Things You Need To Do After a Hotel Renovation
Things You Need To Do After a Hotel Renovation
Don’t make the mistakes many hotels make after a renovation.
You just spent tons money improving, upgrading, your hotel rooms, amenities or maybe even a brand new lobby design. You and your staff have worked very hard during the renovations, cleaning, touching-up…What do you do next? How do you create a long term winning formula for success?
Call me crazy but, I love renovations! I really enjoy taking something old, out-of-date and re-creating a brand new look and feel. I actually designed, picked out materials and over-saw renovations at a few of my hotels (see image below).
In this article, I share how to take full advantage of your renovations and start receiving the benefits of your hard work. If you found my article to be helpful, please hit the LIKE button and share with someone you can help.
A renovation can change the future of your hotel forever. It has mine – More Revenues and Happier Guests.. Employees too.
But don’t think of a renovation as one of those “magic diet pills”, suddenly bringing flocks of guests into your hotel, without any efforts. In today’s times, the fake-pills tactics don’t work, neither does JUST renovating your hotel.
You need to know the formulas and strategies to ensure success, especially after your poured a lot of money into your business! Here are some important things you should do after your hotel renovations.
The lifeline to any hotel is its people, the staff, the employees; these people can make or break the business. As a hospitality consultant, my #1 advice is to start with a well-trained and engaged staff.
Train and coach your staff members to ensure that they are delivering the highest hotel experience to all guests. Teach them how to go above and beyond their set job description by engaging, surprising and delighting. Emphasize how personalized service can really make guests’ stay memorable and how rewarding it can be for the entire hotel.
It would certainly be a shame to have a newly renovated hotel, if the service was not up to par.
Here are some great resources to use to start training at your hotel
How to Build Staff-Guests Engagement
Use 5 Hospitality Phrases Guests Remember Most
Learn the 10 Traits of a Great Hotel Front Desk Agent
Customer Experience Expert, Brett Patten explains…
Sometimes it’s more important to renovate the business is non-tangible aspects, just as the tangible ones”
One of the things that a renovation should give you is more confidence. You have a newly renovated hotel after all. Why not flaunt it for the entire world to see?
Having this confidence should give you a more aggressive and proactive approach when it comes to your marketing. Here is my, SmartGuests Post-Renovation Marketing Check-list:
□ Take new high resolution photos
□ Update your website
□ Update new photos on all websites including 3rd party booking channels
□ Send local media/newspaper a press release about your renovations
□ Update your photos on all social media
□ Change your descriptions on all website to include “Newly Renovated” and explain the renovations.
□ Create a video or virtual tour
□ Enroll in Google 360 Tour
□ Start a blog – Talk about your renovations
□ Create a Facebook Business Page or create a Facebook Ad
□ Update Google Local/Places listing
□ Start pinning new photos on Pinterest.
□ Use Twitter to showcase your new rooms
□ List your hotel on FourSquare
□ Share on Instagram – before and after’s
□ Use Google AdWords Express for local hyper search marketing
□ Invite your CVB and Chamber of Commerce to see renovations
□ Update your coupon books with new images and descriptions
□ Create new business cards for every employee (Remind Review Cards)
□ Update rack cards
□ Update sales brochures
□ Create postcards
□ Send an email to past guests, notifying them to return and enjoy the new look and feel.
□ Inform your top corporate accounts of your remodel
□ Put a digital frame with pictures of renovation at front desk
Download the entire checklist here: Post Renovation Checklist for Hotels
Do not forget offline marketing strategies as well. Now that you have a more beautiful property to be proud of, why not partner with local merchants such as restaurants, gas stations, apartments, cab companies, moving companies, local gym and get referral guests along the way.
Now is the time to take control of your marketing and make it work in your favor!
Yes, you might receive a few more reviews due to your renovations. However, you may be missing out on huge opportunities to fill more rooms and put more money in your pockets. Your online reputation is probably one of the most important things you should be concentrating on today!
With over 90% of your guests reading reviews before they buy a room at your hotel, you can make it easier for them to make the right decision. Simply put it, your hotel NEEDS good reviews, all the time – Not once or twice a month, everyday!
So what can you do to make sure you get a fresh, new start after your renovations?
Here’s my checklist to boost your online reputation – ratings & reviews.
□ Update your TripAdvisor listing with new photos and descriptions
□ Contact TripAdvisor to let me know if you can start fresh because you’ve totally revamped your hotel
□ Teach your team how to engage with guests during the check-in process
□ Use Reminder Review Cards to make a personal connection and ask for reviews
□ Create a Guest Recovery process.
□ Incorporate We Care Feedback Cards into your checkout process to get direct feedback before the guest leave to ensure satisfaction.
□ Reminder your hotel guests to post a review with a custom air freshener cards. It’s a token of your hotel’s appreciation and the scent will remind them to share a review.
□ Use powerful post-stay email surveys as a final touchpoint in the review-getting process. Read more about our digital post-stay platform, VerifiedGuests.
□ Dedicate resources and time to replying to all reviews
If you are being shy in your hotel’s review-getting process, you are losing money.
Speaking of shyness, this is also not the time to be timid when it comes to getting more positive reviews. Before the renovations, you might be a little reserved to approach guests and ask them for reviews because in the back of your mind, you knew your rooms could been better, or your amenities needed upgrading.
No more excuses! You and your staff need to be proactively soliciting reviews (after you have provided exceptional stay experience, of course). Use tools that can dramatically increase your online ratings and reviews.
I’m giving you permission- DON’T BE SHY, ASK FOR IT!
Your renovated hotel deserves positive reviews.
If you’re in the middle of a renovation or just completed an overhaul, the game plan you put in place will make a big difference. Use these post-renovation strategies to ensure success at your hotel.
Get a custom game plan for your hotel including training, support and tools, contact me via our Contact Page.
Have a Successful Day!
-Rupesh Patel
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About Author
Rupesh Patel, hotelier and founder at SmartGuests.com, a U.S.-based Hospitality and Review Tools company that helps hotels increase revenues and occupancy, by boosting their online reviews and reputation. His proven system has not only improved his own hotels, but have helped hundreds of other hotels (large and small) get an advantage over their competition.
He regularly shares his passion for entrepreneurship, customer service and marketing on numerous industry sites, social media and blogs.
>Connect on LinkedIn >Rupesh’s Twitter >Read my Blog >Facebook >Pinterest
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Article originally found at www.smartguests.com/blog
