Hello! Customer Experience, Brand Loyalty Are Tops for Red Lion Hotels

Customer experience and brand loyalty are two paramount issues for Red Lion Hotels Corporation (RLHC). The 54-hotel chain launched a new loyalty program−Hello Rewards−last year because its previous program−R&R Club−wasn’t effective, was impersonal, and didn’t retain customers at a desired level.

Red Lion Hotels officials realized that loyal customers are easier to sell to, spend more, and make a business more successful. As a result, surprise and delight has moved to the forefront of RLHC’s service promise.

Bill Linehan, RLHC’s Chief Marketing Officer, participated in a Q&A with Loyalty360 to discuss customer experience.

Has there been an “ah-ha” moment in this journey?

​​As we move from a point-based loyalty program, where consumers collect their points and earn their status, to one where consumers don’t have to worry about points and status, but rather feel rewarded where there’s business, my ah-ha moment was that the latter is indeed their preference. By moving to the latter, it opens up doors to so many more possibilities because we don’t have points and status restrictions. We have more marketing opportunities than ever before.

Who is the champion of customer experience at Red Lion Hotels?

It takes our entire team, from those who monitor customer sentiment to those on the front lines delivering exceptional service to our guests. Our system is in place to ensure customer satisfaction is paramount to everything.

How do you define CX?

We continue to define signature moments where we can positively impact our guests throughout the journey touch points. From booking the reservation to filling out the survey after their stay and everything in between, these impacts make up the total of the guest experience.

How do you measure the effectiveness/efficacy of the CX program?

We measure the customer experience using a number of metrics, which include multiple views. We look at our market percentage of business against other hotels with similar customer sentiment ratings and we further correlate all hotel performance metrics against customer sentiment references.

Is your CX strategy short-term, medium, longer term or all three?

All three. It has to be all three because each has its own set of insights. Like all analysis, long-term strategy and measurement is a reflection of trending, whereas short-term is more dynamic and reactionary.

How does the voice of the customer feedback impact your customer experiences?

This is the holy grail of our marketing department. We have been building capability to interact with each customer on an individual basis dynamically in response to their preferences and feedback. 

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