The digital hotel concierge - How chatbots simplify your guest communication

We live in a world where we are used to getting information quickly and easily. Hotel guests don't want to spend a long time searching for information on the website, but want to receive a direct and fast answer. Likewise, they don't want to have to go to the reception desk in their pyjamas to ask for an iron. In short, guests want to communicate the way they are used to - quickly, easily and with a clear answer. How can this work smoothly? In the chat - without any communication barriers.

This is also supported by the following statistics, which show that Live Chat & Chatbots are the most preferred method of communication for online shopping alongside e-mail, website contact form, telephone and social media messages:

The heart of the hotel industry is good service and customer relations. Therefore, hotels need to make themselves reachable along the guest journey by using all communication channels. Chatbots are the perfect channel for those who like it fast, easy and intuitive.

Good communication is now more important than ever

Especially now it is extremely important to be available on all channels for the concerns of your guests. Relevant information, such as Corona guidelines, must be communicated proactively. Chatbots are ideal for exactly this information. Receptionists often invest too much time in trivial requests, such as questions about the availability of parking spaces. Unfortunately, more complex inquiries often then do not get the necessary attention. The virtual assistants do not only help the reception and back office to deal with recurring requests, but also enable contactless communication and ordering of services.

What are chatbots?  

Hotel chatbots enable better and more efficient guest communication and care. Fed with information about your hotel, virtual employees can independently answer questions about checkout times, costs and locations, communicate with an unlimited number of guests at the same time and respond to the individual wishes of your guests.

What skills do chatbots have and how can hoteliers benefit from them?

Hotel chatbots do not only have a friendly name. With their pre-programmed answers they also always stay polite and represent the hotel individually with their "Tone of Voice".  However, they have one weakness: nowadays chatbots do not have a suitable answer to all questions. Nevertheless, a hotel employee can easily continue the conversation if the chatbot cannot answer a specific question.

But the virtual assistants are capable of much more than just giving answers. Among other things, they can do 24/7 without getting bored:

• point out special features of a hotel 

• give recommendations for the surroundings and activities with helpful pictures & links

• request feedback from guests in the house 

• take over service bookings and table reservations.

The use of a Chatbot is also worthwhile because 

• you can be available for your guests at any time and increase guest satisfaction by providing easy access to information and services,

• you relieve your employees at the reception, because chatbots can answer 80% of the inquiries automatically. Cost and time resources are saved, especially in hotels where there is a large volume of inquiries,

• you can increase your direct bookings by letting chatbots automatically forward bookings to the booking section.

How do chatbots affect the conversion of your hotel website?

With a chatbot you can achieve a more personal communication with users on your hotel website. Through the desired interaction there is already a stronger engagement and a higher probability that guests will actually book in your hotel. In this case Chatbots can forward booking inquiries directly into the IBE and thus contribute directly to the strengthening of direct sales.

On average, 10-20% of hotel website visitors open the chat. With the help of animated chat bots, which literally "invite" the user to interact, this percentage can be increased.

The automation rate of Chatbot answers is up to 90%.

Last but not least, it is also about turning users into real hotel guests. On average, IBE-forwardings are at an amazing 30-50%, which shows how strongly the option is accepted by hotel guests. (Source: DialogShift, Olga Heuser)

Communication tool and conversion driver in one

A virtual assistant ensures a modern and uncomplicated interaction with users on the website as well as guests during their stay in the hotel.

However, especially in the hotel industry, the chatbots should not only chat, but also contribute to an improvement of the conversion rate. Therefore, make sure to choose a provider whose chatbots are specialized in the hospitality industry.

You are interested in an individual and customized chatbot for your hotel website? With DialogShift you get 50% off the first 3 months. After the 3 months you will receive a 10-20€ discount, depending on the package.

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