In this module, we're going to explore how to use this simple yet powerful tool to keep track of our guests' details and preferences and how to use this knowledge to foster loyalty. Let's get into it. So here's what we're going to see today: first, card, then your customer profiles, then human first, then a conclusion. All right, let's go for it with the card.

What is it? Cardex is the name given to your customer database. In short, it is all the information you have about your customers: their names, addresses, telephone numbers, nationalities, email addresses, food preferences, habits, socks they prefer, whatever. To retain your customers, you need this information. Ideally, you should remember it by heart, but it seems unlikely that you're going to be able to do that.

Our brain is an incredible machine. Granted, like really, as humans, we're capable of great things. We walked on the moon, for goodness' sake. And yet we have an Achilles heel. Our memory is not great. I mean, yeah, there are a few people that have, like, a memory of, like, Rainman (the movie with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, which I thoroughly recommend, by the way—definitely recommend), capable of memorizing an incredible amount of things and above all, having them available on demand when they need them. But let's not lie to ourselves, they're a minority, and you know, they've got other issues.

I don't know about you, but I can sometimes spend ten minutes looking for my keys and find them in my hand. The thing is, we think we will remember information when we receive it. "Mr. Smith loves hot chocolate in the morning. It's good to know for his next stay here, I am going to remember that." And inevitably, Mr. Smith will come and stay again, and the first thing you'll say to him in the morning is, "Can I get you some coffee?" Why are we like this?

Well, simply because our brain has a mechanism for sorting information and knowing what is important to keep in memory available right away, and everything else that needs to be stored deeper in the meandering maze of thousands of millions of received pieces of archived information—you know, it gets lost.

The first factor in remembering something easily is the number of impressions. How many times has this information been received by your brain? The more important impressions the brain receives of this information, the more it pushes it up in the hierarchy of important information that must always be available. You can see why advertisers keep repeating their message over and over again—because it works.

Quantity is not the only factor, though. Time matters too. The older the information gets, the further down the hierarchy it goes. You can refresh it by going over and over it again. Like drilling information is the fountain of youth when it comes to good ideas. That's why special forces in militaries drill. They drill gestures and techniques so that even in conditions of extreme stress, during which the brain has a lot of things to manage, let's say, they can have the muscle memory they require at their disposal to do what needs to be done.

However, if you stop drilling—if you're a basketball player who doesn't practice—you can watch it fade into the memory abyss, you know? And then finally, there are connections. The more connections you can create between pieces of information, the further up the hierarchy that information will go. If you have information that you have received, such as "Mr. Smith likes hot chocolate," and that information was printed only once in your brain and is not linked to any other information, then your brain will classify it very, very far away in the information storage unit so that it seems not important, right next to your mother-in-law's birthday or something.

On the other hand, if this information is regularly printed by your brain and linked to other information, such as "Mr. Smith likes hot chocolate in the morning, just like Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Bush's children do as well," then this information goes up in the ranking, like SEO for your brain. The more information is connected to other information, the more important it becomes.

These are the three criteria used by our brain to prioritize memories: number of times printed, age of the memory, and the number of connections to other pieces of information. So why am I telling you this? Well, simply because you have other things to do besides memorizing information about your customers. You're not going to over-rehearse your knowledge of who likes what—that would be crazy. You have other things to be doing.

That's why Cardex is so important. It allows you to subcontract the memorization of information that you will later reuse to build customer loyalty. When you learn information about a customer that can be used to improve their experience, add this information to their card. Don't add everything, either. You don't need to know that Mr. Spillane wears size sevens, let's say, even if that is an oddly small shoe size for a man. This information will not be useful to you to improve his next stay—unless you decide to offer him a brand new pair of loafers for his loyalty, which isn't a bad move, but the return on investment might take a little bit.

On the other hand, it's good to know that for breakfast, he always takes hard-boiled eggs, because the next time he comes to your hotel, when he sits down at his breakfast table, you will serve them how he likes them. You can be sure he'll say, "Wow, just like home. These guys really know how to take care of me." And if you do this, you make the customer loyal to your hotel. I guarantee it. If he has to travel back to your area, he will inevitably go to your hotel because he feels good there.

You understand that information about your customers is a gold mine in order to build customer loyalty. Don't be surprised that data is so coveted by tech multinationals like Facebook and Google and other web giants. They know that increased information about their customer base allows them to precisely target the products they'll be able to sell to them. Data is king, and the battle for customer information is well and truly underway.

It's no surprise, for example, that Booking.com only gives you the bare essentials and hides customer email addresses. They know it's a weapon you can use to build customer loyalty, and a customer loyal to you is one less for them. So much for Cardex. I'm sure you understood—it's a pretty simple concept. So don't forget to fill your Cardex, and especially when a customer comes back, consult it. All right. Okay, so we can cross that off our list.

Now let's move on to your customer profiles.

We have just seen how important your Cardex is and how important it is to enrich your customer files. But do you know what information to put in the card? No? Don't worry, I'll tell you about it right away. In order to do it correctly, you have to profile customers according to eight criteria.

Number one: the purpose of their stay—business, leisure, family, event, trade show, seminar, card show. The purpose of their stay will give you a lot of information about your customers' expectations. Mr. Murphy, who comes to participate in the local business fair, will not have the same expectations as Mrs. McGinty or Bert Mostyn, who are here for a weekend getaway. It's up to you to identify the purpose of their stay and adapt your service to it.

Number two: nationality. As you know, depending on the country of origin, expectations and habits vary a lot. Being informed about this helps to avoid small blunders. For example, Mr. Mohammed O'Brien from Saudi Arabia comes to your hotel and finds a bottle of wine in his room as a welcome gift—not good. Maybe you think it's not dramatic, but it shows a lack of attention to detail. And it's by paying attention to detail that you build loyalty. For Mr. O'Brien, in this case, a bowl of fruit or a platter of cheese would have been wiser, because typically citizens of Saudi Arabia do not drink alcohol. Hence this example.

Criteria number three: the booking source. This will influence your conversation with the client. Did this client book through an OTA? If so, you need to educate him during his stay so that next time he books directly with you. If he booked directly with you, how did he do it? Via your website? If yes, was it easy? Should you make something even better?

By the way, don't make the mistake of letting a client that booked via an OTA leave without explaining to him that the next time he comes back, he has everything to gain by booking directly with you. He's in your clutches now—OTAs can't do anything while he stays in your hotel. It's up to you. If he comes back to your hotel by going through an OTA again, that means you screwed up.

Number four: satisfaction. What does the customer like about your hotel, and what doesn't he like? This is important because if you know that Mr. Grumpy prefers garden-side rooms and hates street-side rooms, you will do your best to make sure that he is always in a garden-side room. Anticipate these needs and desires as much as possible to maximize customer satisfaction.

Use it also to improve your offer. If you realize that there is a recurring criticism from your customers about, let's say, the quality of your pillows, change them. And if you really want to retain your customers, involve them in this change. Have a pillow selection for a period of time—say, three months, for example—and ask your clients to grade them, explaining that the pillow that

 will get the best overall grade will be selected to equip all the rooms. 

Your customers are going to love it when you ask for their opinions. Who doesn't like giving their opinion? They're going to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility, and that's a very strong psychological element in building loyalty.

Number five: recurrence. Is this customer likely to be a returning customer? If he comes for business reasons, there is a strong chance that he will come back. Discuss this with him and find out. Thirty-eight percent of business travelers come back on a regular basis to the same hotels. If it's an English couple who crosses France to go to Spain, chances are they will probably make the return trip. And hopefully, they'll make this trip every year and stay in the same place.

Conversely, if it's a young couple who comes with a smart box (like a gift card thingy), chances are you won't see them again. I mean, it's no reason not to look after them because they're going to talk about their experience in your hotel. And remember, 27% of bookings are made via referral. That's huge. Think about it. If a friend tells you that this hotel is great, why would you go to another one?

Number six: special stays. This is related to the first one, which is the purpose of the stay, but we make a distinction for special stays. A couple on a honeymoon requires special efforts and attention from you. They will talk a lot about this trip afterward. They are also likely to return to your hotel to celebrate this event on their wedding anniversaries. Be very careful with these special occasions—they have more word-of-mouth power than others.

Number seven: cancellations. If you have a customer in your Cardex who cancels often, it's good to know this. I remember, for example, a company manager who regularly came to visit one of his branches and, because of last-minute changes, would regularly cancel his room or postpone it for a few days. Some try to identify these customers because, in times of high demand, they can make you lose money. So you will have to decide on your approach to them, but they do exist—they are out there.

Last one is the average shopping cart. This is super important. Customers who spend more money than others are the ones we like to see come back. There is the price of the room, of course, but not only that. Is it a customer who consumes extras: minibar, bar, restaurant, gifts, artisanal products, tips to the team, etc.? When you identify Miss Moneybags as a customer who likes to treat herself and consumes a lot in your hotel, note it in her file. This is information that you will be very happy to read again the next time she visits.

So that's it for the eight criteria: purpose of stay, nationality, source, satisfaction, recurrence, special stays, cancellations, and shopping cart. Remember them. They will allow you to save time and, above all, to be proactive. Use them.

If you would keep only three customer profiles to focus on, these are the ones: 

First, customers who are likely to come back and therefore create revenue in the future. They're super important. 

Second, clients who are likely to do a lot of word-of-mouth talking afterward. As you know, there is no better advertising than that. 

Thirdly, customers who can damage your reputation, especially on the internet. It is absolutely necessary to do everything possible to identify them and defuse the bomb. Your reputation on the internet is essential to your success. You really need to pay close attention to it, and the best way to avoid an online scandal is to give the customer the opportunity to vent beforehand.

Take it upon yourself to go through the storm face-to-face and do your best to convert that disgruntled customer into a satisfied one. In the case of a bad-faith client—and it happens—it doesn't matter. Face the tide. Give them your email address or that of the director of your hotel. Ask them to write to you. In short, do everything you can to distract them from venting online about you. It's never pleasant, but it's very effective.

All right, so much for customer profiles. We can cross that off our list.

Now let's move on to human first.

There is a major difference between OTAs and you. An OTA has no effect. Customers cannot check Booking.com's tone. They cannot see Expedia smile. They cannot laugh with Airbnb. An OTA is a machine, and you don't connect with a machine—except maybe a PlayStation. Sometimes, the customer who buys a room via Booking.com will not sleep in the booking office building. No, he will come and sleep at your hotel. And you know what? It's not the quality of your beds that will make this customer loyal. It's not your extraordinary breakfast or your fantastic view. No, it is you and your team that will be the number one criterion for customer loyalty.

You can do whatever you want—invest in convoluted loyalty systems with cards and bonuses and miles and so on—but nothing is more powerful in building loyalty than the connection between human beings. If a customer likes you and likes your team, you will build loyalty. You will. If you have succeeded in making this customer feel recognized, that he is not a number but an individual, that you know his name, his habits, that you talk to him and know a part of his life, and above all, that he knows a part of yours, then you will make him loyal. There is nothing more powerful than that.

Remember the Maslow pyramid and the need for recognition and the need to belong. These are super important factors in building customer loyalty. I'll tell you an anecdote to illustrate how the connection between human beings is the most important criterion for customer loyalty.

When I was working in the Old Ground in Ireland way back in the day, many, many American tourists took a shine to me. And not only would they come back every summer, but they would bring gifts for me too and be asking about me. When I moved on after a few years, one day I got an email from my old boss asking if he could give out my email address to some Americans who'd come back expecting to see me. They got in contact in the tens, and I actually ended up staying with some in California and Oregon. It has now been more than a decade since I've worked there, and I still get emails occasionally, and I've no doubt I'll see some of them again sometime soon. And a lot of them still go back and stay in that hotel just from that feeling.

Unfortunately, there's no particular method or technique that I can teach you for this. It is up to you to learn to take an interest in your guests. You have to enjoy talking to them. You have to enjoy making those connections. If you don't, I'm afraid to tell you—you might not be in the right job. Or maybe you're just not doing a good job.

Our role is to host and do everything to make our clients feel good. Just as when you have friends visiting, you do everything to make them have a good time and feel at home. You have to do the same with your clients. All right? 

Remember, you're not selling an experience. You're not selling a night or a bed or breakfast. You're not selling any of that. No, you're selling the story that your clients are going to tell when they leave. If they tell a bad story, you've done your job poorly. If they don't tell a story, you just did your job right but didn't create a story worth telling. If they tell a positive story, you went above and beyond. Well done.

Give your customers reasons to tell a story when they leave your hotel. And don't forget that human connection is at the heart of all of these great stories.

Now you know how to leverage the Cardex system to personalize guest experiences and foster customer loyalty. Well done. Remember, the card is just a tool—the magic lies in how you use it to make your guests feel special. As we move to the next module, we will delve into more tactics for building lasting connections with our guests. 

See you next time!

Here's what we're going to go over. First, we're going to talk about the different emails you need to set up, their timing, and their objectives. You're going to see that there are two categories: pre-booking and post-booking. For each category, there are different types of information we can communicate, and it all has to be part of the strategy.

Then, I will show you a template for each of these emails, templates that you can download with this video and customize for yourself. Here we go.

Let's look at the different types of stay emails and the objectives of each of them.

First one: As you may have guessed, the booking confirmation email. It is an automatic email that customers expect to receive the moment they book through your website. In this email, the customer must find the basic information of their reservation, such as dates, number of rooms, registered contact information, check-in and check-out times, as well as a summary of the most important points of your terms and conditions.

The purpose of this email is to reassure your customer on two points. Firstly, that their reservation is validated, so no need for them to stress about it. Secondly, that your hotel is a legitimate business, and now they have proof of the transaction.

The second email is the thank you email. Contrary to the first email, which is very transactional, this one should be a bit more personal. It is generally advised to send this email one day after they book. In most PMS systems today, you can automate the timing for each email.

This thank-you email is the first direct contact you're going to have with your customer, so be nice. I say the first because it is agreed that the confirmation email doesn't really count in the creation of a personalized relationship with your customer; it's basically a receipt. So, with this thank-you email, you have to create a relationship with your customer, and do it with your style, with your voice. That's the main objective.

If your establishment is very family-orientated, but on your booking confirmation email, the customer wasn't prepared for the familiarity they will find at your hotel, this is the time to give them a feel for what they should expect. First thing to do then is to thank the customer for their trust, and promise that you'll be at their disposal if they need anything. The customer has just made an effort to book directly with you, so make an effort to make them feel good.

Make the contact information visible by using your first name. This will reinforce the feeling of personalization. In the same logic, use your customer's first or last name in this email. Remember, the purpose of this email is to create a personalized and trusting relationship between you and your customer, to start building trust. The more you allow your client to feel good about their upcoming stay, the better mood they will be in before they arrive.

Once again, and I know I'm repeating myself, the most powerful lever for building customer loyalty is the relationship you're going to build with your customers. This relationship obviously begins before your customer is physically at your hotel. It is absolutely essential that, if need be, they can have direct and rapid contact with you.

Okay, I think you have understood what is expected of you in the thank-you email. Let's move on.

Next up is the "Prepare your stay" email. My advice is to send it one day before the client's expected arrival. The email has two goals: to inform your client about the practical elements related to their stay with you, and to offer additional services.

The first thing to do is to inform your customers about practical things. Maybe you have a parking lot and want to inform them of its accessibility. Maybe your customers have to collect their keys in a key box. In this case, it's time to give them the code. It's possible that you have closing hours at the reception desk, or that there is construction on the street that will make access to the hotel more difficult than usual.

Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Whether they arrive by car, motorbike, Uber, or subway, what information would you like to have in their place? You can think about it in the following way: If your hotel was your home and you had to explain to a foreign friend who didn't speak your language very well how to get there, what would you tell them? Explain things in such a way that there can be no ambiguity. If a customer's first experience of your hotel is that they struggled like hell to get there, you're not starting off on the right foot to build customer loyalty.

The second thing we want to do with this email is to try to sell more services to our client. This is what we call upselling. Maybe you have a special offer that you want to highlight. Let's say, for example, it's December and you want to push your sales for a particular extra, like a bottle of wine in the room. Well, this is the time to inform your client about this seasonal promotion.

It's up to you to identify the services you want to upsell, depending on the nature of your hotel. Maybe there are a multitude of them. Maybe you want to upsell your spa, restaurant, ticket sales services for local activities, shuttle service between the airport or train station, or whatever you can think of.

The most important thing with this email is that it has to be very precise, and while reading it, the customer knows what action to take. That means you need to give a clear call to action. Whoever reads your email should know what action to take in order to buy whatever you're pushing.

That's it for pre-stay emails.

Now these are the emails that you will send to your customer after they leave. The first email is probably the most important. It's the feedback email. You want to know how your client's stay went, and you also want to ask them if they have any suggestions to improve your services. My advice is to send this email the day after the client leaves.

The main purpose of this email is to improve your reputation. What do we mean by that? When you ask your client for their opinion, it's a win-win situation. Let's say the first scenario is that your customer was happy. They let you know, and you can use this feedback on your website and social networks. You can even ask them to put a review on TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook. You win by boosting your reputation.

In the second scenario, your client has complaints about you. By giving them the opportunity to talk to you directly and by reacting in an appropriate way, you diffuse a customer who might otherwise take to the internet to massacre you in a murderous review on social media. In both cases, asking your customer for feedback shows that you care and are constantly striving to improve the customer experience, and that's super important.

The last email can serve several purposes. We will call it the variable goal email. It will depend on the strategy of each of you. My advice is to send it three days after your client leaves. Here are some examples of objectives you can decide for this email:

First, share a promotion code for their next stay. Your objective is to build loyalty and make them come back. Of course, this promotion code needs to be valid only for direct bookings.

Secondly, ask your client to talk about you. For example, with a referral program, your goal is to acquire new customers through word of mouth. Ask your customer for a review or testimonial on Facebook, TripAdvisor, Google in return for some sort of perk during their next stay. Your objective is to boost your reputation.

Fourth, offer your customer one of your additional services. If you have a spa, you could, for example, offer a massage to your client. To take advantage of this gift, they'll have to come back to your hotel. Your objective in this case is the same as in case number one: to make your client come back.

Focus on SMART goals. I know we covered it, but I'll say it again.

Specific: Don't say, "My goal is to boost my reputation," but rather, "My goal is to get ten positive reviews on TripAdvisor."

Measurable: Decide on the exact number of positive opinions to be collected on TripAdvisor. When this number is reached, it will be time to change the campaign and try something different.

Attainable: This is one of the most important criteria, if you ask me. If you set unrealistic goals, you will never be motivated to reach them. On the contrary, if you set goals that you can achieve, each time you succeed in reaching the goal, you will build a dynamic that will motivate you to reach the next one.

Relevant: This one seems obvious, but if you set goals that have nothing to do with your business, or that will not help you in any way, it's useless.

Time-based: This last one is important. You should not let an open-ended campaign go by. Decide the end date before it starts. This will allow you to measure whether or not you have reached your goal within the timeframe. If you realize that you have far exceeded your goal, then when you run a similar campaign again in the future, you will know that you can increase your goal or decrease the duration of the campaign.

Okay, for pre- and post-stay emails, we can cross this off the list. Now it's time to look at the templates for each of the emails. I remind you that you can find these models for download under this video. You can, of course, customize the templates for yourself. I share them with you just to help you get started. Don't limit yourself. There are probably some very creative people among you. If you are one of those, as long as you respect the logic, the form and content can vary enormously.

Now you know how to craft emails that build and maintain customer loyalty. We've covered how to

 use language and information effectively to keep your brand in the minds of your customers. Well done.

In this video, we're going to go over the good practices, the things that you need to be doing. Then we are going to look at the deal breakers, those are the things that will kill your sales if you do them. Then I'll explain why your staff is, if not the major source of customer loyalty, a big factor in it. And then we'll finish off with a small conclusion.

So let's get started with the good practices.

Believe it or not, quality is a good practice all of its own. I know, shock horror, right? You need to be honest about this kind of stuff. Firstly, don't oversell your hotel. It's a big mistake. Be honest about your flaws and don't be shy to brag about your strengths.

Quality is above all how well the place is kitted out, like the bedding, the state of the paintings, the ceilings of the bathrooms, your TVs, your Wi-Fi connection, your carpets, your cutlery, your glasses. This is all basic stuff, but you need to make sure that they work regularly. You need to check them. You need to have a quality checking process, which is what you call the steps between you finding out something is broken and not being broken any longer.

Let's say a client tells you that there is a big stain on a carpet. What do you do with this information? Who does what? Who is in charge of fixing the problem? Who is in charge of ensuring that the problem gets solved? Who is in charge of thanking the client?

A good example of something that is sometimes overlooked in terms of quality is the state of the road signs showing the way to your hotel. When was the last time you did a tour of them? Double-check if they were all upright, readable, and in good condition.

A good practice that will turn your clients into loyal customers is remembering who they are. There is nothing worse than coming back multiple times to a place and being greeted like a total stranger. We've seen the Maslow Pyramid a few times by now, so we know how important the need to be recognized is. Recognizing customers, greeting them by name, and knowing their habits in order to anticipate them is fundamental to building customer loyalty.

Make sure to have an up-to-date cardex, and make sure to train your staff to update it and utilize them. As you already know, we live in a world of abundant information. I'm sure you've seen the zombie-like people walking in the street, looking at their phones and nothing else. People have connected with the world through the internet, but as often as not, are alone in the real world. That's why being recognized has become a major source of satisfaction and boosts self-esteem. People feel important, appreciated. They feel a human connection, which is exactly what we can offer that OTAs cannot.

Another great element is customization. When you can, try to customize as much as you can the stay of your guests. If you have been informed of a special occasion, make sure to do something special. The example on this slide is the celebration of a wedding anniversary, but it can be a lot of things. Let's say you have a regular client, and you overheard that he just signed a big deal for his company. Send him a congratulations card, or a small complimentary bottle of something. He's going to love you for it.

For regular customers as well as new customers, attention to detail can move mountains. Birthdays, honeymoons, life events, make small, customized gifts. Know your customers. If you know that Mr. Kennedy likes wine, offer him a nice Merlot, not a box of chocolate. Doing this will hook your clients to the hotel. They'll feel so special that they will never want to go anywhere else.

When you do this, make sure to capitalize on it. If, for example, you know that Mr. Paul loves wine, show him that you know that. On a card, you can write, "Our staff overheard your joy of signing a new important deal. We want to congratulate you. And since we know you love wine, here's a bottle of our best Merlot. The Hotel Ace of Clubs team."

Generally speaking, if you know your customers, you will know how to please them. This one is very important: recognition. If a client gave you feedback and you use this feedback to offer something better, thank them for it. 

If this guest told you that breakfast would be even better with organic eggs and you decide to follow up on their advice and include such eggs in the breakfast, you need to let them know. They would be thrilled to know that you listened to them and acted on it.

Let me ask you this question: Who knows your hotel best? Your clients, of course, because they have a point of view that you rarely have, the most important point of view, actually, the client's perspective. So be sure that when they give you feedback, you treat it as really, really important. As a matter of fact, you should be asking for their opinions as much as possible. Include them in your quality improvement process. Not only will they love it, which will make them even more loyal to you, but they will help you answer their needs to perfection, which is what you should always be striving for.

This one, I'm sure you all know on a level: the advice and recommendations you give to the guests. As I said again and again, human relationships are at the heart of our business, and they present to us in the actual hotels a trump card OTAs have no option to play. The more you help a customer with a problem that is important to them, the more you will make sure they stay loyal to your hotel. 

If you are not sure about this fact, take a look at the positive reviews made about your hotel, and you will see two things stand out: First, your staff. Second, the advice they provided. When you solve problems for people, even small problems, you build a relationship of trust with them. Not only that, but they feel they owe you. And how will they repay you? By becoming loyal customers to your hotel and coming back time and time again.

Advise, advise, and advise again. Try to make this your model and teach it to your team. From the reception desk to the maids, everybody in your staff should be ready to answer questions and to lend a hand.

This one is a biggie: I'm speaking about the processing of complaints. You have no idea how many hoteliers I've coached in the past years who simply didn't care about complaints and dealt with them lightly. That's a big mistake. Here's a quote from Bill Gates that you should absorb: "Your most unsatisfied client must become your most satisfied customer." 

Make sure you always treat every complaint with the utmost care, even if the person making the complaint is being difficult and their complaint is inauthentic. It's your reputation on the line. Beware of the bad buzz on social networks. It takes years to create a reputation, but only takes one client to obliterate it.

An important point to remember is that a problem solved for a customer increases their satisfaction threefold.

This one's easy: Never say no. The words "no" or "it's not possible" should not be in your vocabulary. There is always an alternative. You must do everything to be proactive until your customer is satisfied. 

I'm going to give you an example. Let's say you own a rather isolated guesthouse in the countryside, and a client who already annoyed you by arriving super late the day before asks you for something improbable, like bitter orange chocolate marmalade for breakfast. Some of us would just say to him, "Sorry, sir, we don't have any," and leave it there. But the best practice would be to say to him, "Mr. John, I suggest you try our famous green tomato jam instead. You will see, it is exquisite, and in addition, you will not often have the opportunity to taste something like it."

It's not easy to do it all the time, but finding a solution for customers means ensuring their satisfaction and loyalty in the long term.

You want an easy way to make your clients loyal? Here it is: Every time you have an opportunity to upgrade them, the rule is simple: Upgrade all of your customers automatically whenever it is possible to do so. A better room is available now and won’t be sold that night? Upgrade them. It doesn’t cost you anything, and your client will talk about it.

It’s one of the easiest things you can do to boost your client satisfaction, and you can be sure that in addition to their satisfaction, you are taking the pole position in their heart as their favorite hotel ever.

A little rule to apply, however: always give priority to regulars and then to other customers. Why? Because your regular clients are worth a lot more than new clients. They are your goldmine. You want to make them as happy as possible to ensure they stay regular. Imagine if they learn that people get upgraded but not them, even though they spend a lot of money coming to your hotel on a regular basis. They are not going to like it, and you will lose them.

One of the simple things, yet often the source of a lot of complaints: the internet and the Wi-Fi connection in your hotel. Do you recognize her? That’s all of us when we are victims of a slow internet connection. It's our inner anger monster.

Studies prove that clients are ten times more unsatisfied about a bad internet connection compared to no connection at all. Why? Well, it's simple. When there’s no connection, they switch to another activity. They have no other choice. Whereas when there is a connection, even if it’s shaky, they try to take advantage of it

 and end up frustrated as hell.

An important statistic to know, and this one is true for Europe and North America (you will have to look in your region to see if it’s different): 86% of travelers think paying for Wi-Fi today is a deal breaker. So if you are in Europe, the USA, or Canada, please make sure your Wi-Fi access is free for your clients.

This stat is global: 92% consider the quality of the internet connection to be a major factor as to whether or not they book. So if you have any doubt, here’s the answer: Yes, the quality of your internet connection is super important.

That said, some of you may have seen strategies targeting people who want no internet. In that case, this isn’t an issue for you. For everybody else, you have to offer a quality internet connection. It must be free, it must be easy to access, and it must be as fast as possible.

If you're in a zone that is not yet connected to the high-speed cable internet network, you may want to look at some alternatives. 4G or 5G networks, depending on your country, might be a good option. WiMax is another solution. I invite you to take a look at internet via radio frequencies. And if you have a good connection coming to your building but you have trouble spreading it around, have a look at CPA routers. They allow you to expand your coverage via electrical cables.

Of course, for many of you, the best will be to have a specialized company come to your hotel and install a professional network. This way you will have top-notch quality and support, but it's up to you.

Ultimately, you want to increase your customer loyalty? Well, you can start by talking about your special offers and promotions. I’ve seen it many times: hoteliers put in place some good initiatives but do not inform their clients well enough. You need to tell your customers about your special offers and promotions. You and they have everything to gain from it.

Train your reception staff to do that as well. If you don’t, your customers will build loyalty with Booking.com and its genius program, or any other OTAs or competitors.

Okay, that’s it for good practices. Obviously, I could have covered a lot of other topics, but most of it is just common sense, and I figure you already know a lot of it.

Let’s have a look at some deal breakers. You will see that many of them are the opposite of the good practices we’ve just listed.

You guessed it, the first one is poor or bad quality. I'm going to be very straight with you about this: Nobody returns to a poor quality establishment, period. For the same price, you can be sure that they will find a better alternative next time they come to something in your area.

Let me show you this review on TripAdvisor. It’s priceless to see that such a hotel is still in operation: “So I checked in and went to my room, which was very rundown. I was only staying one night, so I figured I could make it through. TV didn’t work. I went to the front desk, they sent someone to fix it. It took me an hour to get the internet up and running. When it worked, it was slow. There was a family in the room next to me. I heard them getting a shower. Shortly after the shower turned on, I heard a gurgling sound in my room, went into the bathroom and my tub filled up with about six inches of water. It was black dirt in the bottom of the tub. The shower in the next room shut off and the water drained out of my tub, but the black stuff stayed. I’m not easily grossed out, but this did the trick. I didn’t change rooms, just sucked it up for the night. When I was waiting to check out, there was a guy and his son talking with the front desk. I think it was the people from the room next to me, and they said that they changed rooms last night and woke up with bites all over them. Glad I didn’t change rooms or it could have been worse for me. Wow, this was so bad. This hotel made TripAdvisor’s top ten worst hotels in the country. There was a good reason it made that list.”

Enough said on the topic of bad quality. I know you know, and I know you are going to do a great job, so keep it up.

Coming up next: bad services. You could tell me it’s linked to bad quality. True. But I’m going to be more specific. Here’s my example: typically a hotel with good rooms but a basic or even bad breakfast. Ridiculously small TVs, few channels, flimsy hot water, terrible Wi-Fi connection. You see what I mean? It’s not that the overall quality is bad, it’s that one service is, and that will cast a shadow on everything else because clients will only focus on that bad service. That’s why you should have a quality process in place, and why you should treat customers' complaints with great care.

Americans use an acronym, KISS, which means "Keep it Simple, Stupid." That’s what we should all try to do with our businesses. Complexity is the enemy of customer satisfaction. Everything must be as simple as possible. Booking a room on your website, using a coupon code, finding you, calling you. If it’s too complicated, the customer will go to one of your competitors and make a reservation with them. And you know why? Because on an OTA website, it’s very easy to book a room.

One I've seen many times before, and I can tell you, it’s a reason for satisfied customers to change their mind about their hotel: meanness. Imagine someone’s come into your hotel to use on a regular basis, and you leave them a note with a chocolate square on their pillow. Well, guess what? Up until now, they were satisfied, but you just insulted them. You should have done nothing rather than that. You have to invest in your customers in the long term. A chocolate on the pillow of a regular customer who generates thousands of euros of turnover every year, or the refusal to offer breakfast to set us up for a customer who has been wronged by the hotel, are examples of meanness that absolutely must be banished.

Here’s an important statistic: A discount of less than 15% is considered mean by regular clients. Instead of a discount, consider the carrot and offer something nice and personalized.

Okay, that’s it for deal breakers. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but those are the most important ones that came to mind.

Let’s speak about you and your staff. Let me start by asking you the following question: What are you doing that OTAs will never be able to do? Any ideas? Well, you welcome the customers, and you are there to pamper them. OTAs will never be able to do that. People are not going to go to sleep at Booking’s headquarters, no. They’re going to come to you. 

Therefore, which of you, or the OTAs, is best able to connect with the customers? You and your team, of course. So you must take advantage of this edge. Educate your clients at the reception and during their stay. Talk to them about direct booking. Make sure that they understand why booking directly with you is an advantage for them.

Here are a few examples of the worst behaviors to avoid:

Don’t guilt OTA clients. Don’t be that person. You should be the opposite. There’s nothing worse than making a client feel guilty for booking via an OTA. Instead, give them a good reason not to do it again and book directly with you. Convert them to your credo: direct booking. Train yourself and your receptionist to raise awareness among your customers. 

They don’t know, and I’m serious about that. Most people who book via OTAs just don’t know that they could have a better deal with you, and they don’t know you pay commissions either. It’s our role to educate them and to make sure that they book directly next time.

Here is something that kills loyalty: poorly trained staff. There’s nothing worse than a staff member who never smiles, who drags their feet and runs away when they see a client, who is unwilling, incompetent, or both. 

As I’ve said, our jobs are above all about human relations. This is also true of your employees. If you take care of them, they will take care of your clients. A smiling, attentive staff dedicated to making a stay at your hotel an experience worthy of being told is one of the most important keys to success.

But it doesn’t come cheap. You need to invest in your staff. If you pay the lowest minimum wage, don’t consider them, or don’t give a flying rat’s ass about them, well, guess what? They will feel the same about your hotel.

Encourage them, train them, and reward them. You want a great book to read on the topic? You should read *Seven Easy Ways to Show Your Employees that You Care: A Booklet for Hotel Management and Others*. It’s a great read, easy and fun.

Each tool, strategy, and principle we’ve covered is a building block towards creating a loyal customer base. By applying these lessons, you’re well on your way to turning your guests into a second family. And as we wrap up this course, remember that fostering customer loyalty is an ongoing process. Continue to learn, adapt, and grow. Your dedication and passion are the true drivers of the loyalty of your customers.

See you next time, guys.