My customer list

To send out review invitations, guest data must be uploaded to your online backend and at least the guest name and email address/cell phone number are needed. However, we advise to also insert the salutation, arrival/departure date, and language to ensure the system is used to its full potential.

The menu item 'My customer list' allows you to upload data and to retrieve a list of all guests who have been entered into our system.

Uploading Guest Data

There are 3 ways to upload guest data to your online backend:

Manual entry

To enter guest data manually, click on the “add” button above the guest list. You can now insert each guest individually.

By clicking on the plus at the end of the column you can add additional guests and then save several entries at once. When adding the data of several guests, keep in mind to click on “save” at least every 15 min to make sure no data gets lost.

Import

The import function gives you the opportunity to bulk import guest data by uploading a file.

Many Property Management Systems (PMS) let you export a departure list, which can be uploaded to your online backend. To find out if and where such a list can be exported from your PMS, please contact the respective support.

In order to import the data, please follow these steps:

1. Click the “Import” button above the guest list
2. Go on “Upload” and select the file you want to upload (can be CSV, TXT or Excel file)

1. Select default language and departure date in case those are not included in your file
2. Click “Next”
3. Check if the column header matches the content. If not, the column can be remapped by clicking on the header

1. Specify the date format to the desired order
2. Click “Next”
3. You now have the opportunity to edit/delete the individual guest entries

1. Click “Import” to upload the data

Interface

With an interface between your Property Management System and Customer Alliance, guest data will be automatically uploaded to your online backend.

Depending on the PMS you are using, this data transfer will be fully or semi-automatic. With the automated upload, review invitations are being sent out regularly. This gives you the time to focus on managing and evaluating your online reputation. Interfaces are possible with a large number of PMS. If you are interested in an interface, please contact our customer support.

The Guest List

In the guest list, you can see all guests that have been invited to review your business and the current status of the review process.

Language

The language column determines in which language the guest will receive the invitation email and the questionnaire (for the latter one, the guest further has the opportunity to select the language in a drop-down menu).

Portal

This column shows the distribution of invitations sent, meaning which review portal was linked to the review invitation. This can either be a link to the Customer Alliance questionnaire or to external portals like Tripadvisor, HolidayCheck or Facebook. How many percent of guests receive which link depends on the settings in the menu item “distribution”.

Pre-Stay

In the pre-stay column, you can see whether a pre-stay message was sent out to the guest. A line in this field indicates that the pre-stay function wasn’t activated or that no arrival date was inserted. For the other symbols please refer to the post-stay column.

Post-Stay

Post-stay gives you information about the review status.

Following signs may appear in this column:

The invitation hasn’t been sent out yet (only stage during which entry can be adjusted/deleted)

Invitation has been cancelled before it was sent out

Invitation email has been sent out

Email failed to deliver (e.g. wrong email address or full inbox)

Guest clicked on link in the email invitation, but didn’t submit a review

Guest clicked on a link in SMS invitation but didn’t submit a review

Review submitted through an email invitation

Review submitted through a tablet or static link

Review submitted through SMS invitation

Review was deleted

Actions

Whether actions are available depends on the pre- and post-stay status.

Following actions are available:

Only possible if pre- and post-stay messages haven’t been sent out yet:

• Delete guest
• Cancel communication (no pre-stay message or review invitation will be sent out)
• Edit guest

Only possible if the pre-stay message has been sent out, but a review invitation hasn’t been sent out yet:

• Cancel communication (no review invitation will be sent out)
• Edit guest

Only possible if a review invitation has been sent out, but no review has been submitted yet:

• Send reminder invitation (can also be sent out, if automated reminder invitation has already been sent out)

Further Options

• Anonymize guests even after a review was submitted (select guest, go to actions, click on “anonymize”)
• Filter in example for a time frame, specific guests or invitation channel
• Choose which columns are displayed in the guest lists
• Choose how many guests are displayed per page