Information is available at any moment. Hotel guests also want the same level of communication speed when communicating with their hotel. If the communication does not meet their needs, you might as well not have sent any at all. What should a hotelier do? You can delight your guests and encourage repeat bookings by providing the right information at just the right time. This section will help you understand the messages your hotel should send to guests and the best practices for guest communication. Don’t worry! You don’t have to complicate guest communication or take too much work.

Messages for Hotel Guests

The six main messages that hotels should send to their guests during the guest relationship are pre-arrival, after-stay, and everything else in between. Before we get into the details of each message and why it was sent, it’s helpful to review them all. Email, the most common form of guest messaging, may be used.

The Dos of Guest Messaging

It’s easier than ever to keep in touch with guests at your hotel via digital communication. Below are the most important things to remember about communicating with guests via email or SMS.

1. Get in touch with guests when they are most convenient. Messages should be delivered promptly, or they will be ignored. Booking confirmation emails sent right away after a booking promote confidence. Worry and confusion can result from a booking confirmation email being received more than a day after a reservation has been made.
2. Keep communication simple and clear: In addition to using clear, concise language, make sure that the text is easy to understand. Use a standard font and short sentences and paragraphs for emails. Break up the text with headings.
3. Personalize: Address your guests by their names and send them relevant information and offers to personalize your guest messaging. You can create email templates in your property management software (PMS). These templates can then be personalized and triggered automatically based on reservations data. Integrating your PMS and guest messaging platform with CRM software allows you to create guest groups for greater personalization. This includes sending offers to guests, such as romance packages, couples, and discounts to families during school holidays.
4. Be consistent with branding: Match tone and language to your website, blog and social media. Guests will feel more confident when they have the same experience on all channels. The same applies to the images and colors you choose.
5. Use inclusive languages: As a hotelier, you know how hard it is to make your guests feel at home. It is possible to make a small but significant difference for your guests by using inclusive language. Using inclusive language can make a big difference for guests.
6. Remarket and upsell: Use guest messaging to increase sales, but it should be helpful. Pre-stay emails may offer the chance to pre-order a charcuterie platter or a package for movie nights. Make it easy for guests to plan their perfect stay by letting them dream about their stay. Keep the guest “warm” once they have left, and keep in touch with them via marketing emails. Offers must be relevant to your guest segments. If not, they will fall under the spam category.
7. Make it easy for guests and ensure that your reply email address and SMS number are handled promptly to make sure you respond as quickly as possible. Include the manager’s email address for post-stay thank-you emails. For those who prefer to speak, include a telephone number. Include an email address and an SMS number for guests who need to contact the front desk during their stay. Some guests prefer digital hospitality, while others prefer to call the phone.
8. To delight: This should be the main purpose of every piece of guest communication. This word should be a guideline, and you won’t regret it. You can include relevant offers, helpful information, and ideas. This is a way to bring front-of-house hospitality into your messages. We love the idea of making restaurant reservations and giving information about local events. Also, we love surprises such as VIP drinks on the house.
9. SMS: While we have mentioned SMS messaging throughout the article, it deserves its point. It is easier than ever for guests to text, so make it a preferred mode of communication. We love SMS because it allows us to communicate with housekeeping on the spot for extra towels or room-service requests and to check in with guests if anything is missing.
10. Automated messaging: The guest message is only as effective as its system integrations. Automating bulk communication is the only way to improve your guest messaging. This can be done by creating custom email templates within your PMS or integrating your PMS to an email platform that allows you to send personalized messages based upon common triggers and reservation information.

The Don’ts of Guest Messaging

These don’ts are easy to understand and do not require much explanation. They’re common sense, as they all go back to the ultimate goal of delighting your guests.

1. Don’t do anything: Worst-case scenario is that you don’t send any emails. Communication is normal. No news is bad news. This can lead to confusion and poor impressions.
2. Don’t be vague: In the spirit of being helpful, be precise and concise in your email communications. This will make it more difficult to respond to more inquiries. It’s time for you to review your email strategy if you receive many inquiries.
3. Give TMI Information gets lost in long blocks and overwhelms guests. The rule of thumb is to reduce your writing by 30%
4. Be generic/impersonal: Messaging that doesn’t name your guests or mention specific dates of their stay comes off as impersonal and suspicious. This is not a good way to build trust or loyalty. It’s also a problem to send irrelevant messages, particularly marketing ones. This can be avoided by offering specific information and relevant offers for your guest segments.
5. Spam: Irrelevant emails are spam. Too many emails are also considered spam. You can find the right balance by closely monitoring your email open and click rates, especially post-stay emails. You can reduce your frequency if you are not meeting industry benchmarks.