Hallandale Beach, FL – What do guests think about the cleanliness of your hotel bathrooms, the atmosphere in your restaurant or the friendliness of your staff? A new Guest Dashboard from ZDirect will let hoteliers know exactly how they measure up, and the data is presented in a visual format that is fresh and engaging.

ZDirect's patent-pending guest sentiment analysis engine helps hoteliers make sense of the massive amount of guest feedback and data that is available on the Internet today. Utilizing data mining, text analytics and data visualization, the new Guest Dashboard brings the trending issues in a hotel to the surface so managers and marketers can take immediate action. It's a prime example of Big Data to the rescue!

"Hoteliers need to be able to get a quick, comprehensive snapshot of guest reviews and sentiments," said Shayne Paddock, ZDirect Chief Information Officer. "ZDirect's analytical Guest Dashboard makes managing the customer relationship and delivering heightened service a snap. The Guest Dashboard pulls positive and negative keyword phrases and displays them by highlighting importance. If the majority of guests really like the hotel's bathrooms, the word 'bathroom' will dominate the 'Top Positive Keywords' word cloud. On the flip side, if there are multiple complaints about in-room coffee or there are problems with breakfast service, 'coffee' or 'breakfast' will be prominently displayed in the 'Top Negative Keywords' word cloud. At a glance, managers and owners can see exactly what is helping and what is hurting their service scores or online reputations."

Queries can also be built into the Guest Dashboard to provide hoteliers with critical information on the fly. How do guests rank the hotel's concierge service? Was check in efficient? Is the staff polite? Why aren't guests using the fitness center? Was the guests' maintenance issue resolved and in an acceptable time frame? A quick peek at the Guest Dashboard will provide the answer.

"Being able to access so much detailed information, and in such a graphically-pleasing and precise format, is a real bonus for hoteliers," Paddock said. "There is no training needed. Managers can identify instantly what's good and what's not so good with service. Quickly managers can see that over the last 30 days, 64 people gave the hotel an average score ranking of 8 out of 10. If management could improve on the coffee and breakfast service, the score would be even higher. If the owner or management company would make improvements to the exercise facility, whirlpool and swimming pool areas, the hotel would dramatically improve on its service scores and even take some business away from local market competition. All of the intelligence came from the Guest Dashboard. There's really nothing quite like it in the market."

How do guests really feel?

ZDirect's Guest Dashboard also enables hoteliers to hone in on top sentiment phrases and words used most often by guests to uncover exactly what customers are saying. For example, a hotel puts out a query about its guestroom bathrooms. Sixty-eight percent of guests provide positive feedback, so management feels comfortable that the guest bathrooms do not need attention. However, if managers ask specifically about the showers in guest bathrooms, they may learn that 100 percent of guests have serious issues, and all of the negative reviews they may give the hotel all stem from cold showers.

"Armed with this detailed intelligence, hoteliers can really make radical improvements to service and stop potentially harmful reviews from damaging their reputation and their revenues," Paddock said. "Developing software tools such as the Guest Dashboard is something that ZDirect does best. We really listen to our customers to understand specifically what we can develop to help them do their jobs better. The analytical tools we provide not only help hoteliers to identify the right customers for the right marketing offers, but with Guest Dashboard, we uncover ways to improve on service overall."

For more information on ZDirect, please visit www.zdirect.com. For a demonstration of Guest Dashboard, call Caren de'Ath, ZDirect vice president of sales, at (954) 376-3409 or email [email protected].

About ZDirect

Based in Hallandale Beach, Florida, ZDirect, the Hospitality Industry"s Email Service Provider (ESP), is a leading provider of electronic customer relationship management solutions for the hospitality industry. The maintenance of a single guest profile is essential for an effective eCRM strategy. With the Dynamic Content Engine and PMS integration, ZMail® automatically sends intelligent and personalized confirmations, pre-arrival emails and post-departure emails with guest satisfaction surveys via email, mobile communication, SMS, social networks and more. Learn about the real people behind every reservation. Let ZDirect help you convert your prospects to customers and your customers to loyal customers. Real People. Real Profiles. Real Results.

Barb Worcester
+1 440 930 5770