But more data isn’t necessarily better, as it is getting harder to comprehend and to organise it in a meaningful way.
More insight, less noise
Operations and marketing managers in hospitality have the difficult task of sifting through all that information: reviews, complaints, audits, social mentions, staff feedback, competitor analysis, the list goes on and on – to find the actionable insights that help improve operations and customer experience.
Guest experience management experts HGEM caution that an overload of data without the right software, that can sort valuable insights from the unimportant, can become a hindrance rather than help to see the bigger picture.
It is also important to have that data all in one place, not scattered across different platforms, or worse – spreadsheets.
A guest experience management platform, such as HGEM's Hub, for example, is an efficient and cost-effective tool that gathers all the important data into one place, helps operators gain visibility across a range of customer touchpoints, and simplifies the decision-making process.
Tangible benefits of guest experience management
Based on data from clients, HGEM reports that there is a ‘correlation coefficient’ on the effort put into improving guest experience, NPS (Net Promoter Score) and revenue.
It’s quite simple – the more dedicated operators are on actually enhancing customer experience – the better they do financially.
In a study HGEM conducted with clients over a 12-month period, it was found that where a guest experience management programme was instigated:
- The overall guest experience rating increased by between 5% and 10%
- NPS increased between three and eight points.
- This had a net effect of delivering between 1.5% and 4.9% to their bottom line over and above the expected increases.
- In one site the programme saw an increase of 12% in revenue.
- A further study has suggested that where the customer experience score had increased by 10%, there was a 2.4x increase in the customers net spend.
In summary, HGEM found that a business that is purposely focused on delivering great customer experiences can expect to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, spend per head and income.
How to get started with guest experience management?
There are several hospitality intelligence platforms available to operators, but in order to draw insights across different facets of the business, HGEM recommends choosing one platform that measures a broad range of analytics and metrics, rather than multiple niche products.
The key areas of customer experience to measure for a balanced set of insights are:
- Review Streams: gather data from social ratings, reviews, and competitor analysis.
- Mystery Guest Audits: thorough objective measurement of brand standards, service, processes, behaviours, and sales opportunities; both eat-in and delivery audits.
- Guest Feedback: listen and respond to what guests are saying, engage with customers, trigger positive reviews, and capture valuable data for marketing databases.
- Menu Performance: monitor league tables for dishes using a range of KPIs from value-for-money to overall satisfaction, identify opportunities and weaknesses in the menu.
HGEM’s approach
HGEM’s award-winning platform The Hub includes the modules mentioned above. With high quality data, intuitive dashboards, and extensive reporting capabilities, the platform simplifies the process of drawing actionable guest insights, and streamlines decision making.
The company believes in providing a holistic approach to guest experience management, and therefore HGEM’s service includes a client success manager and support team, who work in partnership with clients to translate guest data into actionable insights, and to recognise and maximise opportunities for growth as they arise.
HGEM are offering hospitality businesses a free guest experience management review. This will help identify any gaps in current solutions and explore opportunities to simplify and streamline existing practices.
