Today’s guests not only want their basic needs met, they expect their host to go above and beyond to ensure they have a unique stay. To create loyalty and increase repeat bookings in the age of next-generation experiences, hoteliers and hosts must turbocharge the guest experience and tune into their demands.
At each point of contact, next-gen recognises, acknowledges, and respects an individual. It's an experience that meets the customer where they are and seamlessly guides them through any encounters, with personalisation being at the heart of next-gen customer experience.
What do customers consider a good or bad experience?
A recent survey of more than 4000 global customers has not only shown a positive reaction to increasing digital engagement but has also given the following insights into exactly what customers would consider a good or bad CX.
An enjoyable experience generally translates into increased overall satisfaction and customer loyalty, resulting in recommendations to family and friends and continued shopping or engagement with an organisation, however, when an organisation falls short, customer CX can significantly decrease.
Good CX is:
Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable customer representatives (55% of respondents)
Responsiveness and fast service (45%)
Communication that informs every step of the way (35%)
Bad CX is:
Being transferred multiple times and having to re-explain oneself (48%)
Being placed on hold (46%)
Having too many steps to navigate (35%)
How to make next-gen experience your priority?
Unleashing the power of a Next Generation Customer Experience isn’t as simple as trying harder and being nicer. That being said, improving and implementing next-gen guest experience does not need to be difficult.
A study by Deloitte has determined three main focuses to get started. First, think big. To get started, an organisation needs to align their future with their existing visions. It is then crucial to focus on high-impact and high-value quick wins. It is important to start small, but iterate often. Being flexible within testing and learning new methods will allow space to adapt quickly when needed.
What will eventually differentiate brands from the competition is deciding how to implement those changes, using a skilful combination of human and artificial intelligence to develop genuine anticipatory experiences that guests don't even know they want yet.