As your adventure park operation matures, understanding and listening to your customers is paramount. The success of your business hinges on the relationship you build with your guests—and that relationship is a two-way street.
The first step toward fostering a strong relationship with your guests is establishing effective communication, which begins with implementing multiple feedback channels. Feedback channels are the conduits through which you gain insights into the experiences, needs, and desires of your guests. It is crucial to offer a variety of feedback channels because not all guests will communicate the same way.
For example, some guests prefer the anonymity and convenience of an online survey, while others prefer to fill out a comment card during their visit. Social media is another popular platform for guests to share their thoughts. And direct, in-person interactions where staff members engage with guests on-site can provide invaluable real-time feedback.
This multi-pronged feedback stream will increase both the volume of responses and the diversity of perspectives, which creates a treasure trove of information for your business.
Of course, that information is worthless if you don’t consume it—and use it.
TAKE THE TIME, IDENTIFY TRENDS
After you’ve collected feedback from your guests, the next step is to review and analyze it carefully. This process may take a little bit of time, but it’s time well spent. It involves sifting through the data to identify patterns, trends, and common themes.
For instance, if multiple guests have commented on long wait times at a particular attraction, this issue needs to be addressed promptly. Conversely, consistent praise for a specific staff member or a particular aspect of your park can highlight areas where you are excelling. In my experience, specific feedback about team members factors highly in my team member review process.
Review aggregators. To ease this process, I suggest using a review aggregator. These are web-based software programs, such as Yext and Birdeye, that allow you to efficiently gather and consolidate reviews from various platforms by linking all of your review sites into one dashboard. This makes it easier to track, follow up on, and manage customer feedback across multiple channels. Scores can be assigned to teams and locations, enabling you to continually monitor and improve performance. Other benefits include enhancing SEO and managing your online reputation.
TAKE ACTION, IMPROVE YOUR ATTRACTION
Once you’ve gathered guest feedback, the real challenge—and opportunity—lies in taking action based on that feedback. Prioritize actionable insights, because not every piece of feedback will be practical or feasible to implement. Identifying the most critical issues and addressing them promptly will improve guest satisfaction and, consequently, your bottom line.
Make a plan. After identifying the areas that need improvement, create a plan of action. This plan should include clear, measurable goals and timelines, if applicable. For example, if guests have expressed dissatisfaction with long wait times, your goal might be to reduce these times by a certain percentage within a specified period. This could involve adding more staff during peak hours, optimizing the layout of your park to improve traffic flow, or implementing a reservation system to manage crowds more effectively.
Another example: At a park where I worked, I saw a trend where guests consistently mentioned the lack of shaded areas in the park. With a small investment, we added more shaded areas—a seemingly minor change that significantly improved the guest experience on hot summer days and set our park apart from the competition, which was the goal, albeit not necessarily quantifiable.
Communicate improvements. Next, communicate these planned improvements to both your team and guests so both stakeholder groups are aware of the changes and understand the rationale behind them. Email newsletters, social media posts, on-site signage, and, in the case of your staff, team meetings are all effective ways to share the message.
Importantly, instances when a change occurred as the result of guest feedback should be identified as such in your communications. Be open about it, i.e., “You spoke, we listened.” With this approach, I’ve seen a park go from a steady stream of complaints about the bathroom cleanliness to a bunch of compliments about how clean the bathrooms were.
Be honest about the root of a change. Transparency is key to building trust. When guests see that their feedback has led to real, tangible changes, they feel more connected to your brand, which can foster loyalty and repeat business.
Monitor impact. Implementing changes based on guest feedback also requires ongoing monitoring. This is where the feedback loop comes full circle. After making changes, continue to seek feedback to gauge how well the changes are working. Are wait times decreasing? Do guests notice and appreciate the improvements? If the desired outcomes are not being achieved, consider adjusting your strategy. Continuous monitoring and adaptation will help ensure your efforts result in meaningful, positive changes.
ADDING VALUE TO YOUR ATTRACTION
Guests can also be a source of good ideas for unique experiences and helpful enhancements that you can add to your operation. They have a unique perspective and may see opportunities that you as the operator haven’t considered, including ideas for new events, activities, or even specialized training sessions for beginners.
By listening to these suggestions and implementing them, you can offer experiences that are tailored to your guests’ interests and preferences, adding a level of personalization that can improve guest loyalty.
Fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, driven by guest feedback, will drive long-term success. Show guests that you are always striving to improve and innovate, and that their suggestions matter.
THE INTERNAL CUSTOMER
Your staff members play a huge role in driving the value of feedback and suggestions, both as conduits for delivering things they hear from guests and as providers of feedback themselves.
The staff conduit. To effectively deliver feedback they hear from guests to management, staff must first be encouraged to seek feedback and listen to it. Train your staff to be active listeners and engage with guests. Active listening goes beyond merely hearing what customers say—it involves showing attentiveness and responding in the moment, or “listening to understand,” which, really, is key to interpersonal communication in general.
Plus, it can help identify easily overlooked yet impactful scenarios. For example, at a self-guided course where I worked, I had a guest share with me that they felt timid about asking to pass slow-moving participants. This led to us incorporating signage saying, “It’s OK to ask to pass,” which ultimately created a culture of “playing through” and improved everyone’s experience. The guest that first brought this to our attention then purchased a season pass.
Guests don’t just offer suggestions and feedback about things they feel should be changed, of course. They also provide positive feedback, complimenting a job well done, which boosts staff members pride and motivation.
Staff input. While guest feedback is essential, it’s equally important to listen to your team members’ own feedback. Your staff are on the front lines every day, interacting with guests and observing firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Encouraging team members at all levels to share their observations and feedback—and then acting upon it—is invaluable to the continuous improvement of your operation.
A collaborative approach not only generates more ideas but also fosters a sense of ownership among team members. When employees feel their input is valued, they are more likely to take pride in their work, deliver exceptional guest service, and contribute to the operation’s success.
Recognizing and rewarding team members who contribute valuable insights and ideas helps to build a positive, collaborative culture. This can be as simple as a shout-out during a meeting, a handwritten thank-you note, or a more formal recognition program. The key is to ensure that employees feel their contributions are noticed and valued.
Truthfully, if you’re not listening to your front-line staff about how to improve, you are already falling behind.
Review aggregators gather and consolidate reviews from multiple platforms into one dashboard, enabling you to monitor and review performance.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK AND MARKETING
Customer feedback is not just a tool for improving your operations; it’s also a powerful asset in your marketing arsenal. Positive feedback and testimonials can be showcased in your marketing campaigns to build credibility and attract new guests.
Whether it’s a glowing review on your website, a testimonial featured in an advertisement, or positive comments shared on social media, real guest experiences can be incredibly persuasive. In fact, research shows more than 90 percent of consumers say online reviews will affect shopping choices.
A side note on positive reviews and useful feedback: Closing the loop with the customer via email or responding to the review directly is a great way to validate the guest’s feedback. Consider rewarding truly helpful feedback with a free or discounted pass for the guest to come back and see the changes for themselves. Think of how many times you’ve comped a pass for a bad customer—instead, comp a pass for the customer that will be your next brand hero.
Social media engagement. Speaking of seeing it for themselves, engaging with customers who share feedback on social media is another aspect of your marketing strategy. Social media platforms offer a direct line of communication between your park and your guests.
Respond to feedback—both positive and negative—on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Positive interaction from you can turn casual followers into loyal customers: The person leaving the comment will feel valued, and the public, who shops by reviews, will appreciate your transparency and see that your organization values its customers.
You spoke, we listened. Finally, as mentioned earlier, including the idea of “you spoke, we listened” in your marketing messages can be very effective.
For example, a marketing email to your database with photos of recently installed sunshades could say: “We heard from several guests that there weren’t enough shady areas on the property, which was especially impactful on hot, sunny days. They were right, so we recently installed these new sunshades in key areas, which will provide everyone with a respite from the sun and hopefully make your day here more enjoyable!”
By showcasing your responsiveness and commitment to guest satisfaction, you can build trust and loyalty among both existing and potential customers.
Essential for Growth
In the end, your guests are going to provide you with feedback no matter what. Make it easy for them to do so, take it seriously, and act upon it if and when you need to. It’s not just a good practice, it is essential for the success and growth of any operation.
