Loyalty in the hospitality sector has never been under as much of a threat as it is right now. The rise of hotel comparison websites has done to hospitality as it did to the insurance sector – pushing prices down at the expense of quality and loyalty.
It’s led to a race to the bottom which suits budget operators but puts luxury hotels at a disadvantage, forced to fight on multiple fronts. With loyalty at a premium and profits at stake, salvation comes from an unlikely source – free guest WiFi.
Once considered a luxury, free guest WiFi has become a ubiquitous commodity. So, how can this prevalent technology be leveraged to generate loyalty?
It’s something we specialise in at Airangel, and here’s how we do it.
Individual SSIDs to Create a Superior In-Room Experience
Loyalty begins with an amazing experience for each and every customer. That not only means meeting their expectations but looking to exceed them at every single turn.
For guests, their room is where they’ll spend the majority of their time. It’s a place to sleep, yes, but it’s also an office, a living room and a relaxation space. What unifies those other purposes in the modern age is their reliance on WiFi.
Traditional guest WiFi has users connect to a single, building-wide SSID, but this fails to service modern use-cases, many of which rely on personal wireless networks to function effectively.
Devices like printers, scanners, speakers, connected televisions and other connected devices need personal area networks, which is why Airangel supports individual SSIDs, so customers can connect their devices safely and securely.
Intelligent Networking to Reward Returning Customers
Any hotelier will acknowledge that recognising and rewarding a customer’s loyalty is key to locking in that behaviour. It can be as simple as a ‘welcome back’ at a second visit or even a voucher as a token of appreciation after a certain number of visits.
However, tracking and rewarding loyalty can be exceptionally difficult when you’re operating a large chain or even a single hotel. That’s why Airangel gathers device details like MAC addresses and number of previous visits to automatically re-connect visitors to their WiFi network when they return and even issue welcome messages, whenever and wherever your customers might reappear.
It’s a simple, seamless feature that helps to reward loyalty amongst your clients.
Email & SMS Support for Proactive Customer Service
The best customer service is invisible – helping customers before they know they need it. It’s why Airangel’s guest WiFi solution features automatic email & SMS communication.
Once a guest is authenticated onto your network, email and SMS messages can be sent directly to the guest, alerting them to current offers within the hotel, delivering service announcements or even sharing the specials available at your in-house restaurant that evening.
It’s the sort of proactive support which makes guests feel valued, and it’s another way in which our hospitality WiFi solution can help drive loyalty day in, day out.
To learn more about our guest WiFi solutions, get in touch with a member of our team today.