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Return on Experience, or ROX, is a way to measure how much value your business gains from creating positive experiences.
According to PwC, this includes not just your guests but also your employees and leadership teams. Think of it as looking at the bigger picture: how all the parts of your business work together to create lasting impressions.
It’s not just about one metric like revenue or satisfaction scores. ROX connects everything: guest feedback, team morale, and even operational efficiency. For hotels, this means understanding how these elements influence each other and focusing on the moments that matter most to your guests.
Research shows that businesses focusing on delivering exceptional experiences can justify pricing their services up to 16% higher, proving that investing in experience directly impacts both revenue and guest loyalty.
However, ROX goes beyond knowing whether guests are happy; it helps you see the ripple effects of their experiences. When guests have a memorable stay, they’re more likely to return, recommend your hotel, and even spend more.
The same applies to your team. When employees feel empowered, they deliver better service, which directly impacts how guests perceive your brand.
Measuring ROX connects these pieces together. It helps you identify where to focus your efforts, whether that’s improving communication, refining touchpoints, or enhancing team engagement, so you can build a strategy that benefits both your guests and your business in the long term.
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Guest communication sits at the heart of a great experience. It’s the first impression a guest has of your hotel and the last memory they take away.
Why? Because the guest journey starts from the moment they make a booking (and even before that); therefore, maintaining consistent communication with guests helps you to elevate your experience.
Poorly managed communication not only can disrupt their experience and leave a lasting negative impression but it also creates a bad impression of the brand, making it look less professional and unmemorable.
Guest communication is not just about responding to inquiries or sending standard messages. It is an opportunity to elevate the guest experience at every stage of their journey.
By approaching communication strategically, hotels can create moments that matter and strengthen their Return on Experience (ROX). Here’s how you can achieve that in four key ways:
Personalisation begins with knowing your guests. Using the data you already have, such as preferences, past stays, and booking details, to craft messages that feel relevant and thoughtful.
For example, if a guest regularly books spa treatments, sending them a message about a seasonal wellness package shows attention to detail and care.
For loyalty members, personalisation goes beyond the expected. Instead of offering generic points or discounts, consider adding a personal touch. A thank-you message paired with a small but meaningful gesture, like a curated offer for their favourite service or a surprise room upgrade, creates a sense of connection that stays with them long after their visit.
The secret to use personalisation? Your guest data. If you have access to consolidated guest data or guest profiles, you will be able to use those insights to personalise your messages.
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Your data not only helps you to personalise messages but also to craft compelling offers that are more likely to resonate with guests. In this sense, you can create pre-arrival campaigns offering room upgrades or added perks.
The key relies on the segmentation you use, which means targeting the right offer to the right people. You don’t have to send thousands of offers, focus on the quality of the offering and on leveraging your guest communication for this instead of waiting for guests to be on the reception.
Get 9 tips to structure your pre-arrival communication that captivate your guests.
Guests use a variety of channels to connect with hotels, and consistency across these platforms is key. Whether they reach out via email, social media, or a messaging app, their experience should feel effortless.
The key is to give them the option to choose and to show that your brand adapts easily to their preferences by communicating via different channels.
It is also important to adapt communication to the platform. A short, clear message works well on SMS or WhatsApp, while email is better suited for detailed information like itineraries or personalised offers. For international guests, providing multi-language support makes them feel more at ease and removes potential barriers to communication.
How do you choose the best channel for your hotel? Watch the video below, where Isabel Cerdeira breaks it all down in 1 minute.
Feedback is one of the most valuable resources for improving the guest experience. After a guest’s stay, reaching out with a short survey or inviting them to leave a review helps you understand what worked well and what could be better. This information is only useful if it leads to action.
If several guests mention that the check-in process feels slow, look into streamlining it. Then, let guests know you’ve made changes based on their input. This kind of follow-up shows that their opinions matter and builds trust.
Interactive methods of collecting feedback can also make the process more engaging. For example, offering a small incentive for completing a survey not only increases participation but also leaves guests with a positive impression of your hotel’s commitment to improvement.
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Measuring Return on Experience (ROX) involves looking at the outcomes of the experiences you create for your guests and employees.
Start by identifying key metrics that reflect the success of your efforts. Guest satisfaction scores and online reviews are excellent indicators of how well you meet guest expectations.
- Loyalty metrics, such as repeat bookings or the growth of your loyalty program, show whether your efforts are encouraging long-term relationships.
- Revenue-based metrics, like increased spend per guest or higher conversion rates for personalised offers, provide insights into the financial impact of improved experiences.
- Operational metrics also play a role. For instance, tracking response times in guest communication or the efficiency of service requests gives you a clearer picture of how well your systems support the overall experience.
- Qualitative feedback through surveys and reviews adds depth to the numbers. Combining these data points allows you to see the full picture of how your communication and service strategies influence guest perceptions and long-term loyalty.
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