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Text Communication Increases Guest Engagement

| May 12, 2015 | By

We can’t stop thinking about the guest experience.

How text communication impacts it is a BIG reason why.

It’s certainly one of the most talked about practices in the industry.

Why shouldn’t it be?

Your guests are who you work for in the end anyway. Creating an environment conducive of memorable experiences is what matters most, right?

You might be thinking:

Our procedures for ensuring exceptional customer service are topnotch, but at times there seems to be a serious disconnect between guests and staff.

Sound familiar?

We’re going to show you how text communication can improve your guests' engagement with your team.

This is a solution that’ll ultimately produce a better experience…for everyone.

Text Communication is the #1 Tool Properties Use Allowing Guests to Contribute to Their Experience

Text communication is a straightforward solution, which only adds more value to its use.

A text system is easy to learn and even easier for your guests to use, especially when it matters most:

  • Reporting a questionable package
  • Spotting a suspicious person

Your guests can send a text message into the system by way of a specific number along with your property’s unique keyword.

Now:

It’s extremely important to display visible signage throughout your property for guests to see. These are ‘time of need’ systems – your guests need to know what to do when they really need it!

Putting signage in place sends a clear message to your guests about the system’s availability. If you don’t do that, it won’t get used.

Look:

If your guests don’t use the system then it’s completely useless. Pure and simple, these systems are way too powerful not to use.

Putting signage in place throughout your property is vital. Guests will know the system exists and how to properly use it.

Trust us…

Make the needed information available to your guests and they’ll contribute to the safety, security and overall experience of everyone at your property.

It's important to know:

Your keyword is only associated with your property.

This is how the system works for you and your guests:

A guest sends in a text message when spotting a suspicious package near a restroom with lots of foot traffic. They’ll send the text message using your unique number and keyword. (We’ll use “ISS” as the keyword for this example.)

The message about the suspicious package will follow the keyword. Here’s what the text message may look like from your guest:

“ISS suspicious package near men’s restroom”

It gets better:

Now you can quickly respond to your guests and mitigate incidents while they’re occurring. Yes, while they’re occurring!

How’s that for peace of mind? Is it not incredible how an easy-to-use solution can not only increase guest engagement, but save lives too?

Superior Customer Service is the Result of Guest Contribution and Faster Response

A texting system gives you the ultimate device for preventing “stuff” from slipping through the cracks.

Act quickly, and you’ll be able to take control of situations like the suspicious package – before it’s too late.

The system provides you with a repository of information and a valuable solution that removes the communication gap between you and guests.

From the moment the suspicious package message is sent from your guest’s phone to the closing of the incident, you have full control of the outcome.

When using a system that encompasses all of the following benefits, you’ll see a drastic increase in guest engagement and your peace of mind.

Why?

Your guests will witness how efficient your team is when responding to their needs. They’ll believe in you. They’ll believe in your system.

Visual Resource Allocation at Your Fingertips

Color coded messages give your team a full picture of every message coming into the system from your guests.

Here’s the kicker:

They can see each important text message by status so that nothing coming into the system gets overlooked.

All messages can be prioritized and examined in real time. This information lets them know at which stage in the communication process each message is.

This brings tremendous value, because you know what your team is doing – and your guests will see it too!

For example:

When the ‘new’ suspicious package text message comes into your system, it will be labeled in red as opposed to your on scene messages that will appear in green.

Easy enough, right?

Easily Review Text Messages for Maximum Efficiency

Generate a conversation thread based on your guest’s telephone number as it’s linked with their message. The thread will display the date and time of the conversation too.

This will give you a valuable snapshot and better perspective of the current situation.

Now:

You can use this information for historical reference and future analysis.

Don’t force your team to sift through a backlog of text messages in order to puzzle conversation fragments together. It’s important to have the visualization of the two-way conversation in an organized format.

All messages can then be reviewed for useful insights.

Here’s the thing:

The thread replaces unclear information with the hard facts.

  1. Get the hard facts.
  2. Quickly respond to guests.
  3. Ensure their contribution pays off.
  4. Keep them feeling empowered.

Immediately Respond to Guests for Vital Information

Response templates give you the ability to respond to a guest’s message in a single step.

It affords your team the ability to quickly request more information about, for example, a suspicious package without wasting valuable time.

Consider this:

The details of the suspicious package message fall short.

Now what?

Your team can respond to the guest with a template requesting more information.

What does this do?

This allows your team to approach the incident or issue effectively, efficiently and expeditiously.

How’s that for peace of mind?

Keep Your Team ‘in the Know’

Communicate information to ‘need to know’ groups when time is of the essence.

Easily send out a staff alert when there’s a location your guests keep reporting suspicious activity from. Show them you value their contribution by quickly deploying a response team to their location.

When you increase guest engagement, you can enjoy peace of mind in knowing your entire team has additional eyes on lookout.

Always Find More Ways to Encourage Guest Engagement

Using the reporting features in an innovative text solution gives you a way to continuously find more ways to encourage guest engagement at your property.

Study how you can better respond to guests for their safety and security.

Reports can be produced for you to use for extensive analysis. An understanding of what’s occurring lets you optimize your operation…It also helps you give your guests the best customer service experience possible.

Over to You

Text systems can drastically increase guest engagement at your property. Your team will look great and you’ll be able to mitigate incidents or issues as they occur.

There’s no question, these tools change how guests contribute to and have a say in their environment.

Will you use text communication to increase guest engagement at your property?

Download our free eBook about text communication software