Unfortunately, messaging apps
and usage are highly fragmented
by geography which means that
hotels with a broader range of
international travelers can’t simply
be on one channel. WhatsApp
is number one in 107 countries
and Facebook Messenger is now
the leading messaging app in
58 countries - with each having
1.2 billion daily users. However,
WeChat and its 890 million
users, is the leader in China while
LINE is the leader in Japan &
Thailand. Telegram, another major
messaging app, dominates the
Middle East market. As the fastest
growing channel of preference
for consumers to engage with
businesses worldwide, messaging
apps are not going away.
There are still more channels
coming in the omni-channel
wave few hoteliers have clearly
identified. Guest expectations from
hotel apps, as an example, include
the ability to message and order
within the app, not simply access
static information on the property
or see their loyalty point balance.
Further, in-room tablets, voice
devices like Amazon Alexa, and
new business messaging solutions
like Apple Business Chat are just
a few examples of the additional
channels in the next wave to
disrupt how a hotel engages with
guests.
Even SMS texting is in for a
change. With rich communication
services (RCS) coming online,
the expectations of guests will
go beyond simply sending a text
20 ILHA
notification that their room is
ready. This new communication
protocol is more like the over the
top messaging apps mentioned
above and will be replacing SMS
messages with a richer experience.
As a result, the expectations of
guests are only going to get bigger
over the coming years in terms of
what is sent to them and how they
engage with it.
WITH SO MANY NEW
CHANNELS, WHERE DOES
ONE START?
This month, my team here at
Benbria released an eBook entitled
“Delivering an Omni-channel
Guest Experience” to help hotels
better understand this wave of
communication and develop
strategies to manage them. While
comprehensive, here are some of
the key points we covered.
First, hoteliers need to build a
vision of where they want to be.
Guests are going to want a hotel to
be on these channels and respond
quickly on each, so hotels need
to design an optimum experience
and begin working backwards to
the present. At a minimum, every
hotel should be allowing guests to
connect with them via SMS text,
Facebook Messenger, and Twitter
given the expectations of most
guests and the bar being set by the
major brands. If you have an app,
this would be the next channel to
allow messaging within.
Next, work with your IT team
to understand the technical
requirements for managing these
channels and review alongside
the vision to build a technology
road map. Prioritize the channels
based on the dynamics of your
guest persona. What percentage
of guests are international? What
are the budgets? These should all
be considerations for prioritizing
channels and timing in a proper
omni-channel technology road
map.
Finally, when it comes to
technology most hotels should
buy versus build. With so many
existing and future channels in the
coming wave, an in-house solution
will only become dated quickly
and a struggle to keep current.
Hoteliers should invest in customer
experience management platforms
that can provide a unified solution
to manage the short-term needs
of the hotel, but also have the
ability to scale and support the
other channels in the road map and
vision. Otherwise, a hotel could
be playing a continuous game
of catch-up and configuration
between multiple providers long-
term.
About the author
James Geneau has been a marketing
leader and advocate of customer
experience technology for over 20 years.
He is currently the VP of Marketing
at Benbria, a technology company
helping businesses deliver omni-
channel customer engagement across
their entire journey. Using a variety
of mobile, online, and on-property
technologies - including SMS, email,
web, in-app and messaging channels,
as well as kiosks - the company’s Loop®
platform enables brands to capture
real-time insights into the guest
experience as well as message with
them to engage or recover.