Dive Brief:
- Cost and convenience are the top factors for customers in choosing a hotel to stay in, but CX is a differentiator that can encourage brand loyalty, according to a Qualtrics Instant Insights survey of more than 15,000 consumers, released last month.
- Among those surveyed, 58% say helpful customer service is an important factor in deciding on a hotel, and 51% say earning points and rewards is critical.
- “As travel portals make it easy to compare hotels with similar locations and prices, guest experience has emerged as a key differentiator, heightening the stakes for every interaction,” Isabelle Zdatny, head of thought leadership at Qualtrics XM Institute, said in a prepared statement.
Dive Insight:
As economic uncertainty weighs on consumers, hotel customers have become more price conscious and value seeking.
Customers are increasingly shopping around, and hoteliers need to do more offering a great customer experience across channels to keep travelers coming back, Qualtrics says.
Brands can start by collecting customer feedback from across the hotel experience, including reservations, housekeeping and digital interactions, and identify what moments customers truly care about, Zdatny said.
"Instead of trying to fix every friction point for every customer — a resource-intensive approach with diminishing returns — hotels should identify and prioritize the 'moments that matter,' those interactions with disproportionate impact on customer behaviors and business outcomes,” Zdatny said in an email.
One aspect many hotels can improve is the app experience.
While the majority of customers book directly through a brand’s website, only 14% use a hotel brand’s app, according to Qualtrics. Such behavior indicates that travelers may be comparing prices and value across hotel brands, rather than knowing in advance the hotel they want to book with.
Hoteliers can make their apps a key part of the experience — whether that’s including such functionality as digital key access, room service or the ability to communicate with front desk staff. By expanding the app’s functionality beyond a booking platform, a hotel can indicate the service quality guests will receive in-person, too.
Improving the mobile app experience can be especially useful in attracting and retaining younger customers aged 18 to 34, who gravitate to mobile-first experiences. This cohort is harder to please, but also shows higher propensity to loyalty.
