One of the consequences of COVID on many industries, and in particular the hotel industry, was the surge in demand for automation – a necessity that was intended to be temporary: limiting human interaction to comply with public health regulations during the pandemic. The digitalisation of some services such as online check-in/out – to name one – has enabled hoteliers to reassure their customer base and maintain a certain level of business during the crisis. And finally many of these technological evolutions are here to stay because they respond to a real need.
With the labour shortage we are currently facing, and the inherent increase in salaries to attract & retain employees: could automation be an effective answer?
Yes, without a doubt! But only if automation rhymes with simplification. Automation must and can make hospitality jobs more attractive, by eliminating useless, tedious, error-prone manual tasks and improving the customer experience. In both cases, it will lead to increased profitability.
Let’s review what you need to consider when choosing your automation solutions.
Choose easy-to-use automation solutions for your hotel
Real estate is all about location. Hospitality is all about experience. And technology is all about ease of use.
Hospitality is a complex business. Receptionists, revenue managers, and hotel directors will all tell you this is an understatement. Many hoteliers face technological problems – especially when it comes to interfacing with other systems. At a time when they’re struggling to recruit, providing staff with easy-to-use tools will not only speed up onboarding, but also ensure adoption and productivity. Plus, it will also make the job more attractive. Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our daily lives, bringing convenience and dependency. We’re used to getting seamless user experience in our daily life as a consumer. Your hotel staff should have the same experience at work with the solutions you have chosen: distribution solutions, PMS, RMS…
As Antoine Buhl, Technical Director of D-EDGE, says, “Our products must be easier and easier to use. We want new users to master the D-EDGE Solutions very quickly, and with no heavy training. We want the new features to be self-explanatory. We think that in the context of staff shortage and with a need for flexibility, it is crucial for hoteliers to be able to onboard new users very quickly.”
Choose solutions that are seamlessly integrated with your Central reservation System (CRS) / your software ecosystem
Think customer-centric: your business is all about experience and profitability.
When we say automation, we don’t mean of getting rid of what makes hospitality: humans! The purpose is to improve your efficiency, so you can have more time to spend taking care of your guests. Who wants to do recurring manual tasks like data entry or data cleaning? They’re annoying for your staff and for your guests. Why not get rid of them once and for all?
Convinced? Then you can look for a customer data management tool, backed by powerful data cleansing capabilities. With this technology, you ensure that your customer data is always up to date, without any manual work. Implementing this type of technology, provided it is seamlessly integrated with your CRS, is certainly a way to reduce tasks with no added value for your team while improving the quality of service to your customers. Among others, a CDM will allow you to:
- avoid duplicates
- offer your guests a loyalty program with benefits
- launch targeted marketing campaigns
- share guest information to all your staff (F&B, housekeeping, front desk…)
- enable your reservation agents to use a CRO to immediately identify returning customers and provide them with the most suitable offer.
The rest of the list is up to your imagination!
Do not compromise on security for your hotel tech solutions!
Fraudulent attacks increase and your customers become increasingly wary of how their data is being used. Don’t wait until it’s too late: choose a technology that can ensure your business is secured.
One of the most sensitive points is payment tools and processes. Solutions such as D-EDGE Pay, for example, allow you to accept as many payment methods as possible – an important factor to maximise the conversion on your direct sales funnel – while ensuring a secure environment for your customers. And on top of that, you eliminate all the manual data entry tasks that can lead to errors and fraud in the process. When it comes to customer data, guest management solutions, such as D-EDGE Central Data Management Platform will also allow you to be fully compliant with GDPR and any consumer privacy regulation thanks to automation.
Hospitality is all about taking care of your customers and giving them the best experience. Your business is backed by your reputation. In a context where you have trouble finding people, technology can help you free up their time to focus on high-value tasks while increasing the quality of service and profitability of your hotel.
Technology and automation should not bring more complexity to your organisation. On the contrary, it should be a source of simplification.
At D-EDGE this is in any case how we see things and it is in this sense that we work with hoteliers around the world.
Discover the 360° suite of solutions our experts have developed with this mindset.
Learn more about automation and find solutions for your hotel(s): get in touch with our experts!
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