The fear of online booking
Earlier this year I went on ski holidays to a picturesque town called St. Foy. I stayed at a beautiful independent property that characterizes for providing a personalize experience to its customers. During one of the nights I had an interesting conversation with the property owner about online presence.
The fact that although the property attracts international guests, the website didn’t have direct online reservations nor provided visitors with additional information about the property and surroundings caught my attention.
My main curiosity was to try to understand the reason why the property was not adapting new technologies to their website. It was not a surprise when the owner of the property told me that she was afraid to lose the customer interaction that is created while exchanging emails or phone calls with guests. Especially because this interaction allows them to learn more about the guests’ preferences in order to provide a personalized experience.
If you are an independent property and you can relate to this then let me tell you something:
Providing a good online service to website visitors doesn’t mean that you have to jeopardize the personalized service that distinguishes you. Online presence will provide you strong competitive advantages against other hotels. By providing real-time availability and pricing information on your website you will have more time available to manage your business rather than being on the phone or checking emails 24/7. Moreover new technologies allow you to keep good track of your guests’ preferences that not only optimizes the guest experience while staying at your property but also enhances their online experience.
As time goes by travelers are becoming more demanding and a large part of them make the decision of where to stay on the information they find in the internet. So you have to make sure you provide your customers with what they are looking for and what they want. Do not forget is not about you or your property is about your guests.
