We’ve spoken before about just how stretched front desk teams are in hospitality. They’re being forced to juggle everything from check-ins, general queries, and complaints. Meanwhile, phones are constantly ringing. Unlike other channels of communication, calls can’t wait. Missed hotel calls usually mean missed bookings. 

Available data on consumer behaviour reinforces this point. For instance, 80% of business communication takes place over the phone. However, 85% of people whose calls aren’t answered won’t call back. Crucially, answer machines aren’t a viable solution, as four out of five callers won’t leave a message. This means that for the hospitality industry missed calls means missed and possibly unrecoverable opportunities – the difference between empty rooms and a healthy occupancy rate. 

Putting Things into Perspective

Even conservative estimates highlight the sheer extent of the opportunities being missed due to missed hotel calls. If we imagine a mid-size hotel missing 50 calls a week (a low estimate) that’d equate to 2,400 missed calls a year. 

If we assume that just half of them were to make a booking, and that each would be worth around £100, that’d equate to a missed £120,000 in revenue over the course of a year. 

Of course, these figures are extremely conservative. Most hotels, regardless of their size, are likely missing far more calls than this. It’s also likely average bookings are worth more than £100. But the thought experiment does serve as a good illustration of how even a modest amount of missed calls can quickly snowball and eat away at precious revenue. In an industry as competitive as hospitality, businesses simply cannot afford to ignore the issue. Especially when the consequences also concern reputational risks and brand perception. 

It’s Not Just a Hospitality Problem 

Missed hotel calls pose a major problem for the hospitality industry. But it’s not alone. Industries as diverse as healthcare, retail, and automotive are struggling to answer calls and protect their revenue streams. 

• Automotive: Dealerships are losing out on MOTs, services, and test drives.

• Property: Estate agents are collectively losing out on nine figure sums. 

• Retail: High-ticket sales opportunities are being missed, putting reputations at risk. 

The reality is that businesses that rely on inbound calls to drive bookings or sales are at risk of leaking high volumes of potential revenue. Missed calls aren’t simply an inconvenience or a reputational risk, they can make or break a business’s financial performance. 

However, solving the issue isn’t simply a question of hiring more staff (especially in an industry like hospitality, which faces chronic shortages). More innovative and holistic solutions are required that provide automation, protect brands, and still reliably serve customers. 

Can AI-Powered Automation Help?

Automation tools aren’t necessarily new in hospitality. Basic chatbots and automated call options are being used by hotel chains and boutique properties to deal with large volumes of enquiries, and to plug their staffing problems. However, these tools have often produced more problems than they solve.

Many of them fail to take tone of voice or brand guidelines into account, meaning they sound the same regardless of who’s using them. This compromises the guest experience and a hotel’s reputation. Technically speaking, they’ve also been quite limited in terms of what they can really do – which can frustrate or confuse guests. In short, they’ve been a necessary evil as opposed to something hotels, or their guests, want to use.

AI is addressing these issues. By fuelling much more personalised and capable solutions, it’s offering an opportunity to eliminate routine tasks whilst ensuring brand consistency. From the perspective of the front desk, DreamDesk is able to reliably answer 100% of calls, automate up to 90% of all guest comms, and reduce workloads by 60%. It’s also able to respond to guests in more than 35 languages and dialects. 

Practically speaking, this eliminates missed hotel calls, ensures brand consistency, and frees up hospitality teams to prioritise high-value guest interactions. 

Securing your Hotel’s Revenue 

Hospitality is a human-centric industry. It’s why many hotels still opt to hire doormen, instead of simply installing automatic doors. Seemingly small, personal touches help to build a guest experience that stands out from amongst the competition. 

That said, a conservative approach can mean missing out on new, innovative solutions that can reinforce guest experience (as opposed to compromising it). 

Routine and repetitive tasks are preventing hospitality teams from providing those pivotal and memorable guest interactions that lead to lifelong loyalty. DreamDesk can reliably automate guest communications across multiple channels and at any scale, whilst preserving the unique tone and brand considerations of each and every property in which it’s deployed. 

Ready to never miss a call again? Book a live demo today: https://dreamdeskai.com/book-a-demo/