Taking a fresh look at surveys amid coronavirus

For hoteliers that want to drive loyalty, there is nothing more valuable than understanding how guests experience their stays with you. Guest feedback provides both the qualitative and quantitative data that you need to ensure your amenities and service levels are in line with expectations and that your guests are happy.

When guests begin feeling safe enough to travel again, we know that their expectations and what they will be looking at will be different than they were just a few months ago. In today’s market, cleanliness and safety measures are likely to have a big impact on experience and how guests measure the quality of their stay. 

Prior to COVID-19, daily housekeeping was a luxury that many guests loved. Today, it might be viewed as a threat to safety. In the past, most guests formed their opinions of cleanliness based on the guest rooms. Today, they will be looking closely at the cleaning procedures of the entire property. 

In general, you will likely need to rethink the questions you are asking on your in-stay and post-stay surveys. You may be operating fewer F&B services and outlets so you need to remove mention of them from the survey. If the outlets are still open, it could be beneficial to ask how guests felt about any enhanced safety measures the hotel is taking in this department. But be careful not to turn your survey into a safety-focused checklist.

A simple question like, “Did our enhanced safety measures/COVID-19 procedures make you feel more comfortable/relaxed/at ease?” gently reminds guests taking the survey that the hotel has made changes and is encouraging the guest to think about how they experience those changes.

This question could be conditional, so if a guest answers negatively you can ask, “What safety measures would have made you feel more at ease?” Alternatively, if a guest answers positively, you could either leave it blank or ask, “What specifically made a difference in your comfort?”

Since safety is going to be a high priority at the hotel for a while, Revinate customers can set up survey or review alerts to be notified any time a piece of guest feedback comes through which mentioned Coronavirus or COVID-19. These alerts ensure that staff can acts upon critical feedback as soon as it is mentioned.

In addition to taking a fresh look at your survey questions and setting up alerts, we suggest you take one additional step and set goals for your staff regarding hotel cleanliness and safety. Revinate Guest Feedback customers can do that right in the platform. When employees understand where they are today and where they need to be in the future, they can work towards their goals and celebrate success along the way. 

If you’re looking for more ideas to drive demand, download our new guide on how to build a marketing strategy that wins bookings. It’s packed with tools to help you plan your hotel’s recovery strategy and templates you can use to engage with your guests.