Competition is constantly growing in the hotel world, and is also increasingly fierce. The only way to consolidate your own clients and win new market shares is to distinguish yourself from your competitors, offering something extra to attract and thus create loyalty among guests. In this sense, there are many possibilities, which range from focus on overnight stays, to special care of catering, and developing new wellness and Spa experiences. A more in-depth change in strategy is, however, necessary, starting with customizing the customer experience. Each customer has different needs, habits and desires, and we must underline the fact that the general public is now used to receiving bespoke products and services. The same person that receives personalized service from Starbucks expects a similar service, for example, from the hotel they stay in: otherwise they will not be completely satisfied, their stay will not be a positive experience and the likelihood of them returning to the hotel will decrease. So how can we customize a customer’s stay based on their particular characteristics? There are modern CRMs for hotel, to support them in this challenge.
The advantages of having a modern CRM for hotels
CRMs for hotels carry out several different functions, optimizing various activities, from managing the various departments (restaurant, bar, Spa etc…) to back office activity. Errors, waste and oversights are reduced to a minimum, and the services offered are immediately more efficient. That is not all, however: in fact, with a CRM for hotels, it is possible to improve communication with every guest, offering them a high level guest experience. There are two goals: on the one hand, customizing both the relationship with the user and their experience during their stay; on the other hand, establishing a long-lasting relationship over time, to encourage a second, a third – and so on – stay.
What CRM software can do for hotels
CRM software in hotels provides for the profiling of every guest, using all the data that the hotel has in order to carry out effective, bespoke marketing actions. The possibility of establishing the best communications for each stage in the customer journey, from emails to pre-stay and post-stay communications. The faster and more customized these communications are, the more effective they will be in improving the guests’ experience, driving them to repeat the stay experience in that hotel. All this is theoretically feasible, even without being able to count on CRM software in hotels. As hoteliers who have tried this route will know only too well, however, the process is laborious, complex and time-consuming: in most cases, it is no coincidence that the hotels that do not have a hotel CRM end up using the usual confirmation and price quote emails with a tiny customization margin.