Minimalism is the buzzword that has taken over our lives recently and it’s everywhere. In its essence, minimalism is an art movement that was adopted in the last years as a lifestyle to promote living better and freely with fewer material possessions. It doesn’t mean you can’t buy and own stuff, it just encourages you to make conscious decisions when buying.
If our lives are cluttered with material goods, our digital lives are no better. Researches show that the total digital media usage is up 40% since 2013 and smartphone usage has doubled in the last 3 years. This has contributed to making our lives tech-centric and the time has come when we have to readjust our relationship with technology. From our laptops to our mobile phones, who hasn’t ever downloaded an app just for the sake of trying it once and never used it again? Or how many apps do you have to use to be better (and faster) at your job?
And if we think about your hotel communications, how many communication channels does your hotel need to better communicate and serve its guests?
A lot, we can imagine, but we’re here to help! This article is meant to point you in the right direction when it comes to decluttering your hotels’ communications while applying the principles of digital minimalism.
Adopt a centralized approach
Every day is the same: all those messages coming in from every channel you provide and your inbox getting more and more chaotic! And with it, your staff is also being less productive and losing track of the messages they’ve replied to.
If you can relate to this conundrum, fear not. Simplify by dismissing all those single apps, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and e-mail, and embrace a centralized minimalist approach for your hotel’s communications.
By adopting a solution that allows you to have a centralized approach towards your communication channels, such as a unified inbox, you can keep track of all the messages sent by your guests, while having them in one single place and ready to be answered to.
With a unified console, you can skip all the juggling between accounts and folders and have a one-stop platform where all your communication is stored, becoming much easier to focus on the task at hand. By having separate inboxes according to the channels used, you’ll increase your team’s efficiency and will not leave guests unattended or uncared for.
More channels, less effort
As a business manager, you understand that it is very important to be where your customers are. And your customers are mostly… everywhere! On your website, on social media, and messaging apps, so of course customer support on these channels is a must-have.
Recent studies show that there are 3.397 billion active social media users and social media’s global usage increased 13% since January 2017, so it is indeed a very tempting market. If nowadays, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the top three social media networks, there’s certainly room for more in the future and new channels are appearing every day.
With a unified inbox, you can also include social media customer care, which previously was a daunting task because your staff needed to be on top of everything. And you won’t fear to make yourself available on new channels ever again! So, keep ‘em coming!
The same goes for chat channels, such as WhatsApp. In fact, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp alone handle over 60 billion messages a day. And let’s not forget about e-mail, the third most influential source of information, used daily by 3.8 billion people, who check it on average 45 times a day. Don’t be that person!
Install a chat widget
You can say no to mobile apps and adopt a minimalist but powerful live chat widget on your hotel’s website!
Your guests need more than roaming around your website. They need to ask questions, talk with someone, and usually, they expect a quick solution to their problems. With a simple chat widget on your hotel’s website, providing a quick and exact response is no longer a problem. This techy minimalist approach can often replace a human agent and only hands-off the conversations when needed, allowing your staff to keep focused on specific queries or other important tasks.
Besides, this will allow you to have access to important KPI’s such as the volume of most asked questions (FAQs), which provides you with great hotel intelligence and insights into your website’s marketing messages, how they’re being perceived and might pinpoint some guest’s issues you weren’t aware of before.
We know there’s a lot to take in. Technology has enabled 24/7 connectivity and only hotels that are willing to adapt and respond to these new dynamics will stay on top of their guests’ communications and survive. Start by cleaning up your hotel’s digital life and then keep only the tools that really add value to your hotel and always, always make sure to use them in the most efficient way possible. Your guests will see the difference and will for sure appreciate how you can always be on top of things!
