The hotel satisfaction survey is an essential tool for assessing the quality of services offered by a hotel to its guests after their stay. In a context where online reviews play a crucial role in a hotel’s reputation, this questionnaire is becoming an essential element for hotel owners and managers.
But what is a hotel satisfaction questionnaire, why is it so crucial to the industry, and how to make it ?
Definition of a hotel satisfaction survey
A hotel satisfaction questionnaire consists of a series of questions designed to evaluate different aspects of the customer experience, such as welcome, room, cleanliness, catering and so on. The aim is to gather customers’ impressions of their stay in order to identify areas for improvement and better meet their expectations.
A few figures: the importance of satisfaction questionnaires in the hotel industry
According to the latest data, online reviews are a decisive factor in the choice of hotel for 80% of travellers. A figure that cannot be ignored in a digital landscape where an establishment’s reputation is largely forged on platforms such as TripAdvisor or Google.
What’s more, a rating of less than 3.5/5 puts off 60% of Internet users, underlining the crucial importance of positive feedback in attracting new customers.
Why send hotel guests a satisfaction survey?
To better understand your customers
By asking specific questions in the satisfaction questionnaire, hoteliers can better understand their customers’ expectations and needs. This helps to strengthen the establishment’s database and adapt services accordingly to improve the customer experience.
Collect positive reviews
By offering customers the opportunity to provide feedback via a satisfaction questionnaire, hoteliers can collect positive feedback that will help strengthen their establishment’s online reputation. Satisfied customers will be more likely to recommend the hotel to their friends and family.
Preventing bad reviews
Satisfaction questionnaires also help to prevent bad reviews by offering dissatisfied customers a means of expressing their views directly to the establishment. By taking their comments into account and responding appropriately, hoteliers can prevent these customers from turning to social networks to express their dissatisfaction.
Improving hotel services
By analyzing the results of the satisfaction questionnaire, hoteliers can identify their establishment’s weak points and implement corrective actions to improve the services offered. This optimizes the customer experience and builds loyalty among existing customers.
Maintain a relationship with your customers
By sending regular satisfaction questionnaires to their customers, hoteliers can maintain a link with their clientele and keep them informed of developments at the establishment. It also enables them to propose new offers adapted to their needs, and reinforces communication between the establishment and its clientele.
5 tips for a successful hotel satisfaction survey
To ensure the effectiveness of your hotel satisfaction survey, here are five practical tips to follow:
Adapting your questions to your needs (and those of your customers)
To maximize the usefulness of your satisfaction questionnaire, it’s essential to adapt your questions both to your needs as a hotelier and to your customers’ expectations. This means asking questions that will provide you with relevant information to improve your services, while taking into account what your customers consider important.
For example, you could include questions about their check-in experience, the quality of their room, the services offered, and even open-ended questions to gather specific suggestions. By tailoring your questions, you maximize the chances of getting valuable, relevant answers to improve your customers’ overall experience.
Prepare a short questionnaire
In a world where customers’ attention spans are increasingly limited, it’s crucial to keep your satisfaction questionnaire as concise as possible. A short questionnaire is more likely to be completed by your customers, as it will only take up a few minutes of their valuable time.
By keeping the questionnaire succinct, you also avoid overwhelming your customers with too many questions, which could lead to a lower response rate or less thoughtful answers. By reducing the length of the questionnaire, you increase your chances of obtaining meaningful, quality feedback.
Send the questionnaire at the end of the stay (before OTAs and Booking.com)
There are several advantages to sending your satisfaction questionnaire at the end of your stay. Firstly, it allows us to gather customer impressions while their experience is still fresh in their minds, which can lead to more precise and relevant responses.
What’s more, by sending out the questionnaire before customers receive review requests from online booking platforms such as OTAs and Booking.com, you have a better chance of capturing their attention and getting their direct feedback.
This also gives you the opportunity to resolve any issues encountered by the customer before they are shared publicly, helping to maintain a positive online reputation for your establishment.
Analyze the results thoroughly
Once you’ve collected the responses to your satisfaction questionnaire, it’s crucial to analyze the results in depth to draw out any meaningful insights. This involves looking beyond simple scores and looking for trends and patterns in customer responses.
For example, you might notice that several customers expressed similar concerns about the quality of catering service.
By identifying these trends, you can prioritize areas for improvement and develop concrete action plans to address these specific issues, helping to improve your customers’ overall experience in the future.
Improve services that are frequently neglected
By analyzing the results of your satisfaction questionnaire, you will probably identify certain aspects of your services that frequently receive negative evaluations from customers. These potential areas for improvement should be proactively addressed to enhance the overall customer experience.
For example, if several customers complain about slow service in the restaurant, you might consider hiring more staff or implementing measures to speed up service.
By taking action to resolve identified issues, you’re showing your customers that you take their feedback seriously and are committed to providing high-quality service, which will help boost customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Conclusion
By following these tips and using your hotel satisfaction survey strategically, you can improve the quality of your services, strengthen your online reputation and build customer loyalty.
By better understanding your customers’ needs, collecting positive reviews, preventing bad reviews, continuously improving your services and maintaining open communication with your customers, you can create an exceptional customer experience that sets you apart in a competitive market.
By integrating customer satisfaction surveys into your overall strategy, you can not only meet your customers’ expectations, but also anticipate their future needs, ensuring your long-term success.
