Branded hotels may represent the fastest growing segment of the UK hotel industry, but independent hotels still hold the key to unlocking the reward of added value marketing. But with larger hotel groups consistently trying to jump on the boutique band wagon, how does the small independent hotelier make their offering stand out?
Independent hotels currently make up over half of all hotels operating in the UK, with a stronger presence in the regions, especially across the South West and Wales. However, branded hotels, with their huge financial backing, substantial marketing budget and ability to cross promote and incentivise customers through aggressive discounting, are increasingly eroding the share of the independent hotel sector.
To secure their popularity and profitability, the independent hotel owner must work smarter to encourage and sustain bookings, taking steps to better understand their customer, position themselves to meet the customer’s needs and excel in their delivery of creating a memorable stay.
Today’s consumers are increasingly sophisticated and savvy. They opt for an independent hotel to experience something unique and for a personal touch that’s hard to match by the larger hotel chains. They’re skilled at research, product and price comparison, and whilst cost may be an incentive for a quick, functional overnight stay, there are more sides to value that can be explored by the independent hotel owner when it comes to promoting a memorable weekend away or short break.
Understand the attributes that make your hotel truly special and embrace them: Distil the essence of why your offering is different by examining all your customer touch points and identify the values you’d like your guests to remember you by.
Add value to enhance your guest’s stay: Embellish the ‘money can’t buy’ experience through events, personal touches and the ‘welcome unexpected’.
Love your location: Promote where you are and draw customers to your area – sell its benefits, beauty and ultimately your beds.
Quality and consistency are key to encouraging customers to come back: Ensure your staff engage with and communicate your brand values to your customers, reiterating your key messages seamlessly.
Use social media widely and wisely: Keep in contact, communicate and reward your existing customer base, while increasing your aspirational presence amongst would be guests and nurturing dialogue. Use social media to promote events and offers, but balance out pure sales messages with the warm and inviting tones of what’s currently happening at the hotel, for example, new dishes on the menu, local news, suggestions of local activities.
Encourage response and feedback from all your guests: Online surveys, hotel and restaurant response cards, word of mouth, hotel comparison websites and general staff interaction – any knowledge you can gain about your service and offering will prove valuable. Just be sure to act on it.
Make it personal: Data capture will help you learn more about your customer and provide a reason for continued dialogue. Feedback cards and tools for data collection will provide the bare bones of what you need to know, but think creatively how you can flesh these profiles out. Use this data to create a calendar of events and promotions that you can tailor to appeal to specific customer segments, and keep in touch.
By embracing and adding to the qualities that make independent hotels so attractive, and following a few simple rules, the hotel owner can do much to ensure they won’t become the fabled ‘corner store’ of the hotel industry in future.
by Vicki Patterson
For more information click here