Opinion: Using CRM – the intelligent hotel of tomorrow
Article by Steve Connell (pictured), General Manager, Travel, Leisure and Business Services, BT Major Business.
The British hospitality industry is suffering the adverse effects of an economy in decline and a tourist industry still feeling the fallout from the Foot and Mouth crisis. In the face of such adversity, hotels need to be investing in innovative ways to get ahead of the competition. This is especially important when you consider that the economy of many parts of the UK are substantially dependent on tourism, particularly the south west (where it is worth £3.3bn), Wales (£2bn) and Scotland (£2.5bn).
There are a number of key areas where hospitality companies need to be focusing their efforts in order to substantially improve their bottom line: Issues include customer loyalty, productivity, and developing new revenue streams. All of these areas can be aided by the use of new technologies.
The main issue affecting the hotel trade is that of customer service. With customer churn amongst the hotel industry at an all time high, particularly amongst regular business visitors, hotels need to use innovative methods to improve their customers’ loyalty. A major benefit of technology is that it can be used to tie customers in more closely with hospitality providers, thus reducing churn.
For instance, loyalty schemes which use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology enable hotels to make a returning guest feel remembered by storing a ‘preference history’ for each guest. These can be referred to when the guest makes a repeat booking, or when a direct mail-shot is being prepared.
Taking this a step further, hotels can use electronic tagging systems. Currently, hotel customers are required to repeatedly provide hotels with their personal identification details and preferences, usually upon booking, then at check-in and also upon departure. This is an element of the customer experience that irritates the hotel guest, and also reduces the productivity of hotel staff.
By embedding small electronic tags in member loyalty cards, the unique identification of a customer could be passively recognised when that customer enters the hotel, through a detector on the reception desk. By placing the loyalty card on a designated detector, the customer’s details and previous preferences would be immediately recognised, hence eliminating the problem of re
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