For Pamela Barnhill, President and COO of InnSuites Hospitality Trust (IHT) and InnDependent Boutique Collection (IBC) Hotels, she doesn’t hesitate when it comes to the importance of customer experience. She told Loyalty360 that the customer experience is so crucial in the hotel space and, as an independent hotel chain, it might even be more important especially with the power of today’s social media.
“It’s millions of eyeballs and millions of comments people see on social media,” Barnhill told Loyalty360. “We try and make everyone happy. Customers are very careful where they spend their money. It’s not just about a bed, shower, or the room any more. It’s about the overall customer experience. Social media has accelerated a lot of this. We are supposed to act with immediacy and there is a lot of pressure.”
Barnhill said her company is working with Digital Alchemy to create a direct feed between its product management system and email marketing.
“They provide immediate feedback to hotels from guests and we’re able to take care of that feedback,” she said. “We have a really exciting technology platform coming out in stages in 2015 and 2016. We’re excited about this as it will allow us to have direct contact with guests.”
Technology is also a key issue for IHT and IBC Hotels.
“My predecessor signed a lot of long-term contracts with companies,” Barnhill explained. “We only do month-to-month contracts. I’d rather have my results prove to them that I’m worthy of their business. Long-term contracts are not beneficial.”
Customer loyalty is also changing, Barnhill explained.
“People used to make purchasing decisions based on what cards they held in their wallets,” she said. “People don’t carry a lot of cards in their wallets anymore. People make decisions more based on word-of-mouth and social media. Transparency of information has really changed brand loyalty for a lot of people.”
IHT has two divisions: InnSuites Hotels & Suites and InnDependent Boutique Collection (IBC) Hotels. The network comprises more than 6,450 hotels with more than 600,000 rooms and suites.
A key customer-centric initiative for InnSuites Hotels & Suites was the launch of its loyalty program called InnDependent InnCentives, which is a free nights-based program for guests that book Independent Hotels on ibchotels.com. The program launched in July 2013.
“It’s been great,” Barnhill said. “People are excited. It’s kind of revolutionary and different in the independent hotel space. It’s easy and automatic and you don’t have to carry a card.”
Guests who stay 12 nights receive the 13th night free. InnDependent InnCentives is the world’s only loyalty program encompassing all independently-owned hotels uniting a network of more than 20,000 independent hotels in 170 countries.