Improve Your Pre-Arrival Experience

Your guests’ experience starts long before they arrive at your property. It begins the moment they have their first interaction with you. So, to ensure you create the ultimate guest experience before your guests’ arrival, make sure your pre-arrival experience includes the following:

Create a seamless online presence

The “guest cycle” begins as soon as they start browsing your property online. Between browsing your website or an OTA landing page, your information such as images, text, contact information, and videos should all be updated with consistent information. You want to make sure users are getting all the information they need in order to make an informed decision to book with you.

In conjunction with ensuring your information is accurate across all platforms, you want to make sure your information is easily accessible and absorbed on mobile. The mobile experience needs to be as good as the desktop experience. Optimizing for mobile is key; from their landing pages to their email, you want to make sure every touchpoint is seamless and unhindered from device to device.

Pre-arrival automated emails

Emails are an important factor in the pre-arrival experience, but the key here is to automate. Take the work out of staying in touch with your guest, both before they arrive and after they have checked out. Investing in a CRM like rezStream’s cloud reservation software system frees up your time to take care of other pressing matters. Rest easy knowing your emails are sent automatically on your behalf.

Example automated communication includes:

  • Reservation confirmation – As soon as your guest has booked, have an automated email sent to them confirming their reservation. Provide all the important information regarding their reservation and take the time to inquire about any additional needs they might have.
  • Pre-arrival email – Roughly five days prior send a pre-arrival email. Here is the perfect time to take the opportunity to upsell services and add-ons.
  • Final pre-stay email – One to two days prior to check-in, remind your guest of when check-in is and offer opportunities for any last-minute requests.

Upsell opportunities

Pre-arrival emails are a great way to not only engage with your guests but also an excellent opportunity for upselling additional add-ons that will enhance their stay. Offer guests upsell items that you think will add value to their stay.

Ask

Within your pre-arrival emails don’t be afraid to simply ask your guests what it is they would need in order to make their stay with you even more special. It doesn’t need to be a long list of questions but rather a few simple, short, and to-the-point questions that would give you enough information about your guest to personalize the experience and make it truly rememberable. The worst they can do is not answer!

For more on how you can improve your pre-arrival experience, be sure to reach out to the marketing team here at rezStream at marketing@rezstream.com and be sure to watch our latest video on pre-arrival and post-stay emails for even more ways to create a better guest experience.

Published: July 24, 2019