Understanding customer loss can help you to find solutions and prevent losing valued guests. Read on for five reasons your hotel may be losing customers.
Understanding customer loss can help you to find solutions and prevent losing valued guests. Read on for 5 reasons your hotel may be losing customers.
In this article:
- The top reasons why your hotel might be losing customers
- What customers are looking for in hotels in 2023
- The ways in which you can prevent customer loss
Customer loss can be caused for a number of reasons, but whatever the root cause, it is equally frustrating for business owners and hotel managers to experience. Customer loss is difficult to track and isn’t always clear due to it often being caused by a combination of factors. However, in this blog, we’ve put together some possible reasons why your hotel could be experiencing a loss of customers in 2023, so you know what to avoid and what to implement to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.
1. LACK OF EV CHARGERS
The needs and wants of hotel guests are changing. If your hotel can’t match up to these requirements, they will inevitably seek out competing hotels that do have these facilities - leading to a loss of current customers and a lack of new ones. As of the beginning of 2022, there were 740,000 electric vehicles registered on UK roads - and this is rising month by month due to the impending ban on the sale of petrol or diesel vehicles.
While some reasons for customer loss may be temporary, a lack of EV chargers at your hotel will only become more of an issue as the number of EV drivers rises across the country. It’s a dual-edged sword, at this moment you’re potentially alienating more affluent guests, but those sites that adapt quicker will be remembered as EV-friendly as the country hits critical mass. As a hotel, a big part of your customer base are professionals who require your hotel for a pleasant stay during business trips or conference meetings. EV charge points are a solution to their charging needs and will improve customer satisfaction should you decide to invest!
2. LACK OF AN APP TO STREAMLINE THE BOOKING PROCESS
Customer expectations rise higher and higher every year in the search for convenience and a seamless guest experience. Having an app for your hotel allows you to optimise the processes that make up a hotel customers’ journey, such as booking, signing up for WiFi, ordering room service and many more aspects that may be tiresome for the guest.
Due to the digitisation of the hotel industry, apps are continuously growing in popularity and to be without one nowadays is often seen as old-fashioned. Easier than ever to build, mobile hotel apps increase brand awareness and leave guests feeling valued - increasing in-stay spending and reducing customer churn.
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3. NOT ENOUGH ONLINE PRESENCE
If without a smartphone with access to an App Store, potential guests’ first port of call while searching for a hotel in this digital age will be search engines, or more specifically, websites such as TripAdvisor. With 490 million monthly active users on this travel-focused site, visitors can sift through hotel listings and reviews in the search of a place to stay. As a hotel, appearing on these websites will undoubtedly increase your visibility to customers, and in turn, reduce the effects of customer loss.
Site visitors can also filter their searches by facilities and features that they require, such as EV charging station availability, or meeting rooms for conferences. By having these facilities available, your hotel’s reach will expand and reviews will roll in, allowing you to track your performance.
4. HOTEL LOYALTY PROGRAM
Not only do hotel loyalty programs benefit your guests through rewards and incentives, but also increase customer retention and steadies your revenue stream. For instance, by offering points towards a free stay at your hotel with every visit, business-focused guests will be implored to visit your premises multiple times.
The reward-based system increases customer loyalty, noticeably decreasing the amount of customer loss your hotel experiences, and strengthening hotel-guest relationships.
5. POOR HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS
In any service industry, the customer is always right - even if they’re not! Your hotel’s reputation will affect your standing against competitors and will ultimately damage customer loyalty. In terms of the online sphere, negative customer reviews can easily be ignored, or even deleted, but this should be avoided at all costs. The way in which you respond to negative feedback can be turned into a positive reflection of your hotel by empathising, apologising, and taking the opportunity to put it right.
Real-life complaints should be handled in a similar way by acknowledging the guest’s problem, addressing the concern, and assuring them that you will make changes to improve in the specified area. This, combined with an offering of some kind,
It’s important to reinforce that customer loss can be caused for a number of reasons, and it’s difficult to find out the exact root cause. However, what is possible is to focus on easy, quick solutions to solve the customer loss dilemma - one of which is the installation of EV chargers onsite at your hotel. Being aware of up-to-date customer and hotel trends can help you stand out from your competitors, prevent loss of customers, and attract a new customer base.
Devitech is committed to providing a fully transparent pricing structure so you always know exactly what you'll be paying for. With our expert team, you can be sure you're getting the most reliable, high-quality installation of commercial EV chargers.