While planning for a recent trip, I found myself conducting dozens of web searches to find information on my destination. These included:
- Flight information (Kayak.com)
- Airport transportation options (WikiTravel)
- The city’s best design hotels
- Guest reviews & photos of those hotels
- Best ways to get around the city (taxi, public transport, etc)
- Can’t-miss boutiques & galleries
- Places to eat (Yelp)
- Special events going on
- Typical climate for that time of year (clothes to bring, etc)
- Best places with WiFi I can work from (bonus points if I can drink something caffeinated)
- Running paths for my marathon training (Google Maps & MapMyRun.com)
- Best places to photograph (Flickr is my favorite tool here)
- Interesting day-trips from the city
Keyword research tools confirmed my travel planning behavior is very typical. Every day, hundreds of questions are being typed into search engines to find this type of information about the city you’re in.
Your potential guests are turning to the web for information
Many online travel planning resources aren’t direct competitors, but relying on them to educate your guests is risky. I see a huge opportunity for hotels to build their own destination information portals with a concierge mindset.
Are your potential guests going to find what they need from you or another website?
The web makes providing information easier
Before the web, it was difficult – if not impossible – for an individual hotel to publish a substantial amount of local information. Production costs would have been prohibitive, and distribution very difficult.
Now with just a simple website, you can share useful information very efficiently.
An example of proactive service
The Witt Istanbul Suites publishes detailed information on transportation options for getting around Istanbul:
Witt Istanbul Taxi Information
Since many of this hotel’s guests come from the UK and other English-speaking countries, the owner wanted to ensure the guests feel as comfortable as possible. To help overcome any language barrier, they offer printable directions in Turkish for the taxi driver:
Printable directions in Turkish
Providing this type of information is brilliant for two reasons:
- It helps guests to feel comfortable before they arrive
- It reduces the workload for your hotel service staff
Customer service 2.0
Instead of calling you directly with questions, tech-savvy travelers may prefer to communicate using the web. Twitter provides one opportunity to answer questions in real time. On the corporate level, we see Hyatt offering concierge services through a dedicated Twitter account.
HyattConcierge on Twitter
With just 131 updates, I assume many of their support requests take place via direct message (for privacy reasons). It’s not a bad start.
Actively engaging potential guests
My only complaint with @HyattConcierge? In my opinion, it’s not a huge improvement over phone or email support.
The real power of Twitter is in offering real-time service to people who aren’t aware of you (yet). Twitter search allows you to reach out to people needing help, and provide useful advice and information.
Independent hotels can do this successfully. A poster child of hotel social media success – New York’s Roger Smith Hotel – actively participates with guests to build their online fanbase.
@RSHotel Twitter Stream
Since this is a relatively new medium for customer service, little things like this gain a lot of attention and build a great reputation.
The best approach: Useful information + Real time support
Ultimately, hotels that want to use this ‘concierge approach’ to their marketing should use both approaches:
- Build an accessible database of useful, insider information on their destination
- Monitor real-time communications channels for opportunities to serve
It’s time to throw away the silver bullet
As marketers, we can fall for the trap of thinking all that’s needed is just one more tactic. One little trick that will cause sales to climb dramatically and eliminate our competition.
There is no secret
Great reputations are built around helping other people. It drives positive word of mouth – online and off – which ultimately brings you more guests.
It’s not unique or even particularly clever. But it works, and that’s what matters.
All the clever marketing in the world is useless if potential guests abandon you out of frustration. Hotels that figure out how to combine excellent customer service with new technology are the ones that will succeed online.
3 questions to ask yourself
- “What questions do I have when planning my own trips?”
- “What content could we publish that answers these questions for our destination?”
- “How can we get this information in front of the people that are looking for it?”
Related posts:
- Hyatt Concierge – The future of Twitter?
- Where guests go to complain online
- Connecting your guests with each other – online
- The only thing people look for online
- Interview with an Irish Hotelier that consistently receives rave reviews online
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Josiah!
Excellent article, as always.
Recently I’ve found a new website (at last for me) called “The Concierge Questionnaire” http://www.conciergequestionnaire.com or http://twitter.com/ConciergeQ
They basicaly display info given by the hotels in a way that it feels like you’re getting an advise from its Concierge. It is really nice.
We’ve already all our properties featured, as well as a group page: http://www.conciergequestionnaire.com/group.php?id=28
Usefull content on our website it’s someting that is being considered for the new layout of it. Nevertheless, we have always displayed a concierge direct contact (email) for each Tiara hotel, as you can see in this example of Tiara Park Atlantic Lisboa: http://www.tiara-hotels.com/lisboa/concierge-en.html
Cheers
That sounds like an interesting website – I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing, Nuno!
Thank you for the great article, Josiah. I think putting directions on the website should be accompanied by some kind of blog post comparing the alternatives from an insider’s point of view. I will post one shorly.
This has worked brilliantly for me… I am piping in local news, event info, I am also doing morning weather forecasts for out local area. I am so busy engaging in real dialogue I don’t have time to advertise or push rates that much… in fact they keep coming to me. Root yourself in the community and answer any and all questions, whether they have to do with your brand. I don’t know if it’s polite to post old blog posts, but for some reason this early March “Concierge 2.0″ article got a lot of hits http://www.hrabaconsulting.com/blog/2009/03/04/the-new-job-description-concierge-20-what-makes-an-excellent-brand-managerhotel-smo/
Also I talk a bit about why social media should rest with your concierge department – “It is about earnest concern about a guest’s reactions, needs, or thoughts. It is about being real in your conversation with a guest, precisely what much of marketing is not.”
http://www.hrabaconsulting.com/blog/2009/03/12/what-do-you-say-about-managers-not-in-the-room-or-hotel-managers-dont-get-caught-unaware-like-you-did-during-the-optimization-period-of-the-90s/
I know I am late getting here but hey… I have been swamped. Again I know it’s late, but thought I would share! You are dead right, and it is time for hoteliers to know how best to utilize this method of communication.