Tourism Business Magazine

May 16, 2007:  Capturing valuable customer feedback just got easier with the arrival of getsmart, a unique new service for tourism's accommodation sector (http://www.get-smart.co.nz/).

Developed by GetSmart Limited - a partnership between tourism research specialists Angus & Associates and Kofo Holdings -  getsmart  gives hotels, motels, backpackers and other accommodation providers a simple, accurate and affordable means of gathering feedback from guests, and benchmarking their performance against others in their sector, according to a press release from Angus & Associates.

Says Cristine Angus, director of GetSmart, "Remember that satisfied customers are your most valuable customers - they'll recommend you to others, they'll come back and, because they value what you offer, they're less likely to try talking you down on price when they do.  And, in a world where blogs, email and text make it easy for your customers to spread the word about your business, you simply can't afford to have dissatisfied customers. 

"Using getsmart will help you to ensure your business is meeting the needs of your customers, and that the quality of your product and your service is at least as good as that of your competitors."

With all the thinking done and the expertise ‘built in', accommodation providers can tap into the getsmart system to quickly and easily design and implement their own online guest satisfaction survey (working from a base template of more than 50 questions - ranging from the reasons guests chose to stay at the property to their rating of the property's food and beverage services, or the comfort of its beds).  The getsmart system automatically collates the property's survey results and compares these with industry benchmarks - all in real time, and all at the press of a button.

Using getsmart, managers can know immediately what guests think of their operation - what they like, what they don't - and where they need to focus their efforts to increase guest satisfaction.  Importantly, the system allows subscribers to track their performance over time, to apply learnings as they go, and then monitor the impact of the actions they take.

getsmart is available on subscription - for three, six and 12 month terms - and for an affordable one-off price subscribers can survey guests and monitor feedback as often as they like.

For further information on getsmart, visit http://www.get-smart.co.nz/ or call 0800 499 199