Why Digital Transformation Will Create an Astounding Personal Customer Experience
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Personalization is something most hotels today strive to provide within their service offers.
But the reality is that not many hotels have succeeded to create personalization at a level that generates more loyal customers or taps into new uncontested markets.
Customers still make their bookings with online travel agencies (OTAs) rather than book direct with the hotel. And customers also increasingly are seeking alternative non-hotel accommodations like Airbnb to serve their wants and needs.
In this article, we will dive into why hotels are missing the mark on personalization and how to fix it.
It is important to understand that customers will rationalize their hotel booking process, but their booking decision is personal.
Digitization has changed how customers today see themselves in the marketplace. Today customers are seeking something bigger than themselves. And they want hotel brands to work with them, not just for them.
Let's just take a little peek into why so many customers today are seeking a non-hotel alternative like Airbnb.
What is it that Airbnb is offering its customers?
The simple answer is that Airbnb offers its customers a lifestyle experience. And they do so by telling that they are there to help people create a world where you can belong anywhere and where people can live in a place instead of just traveling to it.
Airbnb has created a community where everyone feels a sense of belonging. They have also managed to make people feel they belong to a community that is bigger than themselves.
Why hotels are missing the mark on personalization
But first, we have to understand why hotels are missing the mark on personalization.
Airbnb doesn’t own any properties. They collaborate with local communities and allow people to become hosts of their unique accommodations. But the key is that these host is now experiencing a whole new belonging to the local community. People can collaborate and create extremely creative and very attractive lifestyle bundles.
What Airbnb has done is that they have educated people on how to tap into the currency of differentiation.
If your hotel relies on pushing price, features, service, or quality your primary currency of differentiation is manipulation, not personalization.
This is the primary mistake most hotels does today. They want to go back to the traditional marketing methods that in some ways have worked for them in the past.
Manipulation has nothing to do with belonging or working with the customer. Hotel brands that rely on manipulation will also risk an increase in uncertainty among customers.
With manipulation, hotels define themselves within a red ocean market trying to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of existing demand.
The primary focus on hotels in a red ocean marketing is to;
How can digital transformation help hotels create an astounding personal experience?
Today approximately 90% of consumers use their smartphones and other digital devices to get detailed product information.
And we find ourselves in a situation today where hotels have to create a product or experience offer that becomes a catalyst that inspires their lifestyle, choices, and booking patterns within their customer journey. ?
Digital transformation focuses on creating an environment where people and technology work in harmony.
Technology help with capturing a large volume of structured, unstructured, behavioral, and transactional data generated by customers.
But there is one key component that requires people to help create a more personalized experience.
And that key component is authenticity. Authenticity means everything you say and everything you do you believe.
One of the core principles of digital transformation is to build relationships and make friends first.
Authenticity builds relationships!
And relationships will build trust and with trust comes loyalty.
Hotels need to make a shift from a manipulation focus on pricing, promotions, peer pressure, fear, service, and quality to focus on authenticity.
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Digital clienteling and co-creation
Digital clienteling means?engaging customers outside of the hotel via digital, knowing what they have booked, delighting them with new ideas, and inspiring them with “personal direct booking” style experiences.
It is within this aspect that hotels now should seek to create a differentiation currency of personalization.
Hotels need to learn and understand Blue Ocean markets where demands are created not fought over.
In a blue ocean market the focus shifts towards;
In a co-creation process hotels and their customers are mutually linked to each other to create unique experience offers and products for personalized benefits to customers. Today we know customers want hotels to work with them. In this process, the customer plays the role of the co-creator.
And customers find the co-creation process convenient, entertaining, and cost-effective.
Including customers in experience and value innovation the customer will take an active role in innovation and developing new experience offers based on their needs and expectations.
Not only will your hotel create new unique personalized experience offers, but the customers feel a new belonging where they will take ownership of the experience offers.
In this process, your hotel will have discovered a new clarity in WHY you do what you do and how to do it. And your hotel should be on a path to creating extremely creative and very attractive lifestyle bundles.
Digital Transformation Framework Partnership for Hotels
Hotels today have to invest in people and technology in a context that adds value to everyone involved.
Don’t continue to neglect or take the people's transformation for granted. Technology is a digital tool that will help your hotel when implemented in collaboration with your employees.
Partner with your employees and they will help with retaining and hiring people.
I also invite you to work with me as your hotel partner to help implement a new innovative digital transformation framework that opens the digital gateways to more direct bookings without competing with the OTA.
Shoot me an email at: [email protected]
Are Morch?is a digital transformation coach helping hotels open their digital front door, reimagine their processes and culture, and transform experiences in a fast-paced world!
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