The customer has found you, they have booked with you and their holiday is rapidly approaching. They are looking forward to their break and apart from checking the weather forecast they are in an incredibly positive state and frame of mind. This part of the customer journey provides enormous opportunities to strengthen your connection with them and show you really care.
Humans are at their most receptive and accommodating when they are looking forward to something, so this is an ideal time for you to pick up the conversation with them again.
Very few businesses seize this opportunity to cement the relationship with their customers at this stage of the customer journey. Many put this down to “being too busy” or “focusing on those customers who are staying with them now”.
However, by engaging with your customers ahead of their stay – a month, week or day before – you have the opportunity to make their stay more enjoyable and even offer up-sell options. And the economic benefits to you as a park business could be substantial.
Here’s your opportunity to not only provide them with information about their stay – things to do nearby, things to do on the park – but also offer discounts on park facilities, give them early notice of their accommodation and ask if they would like a basic food package upon arrival.
Experiences count!
Everywhere a consumer may go today, from retail to restaurants and now the high street, companies and brands are striving to offer “an experience”. There has also been a noticeable change in guest behaviour in the hospitality sector over the past few years too. As the sector has evolved, guest expectations have changed. Not satisfied with just offering a bed for the night, many hospitality providers are having to evolve too in order to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a touring, glamping, caravan or lodge holidays – parks are ideally placed to play larger roles in their guest’s holidays. By creating personal, tailored experiences for your guests you can begin to please them even further and increase brand loyalty.
According to Deloitte, hospitality providers can seize opportunities and offer their guests memorable experiences. By playing the role of curator / choreographer of these experiences you can be one step closer to meeting your customer’s needs.
- Experiences: Form external partnerships and offer a variety of environments that delight your guests and allow them to explore new experiences.
- People: Encourage your guests to forge connections with both your brand and other guests.
- Cultures: Use your park as a portal into the local community and the culture outside its gates.
- Processes: Try to become both a virtual concierge and a logistics guru so that you can provide your customers with a seamless and convenient experience.
Customer experience can also be the key source of competitive differentiation. If a business can create an experience that seamlessly connects all the interactions a consumer has with their brand, and does this in a unique way, it will not only gain a strong competitive advantage but will also have a positive impact on the bottom line
The perfect start to a holiday
But don’t forget that a guest’s experience doesn’t start when they arrive at your park – it starts when they make a booking and begin to look forward to their stay. The anticipation stage can be a key moment to tap in to your guest’s psyche. People often think back on their experiences, comparing how they felt before they left with their actual holiday experience. Was the holiday actually as good as they expected?
Here’s your opportunity to engage with them early and help them plan their stay with you. Give them access to information about the kind of things they can do during their visit, whether it’s visiting a local attraction, restaurant or take part in a local event.
Apps like Holidaymaker are the perfect way to help your guests plan ahead and build on that anticipation and to really start looking forward to staying on your park before they arrive.
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