Do you always know when you have a repeat guest?

Do you always know when you have a repeat guest?

There was a time when a receptionist might recognize a returning guest when they walked through the door.

But in a world where much of guest communication happens through chat and self-check-ins, repeat guests create both challenges and opportunities. For a returning guest, the first question is: what is their channel behavior? Have they:

→ Reserved directly using a promotion? → Reserved directly, paying full price? → Come back through an OTA once? → Come back through an OTA many times? → Used a mix of OTA and direct booking channels?

Why? The only real way to find out is to ask.

But first, you need the data to tell you that the guest is actually a repeat guest. With multiple data sources, PMS systems, OTAs and communication platforms, this can be surprisingly difficult.

Then there is another question: How do you ask? What is the SOP? Does the staff member know what to do? What automation flags the returning guest and supports the interaction? And ultimately, how do you move that guest up the value chain?

Shockingly, at least to the property, not every guest is going to respond to a 5% discount to book directly.

A guest might simply think: "Booking through the OTA is easier. All my information is already saved. It's fewer clicks. I pay a little more, but who cares?" That's not necessarily a pricing problem.

Repeat guest behavior is complex. It requires nuance to understand, and even more nuance to leverage effectively. Yet this is exactly the kind of analysis that often falls by the wayside. The opportunity isn't simply to "get more direct bookings."

It's to understand why guests behave the way they do — and build the right customer lifecycle around that behavior.

Want to hear more about how we think about customer lifecycle marketing for hotels and hospitality businesses?

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