Why Guest Data Is Your Most Valuable Asset

In the world we live in now, guest data is perhaps the most popular currency among business owners.

With Social Media and digital marketing permeating our society and saturating the advertising industry, few things are more valuable to companies than what they know (or can discover) about their customers. Guest data is undeniably a sought-after commodity, arguably having as much value as your physical property.

Why Guest Data is Important

There are so many ways that using guest data efficiently can positively impact your business. From marketing to customer experience, it’s an asset that can’t be replaced. Here we detail why your guest data is vital to your business’s success, and how you can ensure that the information you store stays protected.

It helps to remove friction and boost satisfaction

People like different things. Consequently, approaching every aspect of your customer journey the same way will inevitably lead to failure. It’s not rocket science; to appeal to everyone, it’s essential to change things up. But how can this be done without first knowing your guests’ preferences? Well, it can’t…. unless you take advantage of customer data.

By utilising data to understand your guests’ behaviour how they like to be contacted, their demographics, or even their past experiences you’ll have the ability to distinguish ways to eliminate areas of friction and make each interaction a meaningful, memorable, and profitable experience.

That brings me to my next point.

It enhances your marketing efforts

It might be your opinion that marketing is a one-size-fits-all, but it certainly is not. Most marketing campaigns don’t deliver great results because they just aren’t targeted enough. This is especially true since the number of ads consumers face continues to grow. The only way for your marketing to have the impact you’re hoping for is to make sure that you are only showing your guests what they want to see. That’s because 56% of consumers feel more loyal to brands who appear to understand them.

By using guest data, you can segment your customers into groups categorised by their interests. Therefore, you can customise your messaging to suit each demographic. Using your guest data efficiently is made easy by NewBook, with a whole range of valuable marketing tools that help you to manage and monetise it throughout the customer lifecycle.

Here’s how NewBook can help:

• Our Guest and Lead Origin Reports allow our clients to pinpoint previous and potential guests in specific areas using customer location data. This allows users to send out targeted emails exclusive to the location.
• Our Custom fields feature lets you collect guest information relevant to particular bookings. For example, you can collect  data such as the booking source, booking method, and booking reason. This data can be stored in a personal or company profile to refer back to when needed and utilise in tailored promotional campaigns.
• The information stored in your guest profiles will also allow you to understand what kind of customers your guests are. You can do this by assessing the type of camping or accommodation options they prefer (like an RV vs. a cabin) or whether they often travel with children. For example, if you can see that a previous guest has always travelled with kids, you can ensure the marketing materials they receive highlight your family-friendly offerings.

Check out more of NewBook’s handy marketing features here.

It helps to improve your customer service

Guest data is also an essential tool for customer service and ensuring you’re always delivering first-class support. Gathering guest data from feedback, survey scores, the kinds of complaints you receive, and even things like the most popular and least popular rooms/sites you provide, will help you to better address guest concerns down the line.

If data from every customer service or support experience is stored within your system and visible from a single screen, the details will carry through to each team member who comes into contact with the guest involved. NewBook’s smart Property Management Software (PMS) logs support requests and keeps track of customer communications. As a result, no information is ever misconstrued, regardless of who the customer speaks to next.

Here’s what you can do with NewBook:

• Capture previous communications by saving them within our in-built inbox.
• Ensure your guest data is organised and accurate by keeping it within our all-in-one system. With our centralised platform, guest information won’t get skewed when switching between various providers.
• Create genuine relationships with your guests by easily referencing previous communications, reservation history, loyalty programs, and more.
• Collect customer feedback and encourage your guests to share it online using our Surveys feature. Collecting data from post-stay surveys can help you tailor the experience for each guest the next time they choose to book with you, upping overall satisfaction and your chances of receiving a positive review.
• Our Guest Equipment feature allows you to store customer vehicle data, like licence plate numbers, RV dimensions, and more. When a guest makes a booking either manually or online, their information will be saved against their account for future bookings. This means you won’t need to ask the same questions each time they stay, and you can guarantee they’ll always have a site to fit their needs.

How do you keep your data secure?

Guest data can be endlessly beneficial to your business when applied correctly. However, things can quickly go topsy turvy if the data finds its way into the wrong hands. 

When signing up to a new Property Management System, don’t take the privacy policy for granted. It’s critical to ensure the data you collect stays with you and can’t be accessed or monetised by others. Make sure you take the time to read through the policy diligently and don’t forget to ask questions if something doesn’t sound right.

Another tip is to choose an all-in-one system. NewBook’s complete Tourism Technology Platform significantly reduces data security risks by presenting a single source of guest data.  Therefore, you’re able to easily manage and monitor it within one centralised system.

Guest data is a valuable business tool, so knowing how to use it and protect it is vital. To learn more about how NewBook can help you make the most of your guest data and keep it safe, click here.