A Hotel's 4 Steps to Better Listening

Posted on Aug 17th 2010

The Holy Grail of Social Media Marketing may just be this: Listen to your customers.

While a lot of hotels or apartments sign up on Facebook and Twitter to broadcast their latest service offerings, they forget that to create a strong following, they must first learn how to listen.  Before they go on and on about their company, they must know what their buyers “like, know, want and see” when it comes to their products and services.

It’s about engaging the clients with the right message and at the right time.  To get to the point where you are engaging your customers and developing a relationship, here are some simple steps to start nurturing your prospects:

Understand Guests from Inquiry to Actual Booking

From the point of initial engagement until the sale closes, it’s good to know the journey that a guest undertakes.  Knowing this information can help you communicate more strategically and more effectively, hence building a stronger relationship in the process.

Create a Content & Offer Map

After mastering the sales cycle, map your content and various offers to each stage of the buying process.  This will allow you to better manage your hotel’s messaging from the start to the end.  It also allows exposure for new content and offers that were developed to meet the needs of the buyer.

Every Stage Counts

While nurturing guests is a must at the beginning of a sales relationship, it should still be expanded to every stage.  Don’t stop engaging with a prospect once they become your customer. By continuing to nurture the relationship, you will help them overcome the all-too-common client remorse phenomenon and create a loyal customer following.

Make the Process a Must

Automating the process goes a long way to nurture effectively and establish a one-to-one dialogue.  The hotel industry continues to change and the client is leading the charge.  Take a step back and don’t be so eager to talk just about you—listen to your customers, engage with your guests and every once in a while let them talk about what they want and need.

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