5 tips to boost the use of your room directory (or guest app)

📲 The establishment of a Digital room directory (or a guest app) is beneficial for your establishment, for your team and for your customers.

They can access it to get information, order services from their room but also book an activity.

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➡️ But they still have to use it!

In this article we are going to give you 5 tips to maximize the use of your room directory with your customers. These tips come from our experiences and situations that we have been able to assess in the field, with our partners.

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️ Send the room directory before (and during) the stay

Inform your customers that they have access to a platform to enjoy their stay As soon as they arrived at the hotel it's good. But also prevent them before they arrived, It's better!

Not to mention integration with your PMS, you now have tool (s) that allow you to create an interaction with your customers before they arrive: PMS, CRM, OTA messaging...

You therefore have the opportunity to inform them that a dedicated space will allow them to calmly prepare for their stay and why not to book additional services.

You can easily integrate it to your pre-stay email:

📧 Pre-stay emails can easily be sent from your PMS or CRM.

You can also insert the link in your Booking automatic message (or from another OTA:

The link to your room directory remains accessible and clickable even from the automatic OTA message. To add it, simply copy and paste the room directory link into the automatic message editor in your OTA space.

2 ️ Get your teams on board to promote it

You made the decision to take the plunge and to digitize your room directory. But as we know, as with any process change, or for the implementation of software, it is important to involve your teams in this new project.

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#1 - Train your teams: Choose a provider that offers training to the team in charge of the room directory. Your team is the best ambassador for your projects. If they are integrated into the project, it's a win.

#2 - Talk to customers about it: As soon as you check in, you must inform (or remind) your customer that they have access to a dedicated online space to access all essential information, but also to book services and activities.

3 ️ ※ Highlight access points

If the health crisis has had a positive effect, it is good to democratize it.

Yes I want to talk about the Qr code.

It is necessary To make you want It's up to your customers to scan it! Do not hesitate to make a custom visual for your establishment to avoid the simple QR code without emphasis...

4 ️ Multiply the access points

Do not hesitate to multiply the number of access points in your establishment.

💡 You can let your creativity run wild:

• Put the QR code In the bedroom (basic)
• Put the QR code in The common areas (lobby, bar..)
• Show the QR code in Passage areas (lift or stairs)
• Print the QR code on card cases
• Handing out a card Qr code at each arrival

🏨 The possibilities are numerous and depend on your establishment and its functioning.

🌐 You can also add a link directly from your website and inform your customers that they can access the platform from your site.

5 ️ Keep the room directory up to date

✅ You have respected the 4 previous steps, more and more of your customers are arriving on your digital room directory, that's good!

The objective now is for them to use it and to make good use of it.

And now it's up to you to play : you must integrate this new tool into your processes and ensure the quality of the content, its relevance and its volume.

Here are some best practices:

• Some content But not too much of content: find the right balance to offer a useful room directory that contains relevant information.
• Offer consistent services with your establishment: the price offered for a service must be consistent with the type of clientele. Also, be careful not to provide too many services, as this could “lose” your customer.
• Update your room directory regularly: It's the same as for the paper version, except that now there are no more excuses for letting outdated information pollute the content of the welcome booklet. You have access to a back office that allows you to easily update it.

Chez GetWelcom, we are aware that these actions require time. This is why we support you in setting up and training your teams.

We keep the link to help you optimize your room directory throughout our partnership.

Every month you receive a detailed report of its use to allow you to do detailed monitoring but also to implement actions to improve performance.

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