The Evolution Of Four Ps To Four Es In Hotel Business
Before now, the focus of successful hoteliers used to be on the 4Ps which stands for Product, Promotion, Price and Place. Then, customers based their judgment of a hotel on these four points. So, hoteliers based their marketing strategies on the 4Ps and it used to work.
Customers used to consider the Products available in a guest house or hotel before coming over. They were also attracted by promotional offers. Say offers like “book a reservation for two within the next one week and get one free”. And customers usually responded to such promotions in large numbers.
Then, Price used to matter a lot to customers. It used to be a decider. If the price of a room in hotel A is $10 less than what hotel B offers, customers would troop into hotel A without considering the difference in what both hotels offer.
“Place” refers to the location and surrounding of the hotel. The locations and surrounding were seriously considered then. Customers will not come if the locations were not favorable.
But now, the 4Ps have evolved into 4Es – Experience, Evangelism, Exchange and Everyplace. Now, people travel for different reasons and the purpose of each trip determines what they expect in each of the trips. So, customers base their judgment of a hotel and their personal EXPERIENCE.
Recent studies show that customers do not mind paying 34 percent higher now as long as they will get a better experience. The overall experience is what matters to customers now. Experience covers the kind of amenities a hotel offers, the kind of food and drinks, its location and the kind of services it offers.
Nowadays, the best and cheapest form of advertisement is reference and positive recommendations from happy and satisfied customers. When customers are very happy with their experience, they EVANGELISE about the hotel. They do not mind EXCHANGING their money for such experience over and over again. And it could go the other way. If they are not happy with their experience, they will express their feedback through review platforms provided by over 175 OTAs available.
Although negative reviews and feedbacks usually lead to huge loss of customers, they usually give hotelier ideas on where to improve. And smart hoteliers cash in on customers’ feedbacks to turn things around.
For you to be recognized as a force in the hotel business, you should have a presence in EVERYPLACE – Literarily. The name of your hotel should be in the database of most of the OTAs in the industry since they are the ones customers consult whenever they intend to go on a trip. Hoteliers make sure that every OTA has very good information about their services. Perhaps this is why they offer OTA’s commissions. The higher the commission the more promotion a hotel will get from OTAs.
