3 Things Every Hotel Business Needs To Build Trust
Why is trust important for hotel businesses? Trust is a key priority for all companies, though the hotel industry amplifies this to new proportions. Your business model revolves around people spending money to stay in your accommodation. Therefore, they need to trust that your facilities are safe and comfortable - as well as trusting that you won’t just pocket their money and scam them.
Have you ever wondered why people tend to gravitate towards big hotel chains when staying somewhere? It’s because those brands have spent years building trust with global or regional audiences, so guests have very little to worry about. In turn, this makes it even harder for a new hotel business to break out - so what do you need to build trust with your target demographic?
Safes In Every Room
Guests bring valuables to your hotel, so they need to feel like their valuables are well protected. What if they leave for the day but can’t take their laptop or iPad with them? Fill your premises with trusted hotel room safes to give guests a simple way to protect their belongings. Every guest can lock their valuables in a safe and have peace of mind when they go out during the day.
Besides, the presence of safes conveys trust - while a lack of safes does the opposite. Prospective guests are unlikely to stay somewhere if that hotel doesn’t have any room safes. From their point of view it’s not worth risking.
Free Cancellation Policies
Build trust with your target market by introducing simplified payment systems. Make it easy for people to book a stay at your hotel - but also make it easy for them to cancel a reservation. Hotels with complicated and costly cancellation policies don’t appear that trustworthy to prospective guests. They assume that the hotel can take their booking and cancel it while retaining the money.
Offering free cancellations reverts their opinion. Your hotel looks far more trustworthy and safe because they know they won’t lose money. Most people follow through with a hotel booking anyway, so it’s not like you’re losing money. The option to cancel for free shows that you value your guests, and they’ll appreciate that.
A Large Collection Of Good Reviews
Nothing builds credibility and trust quite like good reviews. 81% of people will check online reviews before booking a hotel - and 70.9% of travellers claim that an online reputation influences their decision.
To put it another way: if your hotel doesn’t have good reviews, nobody will give it a second thought. It’s almost worth dedicating the lion’s share of your marketing budget towards generating lots of positive reviews because that’s what has the greatest impact on securing bookings.
Trust is something you have to think about when setting up a hotel business of any size. It won’t matter how many nice amenities you have or how well your pricing structure compares to the competition; if people don’t trust a hotel, they won’t stay there. You’ll start establishing a strong level of trust with these three additions to your business.
