Those who work in either the travel or hotel industry often wonder how to provide guests with exceptional levels of customer service.
Although the Henn-na Hotel in Japan recently introduced a robot to greet guests, some hotels have introduced online forms and workflows to eliminate repetitive manual tasks and give staff more time to focus on guests.
Read on to discover our five key takeaways where automation has been used in the travel and hotel industry to increase customer service levels and some of the companies leading this change.
Automated room booking
While most hotel companies now provide online booking, the Hilton has gone further and allowed guests to use automated online forms. These automated forms allow guests to pre-select which room they would like to stay in during their trip from a digital floor plan and choose any amenities to be delivered to the room. Automating this first stage of customer interaction shows you care about customers from the get-go.
This process is seen by guests as very important, allowing them to set-up their preferred booking in advance, while allowing staff to focus on helping customers with any questions related to their stay. Online forms work behind the scenes to automatically generate tasks for specific employees to bring any additional amenities to the room. Other benefits allow for in-advance resource planning by building a digital picture of what regular guests are likely to want during their stay.
Reduced time spent on data entry
With automatically populated fields, hotel staff no longer need to spend time manually inputting data into the hotel CRM. This not only reduces time but also reduces the likelihood of data entry issues through human error. Staff can then spend this additional time focusing on guests and ensuring they have a pleasant stay.
Faster check-in and check out
Alongside The Hilton, luxury hotel Ritz-Carlton has developed an app for its guests that uses online forms comparable to Dajon’s iForms to allow check-in before arrival and check out without stopping by the front desk. Guests can also request services such as free towels via their smartphones, with automation creating tasks for staff and updating hotel databases and records.
Room service automation
Similar to requesting additional amenities, online forms have allowed customers to quickly and efficiently pay for their room service. A guest can now use their smartphone or computer to read a menu online and pay for an order; this can then automatically create a task in the kitchen and remove the ingredients from stock levels.
This automation highlights how workflows can allow guests to have their order fulfilled quicker with less chance of errors occurring, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, as well as time savings across the hotel.
Higher levels of customer service and faster replies
Lastly, one of the most popular areas where iForms have been applied is customer service. When a prospective guest raises a support question online, workflows can automatically create a task for an employee to give the customer a callback or send them a message. When responding to a task, data fields will be pre-populated, so staff quickly have details regarding a guest’s hotel stay and contact information.
Don’t forget that workflows can be very simple for just one role or a single person, or can be built to involve a series of more complex processes covering many people, groups or departments. Whatever the size of your requirement, workflow automation could be a good solution.
For further information on automated workflows, download our free guide “The Benefits of Workflow Automation”.