, like Kipsu, make this possible by integrating with common hotel work order systems like HotSOS, Quore, and Royal Service.

4: Amenity Awareness

Sometimes guests don’t know all the amenities you have to offer! If you want to highlight an amenity that is unique to your property, make sure you send the guests a text message about things like your on-site restaurant, or let them know about the pool hours. If guests optimize those amenities, they are more likely to give a higher ITR score. Give them the best experience possible by ensuring they are aware of all you have to offer!

5: Loyalty Recognition

Making an effort to learn guest names or addressing that they’ve been there before is a wonderful way to show that front desk teams care. Build some rapport with guests and call them by name when they come back from dinner or a day trip—maybe they’ll remember some front desk names, too! If they are a part of your loyalty program, you can build your brand loyalty and reward your guests for choosing your hotel. Guests who receive this type of recognition are more likely to book directly and leave glowing reviews. Try celebrating their loyalty tier status through a welcome guest message!

Whether you focus on one of these elements, or try to improve on all of these factors at your property, guest messaging can play a key role in enhancing your guest experience, leading to an increase in your overall survey scores. Schedule a conversation with us today to learn more about Kipsu’s messaging solutions!