Independent Hoteliers Use Mobile Engagement & Feedback Tool
Independent hoteliers operating on Maestro PMS are thrilled to be able to add a new two-way real-time guest engagement module designed to drive guest satisfaction and improve operational efficiencies. Introduced as GuestXMS, and tightly integrated into Maestro, the tool is serving as a comprehensive guest engagement and operational communication hub for hotels, providing enhanced insights into guest needs. Powered in collaboration between Maestro and Fetch, GuestXMS enables hoteliers to send text messages to guests to gauge their satisfaction upon arrival and immediately resolve issues if necessary, resulting in a “Wow” experience and a frictionless stay. Early adopters are reporting that they are receiving 20 times more responses from guests, giving them adequate time to resolve issues before guests depart.
Guest XMS encompasses on-site text message surveys, a 24/7 chat concierge, case management actionable dashboards and post-stay Guest Experience Management (GEM) surveys to blanket the entire guest journey. Designed as an intuitive and responsive web-based application, the tool enables guests and staff to freely communicate without an app download required. Using industry-leading IBM Watson machine learning and artificial intelligence, GuestXMS also spots trends from keywords and concepts and identifies sentiments and emotions in guest comments.
“Before adding GuestXMS to our Maestro Integrated PMS Suite, we were using manual survey cards to determine if our guests were happy,” said Stephanie Stanton, Guest Services Manager of the luxury golf destination resort Muskoka Bay Resort in Gravenhurst, Ontario. “This user-friendly guest feedback system is a huge convenience. Previously we didn’t hear about guests’ stays until long after checkout. It didn’t give us the opportunity to perform guest recovery if needed. Now we can engage with everyone while they are still on premises. Thanks to Maestro’s proactive feedback functionality, 60% of our guests are responding to us at the point of the initial request through GuestXMS, compared to maybe 20% who responded to paper survey cards if we were lucky. This really is a perfect solution, as it gives us a great line of communication to guests. And, because people are comfortable with this medium, most opt-in to receive communications from us during their stay. Therefore, we can keep asking questions to ensure a flawless experience.”
Stanton said many guests are proactively using GuestXMS as a pathway to the front desk, while others use it to request room amenities, to schedule transportation, or to book a tee time. Management is also engaging with the tool. The resort’s general manager is using GuestXMS to hold his teams accountable and ensure that tasks are completed in a timely manner and that requests all are met.
“Since adding GuestXMS we are seeing nearly all 10/10 scores in guest satisfaction,” she said. “We let everyone know at check-in that we will be reaching out to them by text message throughout their stay and we encourage them to provide feedback about our services or just let us know if there is something they need. Nearly everyone is engaging with us about one thing or another, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Mathew Bishop, Director of Rooms and Recreation at The Resort at Glades Springs in Daniels, West Virginia, said he too is thrilled with the eagerness of guests to engage via GuestXMS.
“You don’t know what’s broken if a guest doesn’t tell you,” Bishop said. “GuestXMS gives guests the ability to be keyboard warriors. Before, people didn’t take the time to inform us that something was wrong. Now that they can shoot a quick text to the front desk and say ‘My TV isn’t working’ and it enables me to send a maintenance ticket through Spiceworks and track to make sure the fix was done. Before GuestXMS this was all being monitored manually. Guests really love the open communication, probably because they don’t have to pick up the phone or walk down to the front desk when they need help. Now they just shoot us a text. It’s great.”
Bishop said GuestXMS is helping everyone at The Resort at Glades Springs deliver more personal stays. He said knowing that his associates are in constant contact with every guest during and after their visit gives him the added assurance that if there is a problem, he will have the opportunity to make it right before they depart.
“The ease of following up on guest requests and feedback helps ease my mind when off property and allows my staff to contact me easily and immediately through the site,” he said. “I can’t thank Maestro and Fetch enough for working together to add this valuable tool to our PMS suite.”