The Baymont Inn Mount Pleasant, in Central Michigan, serves as a home-away-from-home for weekend Soaring Eagle Casino and concert goers, Central Michigan University visitors, and weekday business travelers. The Baymont embodies hometown hospitality, which General Manager Tara Leonard attributes to "finding moments to connect with guests" and by "viewing negative feedback as an opportunity to improve."

Connecting with guests and turning negative feedback into action are two of the best use-cases of Kipsu, which is why we are so thrilled to have Tara and her team as partners. The Baymont Inn Mount Pleasant had been using Kipsu for 17 months before deciding to ditch using traditional phone calls as their main communication method with guests.

Per Wyndham's Corporate standards, welcome calls to the in-room telephones were required every time a guest checked in. Tara noticed that this strategy resulted in low guest engagement, as guests were often caught off-guard and confused why they were receiving a phone call in the first place. By replacing welcome phone calls with an unobtrustive welcome text message, the Baymont saw guest interaction increase dramatically. By opening a convenient and comfortable line of communication with guests, staff found they could give their guests more individualized attention and resolve guest issues in real-time.

Tara raves about how much her front desk team enjoys using Kipsu, which is why they embraced it so quickly. "My team is dedicated and embrace all the tools that we implement. The process goes much smoother when they actually like new initiatives, such as Kipsu!"

When asked if her team prefers to receive texts or calls for guest requests, Tara said "Texts. With Kipsu, my team can be in the middle of checking a guest in, receive a message from another guest, send a quick text back, and not even interrupt the guest checking in."

Improving guest satisfaction and communication is Kipsu's ultimate goal, so guest survey scores are the marker of success. Tara mentions "We always get so many positive comments about the texting feature," guests often say "It's a really nice touch" in reviews. Not only does Kipsu create positive reviews, but it can prevent negative ones. Tara's team sends automated checkout messages to gather any final comments or concerns. "Guests have been VERY honest," Tara said. Many people feel more comforable sharing negative feedback from behind a keyboard as opposed to in person or over the phone. Better to hear it direct from the source instead of later on a TripAdvisor review!

"With Kipsu, my team can be in the middle of checking a guest in, receive a message through Kipsu from another guest, send a quick text back, and not even interrupt the guest checking in."

- Tara Leonard, General Manager

Digital messaging, like Kipsu, can be a powerful tool to influence guest satisfaction. Software itself will not improve satisfaction scores, but it does empower staff to be more efficient, available, and aware. That's why Tara's team deserves a massive shout-out! They use Kipsu religiously to welcome every guest at check in, provide personalized service throughout guest stays, and to catch negative feedback while they can act on it.

To schedule a demo and find ways for Kipsu to improve your property's guest experience, reach out here!

If you're interested in sharing your own story about using Kipsu, send us an email at hello@kipsu.com