Is your Feedback System Convenient?

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By Robert A. Kobek, RRP

Why We Shouldn’t Talk To Ourselves: Text Messaging is rising and rising and rising

I read a press release the other day on LinkedIn and a national trade publication that claimed a resort company was “the first in the country” to utilize text messaging as a way of communicating with their guests. While I doubt the accuracy of that one it does make a pretty significant point.

In the course of a normal day (normal will likely be addressed in a future blog), I talk to close to 20-30 timeshare industry professionals in various positions. That is the highlight of my days as both a business owner and the chief cook and sales professional. Really, it is.

Discussions range from demonstrating our software to committee work for the various volunteer work I am engaged in to, yes, sales calls. What I hear, generally, are a lot of excuses for doing or not doing something that fall into a few categories. They all sound like the old “this is the way it has always been done” out of one side and “we can’t afford it” on the other.

One of them that fits into the former is the inclusion, or not of mobile access to every stage of the guest experience. And the biggest culprit about why mobile is not a part of the owner/guest communication: age. “Our owners and guests are old. They won’t use it.” Now, never mind they have never been asked, it is just assumed.

So, I have great news for you, this is not true! Grandma and Grandpa have smart phones, tablets, and even still have desktops. 4 years ago, 19% of the people responding to our feedback invitation were completing the survey on a device other than a desktop. Today it is north of 40% and growing.

That number is even larger if I throw in the proactive Onsite Service Request and our LegacyGold product.

NOTE: CustomerCount has employed SMS text messaging to our clients to communicate with their guests for over three years now. Just saying.

Consider the report from Nielson below and understand this most important fact: Accessibility and credibility are directly related so find ways to communicate with your owners and guests.

Cell Phone Users: 2014