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While the relaxing of restrictions in some regions of the world has been a good thing for cash-strapped property owners, an alarming and unprecedented drop in guest satisfaction has emerged.
What caused this guest satisfaction crunch? I’ll tell you.
Welcome to another edition of Hospitality Property School.
I am your instructor, Gerry MacPherson.
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Why has guest satisfaction dropped?
Even though demand levels have returned to near pre-pandemic levels, the travel purpose, trip locations and segment mix are different.
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Given this, there are seven possible reasons why satisfaction has declined:
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Hospitality property type
Travellers are selecting different properties that might have lower satisfaction scores in general, so the hospitality property type drove the satisfaction decline.
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Traveller type
The travellers themselves have changed or the trip purpose has changed to one that tends to have lower satisfaction in general, so the traveller type drove the satisfaction decline.
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While there was a spike in family travel during the return to travel period, the satisfaction declines held across family travel, couples travel and business travel—with business travellers experiencing the highest satisfaction decline.
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The hospitality property experience has changed
The service at most properties has changed, so it’s something about the stay experience, in general, that is causing the decline.
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Travellers did appreciate the opportunity to get out of their homes and enjoy the outdoors and the amenities that were available to them.
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Unfortunately, the problems they encountered during their stay outweighed any satisfaction gains from being able to enjoy the pool and a quiet room with a view.
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If the property fixed either the issues with cleanliness or dining options, they could raise guest satisfaction to pre-pandemic levels. Fixing issues with customer service would recover half the satisfaction decline.
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The next step is to figure out exactly what went wrong within the areas that declined so that owners and managers can put in place targeted programs to improve guest experiences. Diving deeper into the subtopics under these main drivers can provide insights into exactly what was going wrong.
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Cleanliness
By far, the largest number of mentions and largest satisfaction decline was within the subtopic “clean,” referring not to the opposite of dirty, but rather, to the act of cleaning itself.
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Since the pandemic, many properties have cut back on housekeeping visits during the stay and guests have noticed, remarking that sheets and towels weren’t replaced, and trash built up in the room. The concept of a dirty room had the next-largest decline in satisfaction and also an increase in mentions.
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Guests were noticing things like stains or mould. This seems to indicate that properties were not doing general upkeep on the property during the slower periods.
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Unfortunately, due to current labour conditions, most hospitality properties are experiencing a shortage of housekeepers, so many properties are prioritizing post-stay cleaning so they can resell the room.
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This makes sense from a revenue perspective, but a balance needs to be achieved to drive revenue while maintaining satisfaction. Properties should consider a process using minimal housekeeping hours to provide additional towels, change linens on request and solve the issue of trash building up in the room.
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All housekeeping policies should be clearly and transparently communicated in advance of the stay to properly set expectations, especially if they are different than what guests were used to pre-pandemic.
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Some properties are considering permanently eliminating housekeeping during the stay or offering it by request only. This will reduce the cost of the stay, driving profit, but many guests will notice. You should carefully consider this change before implementing it, and if you do, you need to proactively communicate the policy as guests are making their booking decisions.
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Dining options
By far, the most frequently mentioned topic (although mentioned less than pre-pandemic) was breakfast, and breakfast drove a large decline in satisfaction. Many hospitality properties, due to new regulations, are implementing staffing restrictions and cost-cutting measures end up reducing or eliminating breakfast options.
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Guests noticed and reacted negatively.
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Are these make sense?
Let me know in the comments.
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Price
Despite the fact that some hospitality properties were charging near-record rates in some cases, guests weren’t complaining about high prices per se, they were complaining that they didn’t receive the value they expected for the price. They were willing to pay the price, but they expected things like housekeeping and breakfast and didn’t know that those services were limited.
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We are not suggesting that you lower the price because services are limited but should set the right expectations of service levels. If dining hours are limited or housekeeping isn’t available, guests should know prior to arrival so their expectations will be aligned to the property’s offerings.
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Customer service
Customer service is typically the most important driver of satisfaction, and it declined quite a bit during return to travel. Perceived friendliness (or lack thereof) has been a drag on satisfaction.
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Guests perceived rudeness at times and these interactions negatively impacted their overall satisfaction. Interestingly, helpfulness had a positive impact on satisfaction compared to pre-pandemic. It seemed that guests do appreciate the pressure staff are under with COVID-19 restrictions and increased demand, so when they have perceived the staff as being helpful it had a more positive impact on their overall satisfaction.
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If you are a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, as a bonus, I am going to talk about what you can do about improving guest satisfaction.
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In conclusion
Given the constraints the hospitality industry is still facing, broad-stroke solutions are not possible, nor will they likely be effective. Yet if hospitality property operators don’t do something now, they run the risk of damaging their reputation over the long term.
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Detailed insights from mining guest feedback can help pinpoint interventions that will be most successful in improving and maintaining satisfaction.
What are you doing to improve guest satisfaction?
Let me know in the comments.
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You will have access to this episode for the next six weeks and then it’s locked in the vault for Hospitality Property School Group members only.
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To see all the other valuable material you’d have access to as a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, check out the short video in the episode post-show notes.
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In the next episode, I will talk about guest satisfaction.
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That’s it for today’s episode,
Until next time, have a fun day.
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Are you getting your weekly INNsider Tips? You can find the link in the show notes.
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⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:
https://keystonehpd.com/7-reasons-guest-satisfaction-has-dropped-279
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Post COVID-19 Action Plan
KeystoneHPD.com/PostCovid19ActionPlan
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Join one of your private groups
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A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development
These are VERY valid points. However, the old adage is “the customer is always right”, but having been in the hospitality industry my entire career life, I have come to greatly disagree with this adage. Customers have absolutely NO idea what it is like to run a hospitality property, the amount of work and cost involved, not to mention the pressure to ensure that trying to navigate multiple personalities and characteristics at any one time is a talent all on its own. When these customers feel that they’ve been “shorted” on their unreasonable and unrealistic expectations they will become keyboard warriors and try and destroy your establishment. We have had people complain about cold syrup for their waffles, having to ask for a second spoon for their coffee, and my personal favourite “I’m not a smoker, but they threaten to charge me upwards of $750” (according to the provinces by-law)
Customers have become unreasonable and their attitudes have decreased as a whole when it comes to customer service they “feel” they deserve – but really they just like holding your establishment hostage for as many freebies as possible to increase their unknown expectations
Very frustrating and another reason why there has been a true decline in the staffing for our industry – people are just tired of being mistreated