Boosting guest experience through real-time feedback analysis

If you’re a resort looking to build a world class NPS, rectifying customer complaints is a must. However, fixing issues after guests have checked out can be too late. Without capturing real-time feedback, only future guests benefit from complaints in post-stay surveys, reviews and other data sources.

With the proven link between NPS and revenue, organizations that maintain a consistently high score, rather the riding the rollercoaster of peaks and troughs, will have better revenue growth. Therefore, preventing NPS from falling in the first place using a proactive guest feedback program will generate greater revenue than rectifying problems after guests have left.

Unfortunately, if it was easy, all resorts and hotels would be doing it. Having a feedback analysis program that can analyze feedback as close to real time as possible, at scale, is an immense undertaking. However, when done correctly, it offers a big competitive advantage.

A company that runs huge resorts across Florida and the Caribbean approached Relative Insight looking to do this type of analysis. Fed up of seeing its NPS fluctuate and being unable to take action until after guests had checked out, the firm committed to gathering real-time feedback.

Its resorts contain large hotels, water parks, golf courses and a host of other activities. This makes collecting, analyzing and sharing intelligence from customers with the right stakeholders at the right resort a challenge — all the more so given the company aims to act on feedback within 24 hours.

By using Relative Insight’s software, the resort can analyze thousands of pieces of customer feedback every day. This enables staff to remedy any issues immediately — keeping guests happy throughout their stay.

This example highlights issues identified and resolved over a 10-day period at one of the company’s resorts in Florida.

Rapid bunker clean following golfers’ anger

The first area staff addressed using real-time feedback centered on the resort’s golf course.

A spate of windy weather had blown debris across the resort. However, while areas around pools and hotels were cleaned quickly, this was harder to achieve on the sprawling golf course.

Guests were 7.3x more likely to talk about ‘trash’ and mentioned ‘bunkers’ 3.8x more. This highlighted that, while groundskeepers had cleared the fairways and greens of debris, it had accumulated in the bunkers.

“Couldn’t find my ball on hole 8 thanks to all the trash in the bunker. Not something that I expected to experience here.“

These trash isles created an added side effect: raccoons. Attracted by the trash, these critters used the bunkers as their personal litter boxes. This led golfers to talk about ‘raccoon shit’ infinitely more than in feedback from previous days, as well as being 35.2x more likely to use the phrase ‘clean my club’.

“I’d expect to have to clean raccoon shit from my clubs playing at my local pitch and putt, not on a ‘premium’ course!“

Analyzing these complaints in real time enabled groundskeepers to prioritize cleaning bunkers on every hole. Within a day, the course was back to its usual standard.

Martini stirs guests’ real-time feedback

A centerpiece at the hotel is its rooftop cocktail bar overlooking the whole resort — and the ocean’s horizon. Despite these Insta-worthy views, the bar’s service failed to live up to the scenery.

A number of cocktails, including the bar’s signature twist on a martini, were unavailable due to drinks shortages. This sparked complaints from guests; they were 14.5x more likely to use the phrase ‘not available’.

“There was a perfect sunset and I was looking forward to having my martini, only to be told it was not available! This is despite it being advertised throughout the hotel.“

The lack of a flagship drink also impacted service levels. With bar staff required to make a broader range of cocktails, this created delays in how quickly customers received drinks. Their feedback used the word ‘slow’ 6.7x more on the night in question.

“Didn’t have my favorite cocktail as they were out of vermouth, then the one I did order took 30 minutes to arrive. Too slow!“

This feedback was forwarded to the resort’s procurement team. They created a system that ensured this drink’s ingredients were prioritized, as well as giving staff backup options in case of future shortages.

To appease impacted customers, the resort offered these guests an evening’s worth of complimentary drinks — including its signature martini.

wagyu woes for customers

It wasn’t just drinks that guests complained about. Customer feedback also highlighted challenges at the resort’s premium restaurant; specifically around its wagyu.

Over a period of two nights, guests talked about ‘wagyu’ 5.2x more. Diners were 8.1x more likely to use the word ‘overcooked’ in relation to this dish, as well as using the word ‘dry’ 4.5x more.

“Ordered the wagyu expecting the very best. All I got was meat drier than a desert. I could find juicier beef in Walmart.“

The resort quickly identified the reason for this fall in quality: the restaurant had began serving Argentine steak as well as wagyu and to ensure its new offering was the highest possible quality, the chef normally responsible for cooking wagyu focused on this new meal.

A more junior chef replaced them and erred on the side of cooking the meat too long, rather than not long enough. The resort remedied affected customers by offering them a free meal of their choice.

Proactive real-time feedback analysis improves key metrics

This perfect storm of minor, yet irritating, issues could sink a resort’s NPS and other customer experience metrics. However, thanks to real-time feedback collection, analysis and action, the opposite occurred.

The resort calculates its NPS off post-visit surveys. Despite these issues cropping up, the resort’s score rose by two points in this period. In NPS survey feedback, guests praised staff for ‘listening’ and ‘resolving’ issues quickly.

Incorporating Relative Insight into the tech stack for your guest feedback program enables you to quickly pinpoint problems, at scale. This enables you to act on problems in time to positively impact guest experience.