OYO Hotels & Homes, India today announced the results of the implementation of its comprehensive 3C evaluation program for all the 18000+ hotels that are part of its growing India SA network. In the last three months, OYO has voluntarily deflated around 0.5% hotels subject to the quality and other checks based on the customer feedback while rewarding thousands of others for their commitment to improved customer experience under its Club Red program for asset owners. Overall, OYO’s annual retention is as high as 99% across the chain in India & South Asia with 0.5% being voluntary churn and the remaining 0.5% being a result of actions undertaken as part of 3C program.
Club Red is OYO’s partner loyalty program that aims to make partnering with OYO an even more attractive proposition for its asset owners and continuously encourage them to offer the best hospitality experience to guests. Hotel owners are judged on their commitment to improving customer experience on a range of parameters including availability, hassle-free check-in, guest-delight and contribution to the business in a healthy contest. The best-performing asset owners stand a chance to win monetary rewards, international trips, among others.
Over 90% of the business at OYO Hotels is generated by repeat and word-of-mouth customers, i.e. customers who have had a pleasant experience in one property/building prefer choosing an OYO over other hotels from time to time. What makes this possible is OYO’s continued joint commitment to ensuring that customers have a great experience at every hotel, which makes them recommend and positively review the property. This is only possible when OYO Hotels and its valued hotel owners uphold the high quality, service levels, and experience that customers have come to expect of the organization.
Establishing his key priorities for the business, Aditya Ghosh, CEO, India & South Asia said, “For the year 2020, we have recognized consistent product and service delivery as a key priority. Our focus on all facets of customer experience will be relentless in the coming months. To that end, we are continuously evaluating our 18000+ hotels in the country through a comprehensive 3C rating mechanism. The 3C score of a building is a strong determinant of an asset owner’s and OYO’s commitment to meeting standards and, thereby delivering great occupancy and positive recommendations. With utmost conviction towards delivering high-quality accommodation to our customers, any building that does not maintain the necessary 3C level is churned out of our system.”
Buildings that consistently maintain a 3C level of 0, 1 and 2 are highly sought-after among customers and much appreciated. Hotels that are at 3C level of 3 and below (the last level being 5) are identified and first notified to take note of guest and OYO audit feedback and make relevant changes. Hotels that are able to improve their score are then rewarded. Those that consistently progress from L3 or below to L2 and above are called out and handed monetary benefits as well. Hotels that fail to improve facilities or compliance with OYO guidelines despite reminders and assistance are churned out of the system, basis non-adherence to quality requirements.
It is important to note that some properties/buildings are also churned out of the OYO network basis disagreement over contract requirements. OYO’s endeavour is to clarify all concerns while, at the same time, provide an opportunity for asset owners to independently decide on their interest in continuing the association with OYO basis the terms of their agreements. Overall, the company’s yearly churn stays as low as 1% across its franchised and leased buildings. Every building that becomes a part of OYO’s chain witnesses increased occupancy from 25% to 65% on average in less than 3 months.
The best asset owners that work proactively with OYO on improving customer experience enter a ‘virtuous cycle‘ that ensures that growth fuels growth. It is OYO’s effort to ensure that most of its asset owners enter such a growth cycle wherein performance leads to good customer feedback, which, in turn, leads to better rankings that fuels more occupancy and better returns. This, in turn, enables OYO to invest back into performance with CapEx and expansion.
Commenting on the commitment, Aditya further added, “Any building owner who would earlier charge customers as per their whims and fancies or not deliver on their service promises are obviously not happy now because OYO Hotels mandates them to follow laid down service standards at affordable rates for the consumer. We actively communicate with our 18000+ asset owners and are also regularly addressing any constructive feedback to create a better business and experience.”
