Mastering Hospitality Psychology
Part of delivering the best guest experience means understanding how your guests think. That’s why knowing how hospitality psychology impacts the guest experience is so important, and you don’t have to be a psychology expert to understand how it applies to your vacation rental business (but more power to you if you are).
Being familiar with human nature can help you use psychology in hospitality to your advantage. With some help from EHL Insights and Hospitality Net, Modern Innkeeper identified five ways you can use psychology to enhance your vacation rental’s guest experience.
Personalize the Experience
Staying at your vacation rental includes several advantages for your guests. A couple are they can enjoy more space and have a more comfortable and functional workcation, but one of the most important ones is their stay can be more personal.
As the host, you have an opportunity to personalize each of your guest’s experience. This includes:
● Addressing them by name
● Letting them know your name
● Asking if they have specific needs
Using names is positive because it can help make your guests feel more comfortable. Going out of your way to offer your guests special amenities, recommendations, etc. shows you care about them enjoying themselves. These simple steps can make your guests feel like your vacation rental is meant for them, and for the duration of their stay, that’s exactly how it should feel!
The Element of Surprise
Think back to a time when someone in hospitality surprised you with something. Maybe your vacation rental host left you a bottle of wine, or your server brought your kids dessert on the house after dinner.
Those surprises probably made your experiences more pleasant, so do the same for your guests!
You can surprise your guests by:
● Welcoming them with tasty treats
● Leaving ice cream in the freezer
Not only are these nice gestures, but surprises like these also show guests you want them to have the best stay ever.
Welcome Them to the Community
Similar to what we talk about in The Art of Hosting, Hospitality Net mentioned providing your guests a local experience. Helping your guests become locals (even if it’s only temporary) can help them feel like they got the most out of their trip. Your local recommendations and insights are valuable, so make sure you share them with your guests. To help them experience your vacation rental’s locality, look into providing them a local guide.
Perception is Reality
What your guests see impacts how they feel about your vacation rental. This isn’t a groundbreaking statement, but it’s important to mention because it’s part of hospitality psychology!
Ways to ensure they are are to use positive colors and properly decorate your vacation rental. With that being said, their perception of your vacation rental goes beyond its decor. Past reviews of your vacation rental will affect their perception of it. This is more evidence of how vital your vacation rental’s reviews are. Responding to reviews shows travelers you care about your guests.
Entice Guests with Deals
Even with soaring prices, travelers still want to travel, and you can make that more manageable for them. See what you can do about offering your guests a deal, such as if they stay at your vacation rental for a certain number of nights they’ll get the last night half off.
Offering guests a deal like this shows them you want to make sure they’re able to enjoy their trip. Visiting places on a tight budget can be stressful, so, do what you can to make guests’ lives a little easier. They’ll appreciate you for it and view your vacation rental more favorably.
Positive Psychology
Knowing and acting on what appeals to your guests can make your vacation rental a more desirable destination. You can learn more about how psychology affects the guest experience by reading articles on Hospitality Net and EHL Insights. Mastering hospitality psychology might be what helps you fill up your calendar.