In the past decade, practically every industry and sector have been disrupted by technology in some way. The hotel industry is no different. With the global hotel industry reaching nearly $3.5 billion in 2020, there’s a lot of money to be made and a lot of competition.
What matters the most in the hotel industry? The satisfaction of your guests. No matter how large or small your establishment is, your guests want a 5-star experience. And everything starts at registration.
Hotel registration is the first opportunity to make a good impression on your guests. It’s also an opportunity to collect valuable information to help you improve your operations.
If you feel like your hotel registration process is lacking, no worries. You can easily improve it. All you need to do is follow the next five steps:
1. Start Collecting Guest Data Right Away
By 2023, it’s estimated that 70% of travelers will book their hotel rooms online. Days of guests calling to book a room are practically gone.
They go to Google, look for a hotel, and book the room that catches their eye. The process is quick and easy. What’s not so easy is when they have to fill out a long registration form when they get to the hotel.
Also, it’s a perfect opportunity to collect data about your guests and get more insight into their travel behavior. You can use this data to improve your marketing, operations, and overall guest experience.
That will allow you to:
- Reach out to previous guests and offer them discounts or perks
- Upsell and cross-sell your hotel’s services
- Send targeted marketing messages
2. Introduce Contactless Registration
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we travel. Now, more than ever, travelers are looking for contactless solutions.
They don’t want to stand in line and fill out forms. They want a quick, easy way to check in and get to their room. Even without social distancing guidelines, guests appreciate not having to wait in line.
A contactless registration system is a way to go. Guests can fill out their information online before they arrive at the hotel. When they get to the hotel, they must show their ID and pick up their room key.
If you want to take it a step further, you can use a mobile app that allows guests to check in and out of their rooms, order room service, and more.
3. Strengthen Your Security Measures
You can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your guests’ information. With data breaches becoming more common, you must ensure your hotel’s security measures are up to par.
Not complying with PCI DSS regulations can result in a $500,000 fine for your establishment.
There are many ways to strengthen your security measures, but one of the most effective is to use tokenization. Tokenization is a process in which sensitive data is replaced with a random string of characters, or a “token.”
That makes it difficult for hackers to access your guests’ information. Even if they were to get their hands on the token, they wouldn’t be able to decode it and get the sensitive data.
Another way to protect your guests’ information is by using encryption. That’s a process in which data is turned into a code that someone with the right key can only decode.
That makes it difficult for hackers to access your guests’ information. Even if they were to get their hands on the encrypted data, they wouldn’t be able to decode it and get the sensitive data.
4. Add Some Flexibility to Your Check-In Time
Gone are the days of a rigid check-in time. On average, hotel rooms sit empty 25% of the time. That’s a lot of wasted revenue.
Allowing guests to choose their own check-in time is a great way to improve your hotel’s operations. It can also help you increase your revenue.
With flexible check-in, guests can choose when they want to arrive. That means you can better manage your staff and resources. You can also upsell late check-out or early check-in.
Furthermore, you can use this data to improve your hotel’s operations. You can use it to see when your hotel is the busiest and make changes accordingly.
5. Keep Focus on Usability and UX Design
Your hotel’s registration process should be user-friendly and designed with the guest in mind. If it’s not, you run the risk of losing guests.
There are many factors to consider when it comes to usability and UX design. But one of the most important is mobile optimization.
More and more travelers are using their mobile devices to book hotel rooms. If your registration process is not optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on many potential businesses.
A platform like ChargeAutomation can help you streamline your hotel’s registration process and make it more user-friendly. With ChargeAutomation, you can:
- Collect guest data online
- Allow guests to choose their own check-in time
- Keep the focus on usability and UX design
So make sure your hotel’s registration process is up to par. With the right platform, you can improve your hotel’s operations and increase your revenue.
Online Check-In With ChargeAutomation
If everything goes smoothly, do you even need to improve your hotel registration process? If your revenue is to stay steady (or increase), you need to embrace change.
According to a recent Hotel Tech report, the implementation of new digital solutions can help you:
- Increase revenue
- Reduce operating costs
- Improve the quality of services
- Give customers a higher satisfaction rate
ChargeAutomation can help you upgrade your payment system and give your guests an amazing experience from when they discover your hotel to when they leave their room.
On average, ChargeAutomation users save their guests half an hour per booking. Don’t wait; sign up today and give your guests the experience they crave and deserve.
