Sweet Accommodations soars with a 20% increase in upselling and 30% in online check-ins using HiJiffy
June 2023 – June 2024
9,000+
WhatsApp messages sent
80%
WhatsApp messages open rate
20%
increase in upselling
30%
increase in online check-ins
Introduction
HiJiffy’s aim is to develop the most advanced conversational AI for the hospitality industry. Over 2,100 hotels in more than 60 countries around the world already trust us and use our solution to reinvent their communications with guests.
These results illustrate the tangible impact our Guest Communications Hub has at every stage of the guest journey in the different types of Sweet Accommodations. The brand’s success is based on their willingness to embrace AI-driven conversational automation and their confidence in our solution.
This is reflected in a 20% growth in upselling services and a 30% increase in online check-ins. These developments have been crucial for the company, enabling them to work more efficiently thanks to the centralised communications with guests.
How does Sweet Accommodations use WhatsApp campaigns to drive these indicators? Let’s begin by telling you about the challenges faced by this brand before presenting the solutions applied and analysing the results. Finally, the testimonials of the hotel staff will offer a deep insight into their experience.
The Client: Sweet Accommodations
Sweet Accommodations manages a variety of properties in Barcelona, Seville and Lloret de Mar, including apartments, boutique hotels, hostels and co-living spaces. They will soon open 17 new tourist apartments in Barcelona, reaffirming their growth and commitment to quality hospitality.
Each property is strategically located, with apartments in the city centre, close to transport and main attractions, and in Lloret de Mar, close to the coast and beaches. The properties are designed to meet the needs of different types of guests, from families and friends to digital nomads and business travellers.
The company stands out due to its focus on creating a sense of community, especially in its co-living spaces and hostels, fostering a welcoming atmosphere where guests feel at home, with special attention paid to personalising communication and the guest experience. In addition, they employ sustainable practices throughout their operations to contribute to a greener environment.
Sweet Accommodations also promotes experiences in the cities where they are located and upsells additional services to improve a guest’s stay.
Their teams work transversally between their different properties and use digital communication with WhatsApp to eliminate the need for staff presence in each establishment, facilitate online check-in, eliminate the use of physical keys and optimise cross-management.
The Challenges
Sweet Accommodations faced several operational challenges that were affecting the efficiency of its operations and guest satisfaction. Let’s take a look are the most significant challenges they faced when looking for a communications platform to manage their communication through WhatsApp (their customers’ main channel).
- Too many phone numbers, poor operational efficiency.
Without a centralised number and a centralised platform, they were finding it difficult to manage conversations. Conversations were scattered across several phone numbers, which made it difficult for staff working in different cities. They needed access to these conversations, as they wanted to work with a cross model where someone who was in Seville, for example, could answer guests in Barcelona. - Time spent on manual labour, lack of time to serve their guests.
Having no physical reception in many of the properties and a fairly digital process, the team was spending too much time manually sending messages written by the team. This not only implied an inefficiency in its processes, but was also a restrictive factor in terms of the attention it paid to their guests and the personalisation of its service.
The lack of automation of check-in messages, welcome, sending keys, review requests, etc., was quite slow and led to a deterioration in the quality of the guest experience and the employees’ work efficiency. - Dissatisfaction with the online check-in and check-out process and upselling of services.
As the company wants to work digitally, centrally and contactlessly, many of the brand’s properties do not have guest-facing staff on location. Therefore, they had to find a centralised messaging service, which sent their customers according to their dates of arrival and stay, both automated online check-in processes as well as their platform of upselling in-house services and external experiences.
The Solutions
Sweet Accommodations adopted HiJiffy’s functionalities to address these specific challenges, thus improving its operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.
Centralised communication with HiJiffy
HiJiffy has provided Sweet Accommodations with
a centralised WhatsApp system that manages communication with guests from a single platform with a unique number, across all locations.
Message automation
Message automation through HiJiffy has enabled Sweet Accommodations to dramatically reduce the time it spends on manual communications. Implementing HiJiffy’s solution, has meant significant time savings, freeing up valuable human resources so staff can focus more on personalised guest interactions. Customer response rate improved significantly, raising the level of customer care and guests’ satisfaction.
Personalised messages
Personalised messages during the guest’s journey included sending information about entry codes at the properties, room numbers and interactions to coordinate the guests’ their arrival time with check-in. Reviews were also requested after departure to assess satisfaction during guest stays.
Check-in and upselling improvements
An online check-in process was implemented through HiJiffy, facilitating guests’ early check-in. Automated messages were used to check arrival times and additional requests. Although the check-out process showed no significant differences, automated messages improved the overall guest experience. Additionally, during their stay, guests now also receive a link to the upselling platform used, to facilitate the upselling and cross-selling process for the various accommodations.
The Results
Solutions implemented through HiJiffy have significantly impacted Sweet Accommodations, improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Here are the results:
Increased operational efficiency
Centralised communication has eliminated the need to manage multiple city-specific phone numbers, providing centralised access to the entire reception and management team for any customer’s messages, regardless of location. In addition, the ability to respond quickly and consistently to guest needs has been significantly improved.
Message automation
The implementation of HiJiffy enabled significant time savings by reducing the staff’s manual workload. This has allowed the team to focus on more personalised guest interactions, greatly improving response rate and customer satisfaction.
Personalised messages
Personalised messages are sent during the guest’s tour and include information on accommodation entry codes, room numbers and interactions to coordinate arrival time with check-in. Requests for post-departure reviews are also sent, helping to assess and improve customer satisfaction. Over 9,000 messages have been sent to guests across various properties, achieving an open rate of 80%. This has led to an increase in feedback and highly positive reviews regarding the hotel brand’s communication standards.
Check-in and upselling improvements
Thanks to HiJiffy, Sweet Accommodations has seen an estimated 20% increase in upselling sales, facilitating direct sales of complementary services and unique local experiences to its guests. In addition, the online check-in process has shown a 30% increase in pre-arrival guest check-ins, improving operational efficiency and the guest experience. This is made possible, in large part, by the integration HiJiffy has with its partner, Cloudbeds. Automated messages have also improved the overall experience, with significant differences in the check-out process.
Testimonials
“At Sweet Accommodations, integration with HiJiffy has meant a radical change in our working methodology. Previously, we faced several operational challenges, such as managing the volume of manual messages we had to send to all guests of our multiple properties, which are located in various cities. This manual process not only slowed down our receptionists’ work considerably, but also prevented us from offering our guests a personalised and efficient service.
With the implementation of HiJiffy, we have succeeded in significantly reducing the workload of our team. This has allowed us to not only free up valuable time for our receptionists, but also increase our guests’ response rate, greatly improving the level of customer service and satisfaction. HiJiffy has been instrumental in optimising our communication, allowing us to address one of our biggest challenges — the unification and centralisation of all our guests’ messages, no matter where their accommodation is.
This innovative platform has allowed our entire reception and management team to access the messages of any guest, regardless of the city in which they are being hosted. This centralised management capability has facilitated a faster and more coherent response to our guests’ needs, improving operational efficiency and the customer experience.
In short, HiJiffy has been a key tool in our development and advancement as a company. Its integration has transformed the way we operate, improving efficiency, quality of service and customer satisfaction, enabling us to maintain our competitiveness and reputation in the sector.”
Andrea Santiago – Reception and Quality Manager at Sweet Accommodations
“HiJiffy has proven to be an exceptional tool for accommodation management. One of its main enhancements lies in the wide range of useful tools it offers. The ability to customise various functions according to our needs has been especially remarkable and has allowed an experience more adapted to our requirements.
The speed of the interface is another highlight. HiJiffy provides an intuitive and agile interface, greatly facilitating navigation and booking management. In addition, the ease with which we can communicate with our guests through the platform is a significant advantage. The ability to maintain smooth and efficient communication with guests has greatly improved our ability to provide a high quality service.
In short, HiJiffy has proven to be a comprehensive tool that not only improves the efficiency of our operations, but also elevates the guest experience by offering customisable tools and an agile and fast interface”
Wael Mardi – Receptionist at Sweet Lloret Suites
“It has been a true pleasure working with the team at Sweet Apartments, especially Nuria, Andrea, and Gian Franco. From the very beginning, they have shown exceptional dedication to ensuring that every guest has an unforgettable experience in their accommodations. I have been impressed by their willingness to personalise every aspect of communication with the guests during their stay, tailoring welcome messages, local recommendations, and personalised assistance to make each visitor feel at home from the moment they step through the door.
Their attention to detail and passion for providing high-quality service is reflected in every interaction. Guests not only receive useful and relevant information but also feel the personal touch and warmth that characterises Sweet Apartments. This dedication has resulted in high satisfaction and numerous positive reviews from clients. I greatly appreciate the collaboration and look forward to continuing to work together on current properties and the new ones that will be opening soon.”
Joana Rodrigues, Senior Customer Success Manager at HiJiffy
Integration with technology partners
Cloudbeds PMS
By seamlessly integrating with Cloudbeds, HiJiffy can access customer and booking information, allowing hotels to contact guests before their arrival, offer online check-in and check-out services, and provide upselling opportunities during the stay to personalise the guest’s journey.
Cloudbeds is the leading platform redefining the concept of PMS in the hospitality industry, serving tens of thousands of properties in over 150 countries worldwide. Developed from the ground up to be perfectly unified and scalable, the award-winning Cloudbeds platform brings together built-in and integrated solutions that modernise hotel operations, distribution, guest experience, and data and analytics.
Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds has been named Best PMS, Hotel Management System, and Channel Manager (2021-2024) by Hotel Tech Report, Best Hotel PMS Solutions Provider Worldwide (2022) by the World Travel Awards, and recognised in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 ranking in 2023.
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