Use Data Mining to Attract Customers in a Spiraling Economy
Scanlon, Bill. (July 15, 2008). Hospitality Technology Magazine. Retrieved on Thursday, July 17, 2008.
As the economy continued to struggle for the past years, the hotel industry was lucky enough to barely be effected and actually did well due to the imbalance between supply and demand. Unfortunately, it is looking as though the hotel industry may have some struggling years ahead of them. The numbers are showing that supply and demand are coming back into balance and new hotels are continuing to add to this supply thus leading to RevPAR declining. Due to this turn in the economy, it is going to be absolutely vital that the hotel’s management and sales teams are truly focused on providing the customer beyond excellent relationships, and these exemplary relationships need to be with more than just a few clients. In fact, the numbers are showing that it is going to be important to find new customers and in order to do so it is imperative that the hotel’s various teams capitalize on all of the tools that are in their reach to widen their sales efforts. One of the most important parts of customer relationship management is relying on software such as Fidelio, Oracle, and Delphi. It is important to not only use this data provided in the daily operations but to also put this data to work in your sales efforts. In these systems, a productive sales team should look for frequency, company names, new contacts, and especially the customer profile to give themselves competitive advantage in building relationships with previous and future guests. This form of “data mining” allows sales teams to control their share, understand positioning, and target specific customers to maximize revenues. In addition, the web has become a very powerful sales aid. Sites such as www.salesgenie.com and www.coexpress.com provide links to companies by industry, shows companies’ financials, search tips, news and much more. Customer Intelligence and data is right at the sales’ teams fingertips they just need to utilize it and effectively deliver their proposals and sales efforts.
I was actually very surprised to read that the hotel industry is facing difficult years ahead. In previous months, we have been told that the hotel industry will not be effected much due to the economy because we are so reliant on business although leisure travel is somewhat on the decline, we have benefited from international travel due to the dollar being so weak. I know that there are several hotels this year and for several years to come being built around cities all over, several of new brands and concepts so I am sure that these numbers are not helping considering the number of rooms continue to increase while apparently the demand for hotels is on the decline. I know that software systems such as Fidelio, Opera, and Oracle are essential to the daily operation of a hotel and I was surprised that more sales teams are not effectively using these systems. At Hotel du Pont, I know that at the front desk with a simple click I am able to instantly access a previous guest’s profile to see there billing information, previous stays, as well as right down to their smallest preferences. Why a sales team would choose to use just the phone over accessing this software and personalizing their sales effort is beyond me. I had never heard of the two websites that were explained in the article and I went to them and found them very useful if I were to be in sales.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Blog #4: Fishbowl Online Ordering Program
Hospitality Technology. July 11, 2008. Godfather's pizza, Not Your Average Joe's and Tenderjacks pilot online ordering program.
http://www.htmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=3E19674330734FF1BBDA3D67B50C82F1&tier=4&id=888C5ACEC63F49D5A83AA0408D7544B5
Three pizza chains, Godfather’s Pizza, Not Your Average Joe’s and Tenderjacks just recently decided to take their ordering and marketing program for a new take using the popular online hospitality ordering company Fishbowl. Fishbowl is a company that enables restaurants of every size to design an online ordering website. This website changes many things for the businesses. Eventually, Fishbowl allows the companies to expand their businesses using not only online ordering but also use email, mobile, and other web-based marketing aspects to expand their product even further than simply online ordering. The email aspect of Fishbowl really allows restaurants to build strong relationships with their most loyal customers. Tenderjacks is a small restaurant that just signed on to use the company’s services. They have seen such great success from Fishbowl that they have decided to maximize the program by bringing in their online ordering solution in addition to their marketing solution. Fishbowl is a very small company so this was a big step because they don’t have all the extra finances that several of the big franchises have. Fishbowl’s solution offers several ordering options on their sites including delivery or pickup, menus, the option to chose the delivery times, many payment options and it is easily integrated into most restaurant’s POS systems.
I think that the company Fishbowl is a great idea and I am really interested to find out more information about it. It is a great service to provide to restaurants. I know that Dominos now uses their online marketing strategy and allows their customers to personally build their favorite pizza from scratch and even name it. At the University of Delaware, there are online ordering pages such as campusfood.com and hungryhens.com. Ordering online really allows the customer to personalize their order, view restaurants menus, and pay all at once without having to speak to any humans. In addition, online ordering several times cuts down on error which leaves the customer much happier. Companies are able to promote specials and new menu items easily via email and this really leads to loyal customers. Fishbowl provides the companies a simple solution to marketing and makes it easier in times that the business is really busy and phone orders take a lot of extra time. I think that Fishbowl will also be a really good way to track consumer’s tastes and preferences so companies will better be able to cater to their valued guests. I think that soon enough just about every take out restaurant will turn to online ordering.
http://www.htmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=3E19674330734FF1BBDA3D67B50C82F1&tier=4&id=888C5ACEC63F49D5A83AA0408D7544B5
Three pizza chains, Godfather’s Pizza, Not Your Average Joe’s and Tenderjacks just recently decided to take their ordering and marketing program for a new take using the popular online hospitality ordering company Fishbowl. Fishbowl is a company that enables restaurants of every size to design an online ordering website. This website changes many things for the businesses. Eventually, Fishbowl allows the companies to expand their businesses using not only online ordering but also use email, mobile, and other web-based marketing aspects to expand their product even further than simply online ordering. The email aspect of Fishbowl really allows restaurants to build strong relationships with their most loyal customers. Tenderjacks is a small restaurant that just signed on to use the company’s services. They have seen such great success from Fishbowl that they have decided to maximize the program by bringing in their online ordering solution in addition to their marketing solution. Fishbowl is a very small company so this was a big step because they don’t have all the extra finances that several of the big franchises have. Fishbowl’s solution offers several ordering options on their sites including delivery or pickup, menus, the option to chose the delivery times, many payment options and it is easily integrated into most restaurant’s POS systems.
I think that the company Fishbowl is a great idea and I am really interested to find out more information about it. It is a great service to provide to restaurants. I know that Dominos now uses their online marketing strategy and allows their customers to personally build their favorite pizza from scratch and even name it. At the University of Delaware, there are online ordering pages such as campusfood.com and hungryhens.com. Ordering online really allows the customer to personalize their order, view restaurants menus, and pay all at once without having to speak to any humans. In addition, online ordering several times cuts down on error which leaves the customer much happier. Companies are able to promote specials and new menu items easily via email and this really leads to loyal customers. Fishbowl provides the companies a simple solution to marketing and makes it easier in times that the business is really busy and phone orders take a lot of extra time. I think that Fishbowl will also be a really good way to track consumer’s tastes and preferences so companies will better be able to cater to their valued guests. I think that soon enough just about every take out restaurant will turn to online ordering.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Blog # 3
Lauer, Elizabeth (2001). Technology dilemmas: What have IT investments done for you lately? Hospitality Upgrade. Retrieved Sunday July 6, 2008. http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2001_2nd/Jun01_TechDilemmas.html
In the hospitality industry, investment in technology is highly underestimated by management to say the very least. Several of the top managers over look technology upgrades because it is such a costly investment and it takes a lot of effort and change to adapt to a new technology in the property. But when one assesses the overall investment, those technology investments have most certainly paid for themselves through higher occupancies and overall rates in that particular property. Due to new technologies, there have been vast improvements in for example franchising companies’ central reservation systems. In addition, the online travel industry has exponentially grown due to internet distribution and the face of marketing has completely changed. But bringing up the internet, with the hospitality industry taking on new channel partners and marketing alliance, there greatly needs to be an industry-wide commitment to making a single-image inventory and a reservation process without all of the glitches that come with it. Several hospitality companies have not taken the investment to make their central reservation process seamless and customer satisfaction will show through. In addition, rather than developing a technology to reconcile front-office systems with back-of-house financial systems, we still rely on the night audit, which is a position that is extremely hard to fill, and the turnover and training costs are extremely high. Hotels each year see their operational costs sky-rocketing and they find themselves helpless to control these rising costs, and yet for every operational problem there lies a technology to assist management with controlling these costs. Management is so quick to purchase more FF&E but really these technologies will better the property in the long run more so than new curtains in the lobby. Also, management admits that although there are countless press releases on new technology, its staff remains uneducated about them. Several of the most prominent hoteliers agreed they don’t spend enough on technology despite a healthy bottom line and strong capital reserves. This is because it is quite difficult to accurately set and apply technology budgets. In order to make one, the property must first evaluate the overall business strategy and compile and prioritize the business and technology requirements.
This article was really interesting to me, especially to find that the most prominent properties that actually have the financial assets to purchase the new technology still do not make the investment. While taking this class, we have read several articles and press releases that have shown the importance of technology in the overall success of the industry. As the article mentioned, it would be like building a hotel without first making a feasibility analysis. All it really takes is keeping up with the industry and doing a little bit of extra homework, and if you have the financial capability, why not make the investment? Technology continues to better our industry and it is our responsibility as management to keep up with the industry. Really, it makes our lives easier and it will continue to help us to serve our customers better and more efficiently.
In the hospitality industry, investment in technology is highly underestimated by management to say the very least. Several of the top managers over look technology upgrades because it is such a costly investment and it takes a lot of effort and change to adapt to a new technology in the property. But when one assesses the overall investment, those technology investments have most certainly paid for themselves through higher occupancies and overall rates in that particular property. Due to new technologies, there have been vast improvements in for example franchising companies’ central reservation systems. In addition, the online travel industry has exponentially grown due to internet distribution and the face of marketing has completely changed. But bringing up the internet, with the hospitality industry taking on new channel partners and marketing alliance, there greatly needs to be an industry-wide commitment to making a single-image inventory and a reservation process without all of the glitches that come with it. Several hospitality companies have not taken the investment to make their central reservation process seamless and customer satisfaction will show through. In addition, rather than developing a technology to reconcile front-office systems with back-of-house financial systems, we still rely on the night audit, which is a position that is extremely hard to fill, and the turnover and training costs are extremely high. Hotels each year see their operational costs sky-rocketing and they find themselves helpless to control these rising costs, and yet for every operational problem there lies a technology to assist management with controlling these costs. Management is so quick to purchase more FF&E but really these technologies will better the property in the long run more so than new curtains in the lobby. Also, management admits that although there are countless press releases on new technology, its staff remains uneducated about them. Several of the most prominent hoteliers agreed they don’t spend enough on technology despite a healthy bottom line and strong capital reserves. This is because it is quite difficult to accurately set and apply technology budgets. In order to make one, the property must first evaluate the overall business strategy and compile and prioritize the business and technology requirements.
This article was really interesting to me, especially to find that the most prominent properties that actually have the financial assets to purchase the new technology still do not make the investment. While taking this class, we have read several articles and press releases that have shown the importance of technology in the overall success of the industry. As the article mentioned, it would be like building a hotel without first making a feasibility analysis. All it really takes is keeping up with the industry and doing a little bit of extra homework, and if you have the financial capability, why not make the investment? Technology continues to better our industry and it is our responsibility as management to keep up with the industry. Really, it makes our lives easier and it will continue to help us to serve our customers better and more efficiently.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Blog # 2 Payment Decadence
Mastroberte, Tammy (June 2008). Payment Decadence: pay-at-table tech takes hold. Hospitality Technology Magazine. http://www.htmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=3E19674330734FF1BBDA3D67B50C82F1&tier=4&id=A86CC98DCC3742C6B61C66F5C55BCF1C
In today’s restaurant business, the pace is extremely quick and this has led to several new technologies. With customers on the go constantly, the restaurant business has now come up with several new wireless technologies to speed up the check. Several POS systems have been made to assist the both the guests and the restaurant. These systems have not only sped up the process but they have increase the overall turnover rate thus increasing profits. In addition, they have made it extremely easy for restaurants to upsell their products by featuring their specials through advertisements and promotions. Companies such as Epson, Verifone and Softtouch are the leaders of the new POS technologies. Epson has created several printers that are wireless and provide very long battery life. Verifone has created a wireless handheld blue tooth payment system with added protection so that the customer does not have to fear any credit card fraud. In this day and time, several people do have to fear credit card fraud so these wireless technologies are ideal in that the customer is now able to pay right at the table without ever losing sight of their card. SoftTouch and Tabletop media have made it possible for the customer to pay at any time during their meal. In addition, this new type of media has made it possible for restaurants to easily and quickly survey the customers which has lead to higher customer satisfaction.
These new technologies are ideal for both increasing satisfaction for the customer and internally as well. With experience as a server, I have found that when the tip is already calculate, I receive much higher tips. In addition, with these new technologies, my customer will always have the bill and be able to pay immediately. I know that several times when I am really busy it is difficult to take the time and print out 2 checks, have it in the book and deliver in a timely fashion all the while trying to serve my other customers. From a managerial perspective, these will be great because you can find out immediately how your guests were served and if they are unsatisfied you can immediately assess the situation. In addition, these new technologies have provided a new chance for the restaurants to market new products as well as promote different specials. It is definitely true that when something is put into the customer’s view initially they are more apt to purchase the product so this will really increase the restaurant’s profits. I think it is really beneficial that these companies have already taken a step toward preventing credit card theft. This has become an extremely popular crime unfortunately and it is extremely hard to notice immediately, so I really think that customers will feel much more comfortable.
In today’s restaurant business, the pace is extremely quick and this has led to several new technologies. With customers on the go constantly, the restaurant business has now come up with several new wireless technologies to speed up the check. Several POS systems have been made to assist the both the guests and the restaurant. These systems have not only sped up the process but they have increase the overall turnover rate thus increasing profits. In addition, they have made it extremely easy for restaurants to upsell their products by featuring their specials through advertisements and promotions. Companies such as Epson, Verifone and Softtouch are the leaders of the new POS technologies. Epson has created several printers that are wireless and provide very long battery life. Verifone has created a wireless handheld blue tooth payment system with added protection so that the customer does not have to fear any credit card fraud. In this day and time, several people do have to fear credit card fraud so these wireless technologies are ideal in that the customer is now able to pay right at the table without ever losing sight of their card. SoftTouch and Tabletop media have made it possible for the customer to pay at any time during their meal. In addition, this new type of media has made it possible for restaurants to easily and quickly survey the customers which has lead to higher customer satisfaction.
These new technologies are ideal for both increasing satisfaction for the customer and internally as well. With experience as a server, I have found that when the tip is already calculate, I receive much higher tips. In addition, with these new technologies, my customer will always have the bill and be able to pay immediately. I know that several times when I am really busy it is difficult to take the time and print out 2 checks, have it in the book and deliver in a timely fashion all the while trying to serve my other customers. From a managerial perspective, these will be great because you can find out immediately how your guests were served and if they are unsatisfied you can immediately assess the situation. In addition, these new technologies have provided a new chance for the restaurants to market new products as well as promote different specials. It is definitely true that when something is put into the customer’s view initially they are more apt to purchase the product so this will really increase the restaurant’s profits. I think it is really beneficial that these companies have already taken a step toward preventing credit card theft. This has become an extremely popular crime unfortunately and it is extremely hard to notice immediately, so I really think that customers will feel much more comfortable.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Blog #1 Hotel CRM
Inge, Jon (June 11, 2008). Hotel CRM, let's get personal. Hospitality Upgrade. http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_featured_articles/featured_articles.asp
Property Management system is as we all the know “heart” of the hotel. As technology advances, PMS systems have become not only the heart of the hotel but also the key to customer relationship management. It is used in several ways by hotels to build customer loyalty throughout the guest experience, from the reservation process all the way through check out. Modern customer relationship management tools have been assisting hotels in several different ways. Most importantly, the internet has completely changed the way that hotels have interacted with current and prospective customers. The website of a hotel is now the first point at which the customer makes contact with the hotel. This aids in making reservations as well as informing guests of the property. It is essential that the property is properly advertise because it can me a disaster if the hotel fails to meet up to expectations. In addition, now PMS has made it possible to program automatic emails for confirmation as well as follow up emails to thank the guest, this is a very useful tool for CRM. PMS is now able to build more detailed customer profiles so that hotels are able to properly access all of the guest’s wants and needs prior to arrival, this can be as simple as their preference to reading material all the way to the smallest details of what type of room and location the guest normally wants. When hotels are able to meet these expectations without asking the hotel, this is a huge step. As with all new technologies, it is essential to not overuse or overbear the customer with extra information. It is very easy to overstep your boundaries and in this way the customer can feel violated.
Having just finished training at the Hotel DuPont, working in reservations and revenue management, I can certainly see how these new CRM technologies will be very useful to hotels. First, it makes it very easy to set up a reservation for previous guests of the hotel, and now we are able to build more complex guest profiles so that one is able to upsell the product much more. In addition, we are able to easily build customer loyalty with the simple click of a button. I know that at the hotel, we have standard emails typed out and as we enter in the guest’s information, the email is automatically personalized. Also, when we see in our records that they frequently attend the theatre or the green room, emails are sent out when there is a special event or play. In addition, we have programmed our website so that it is found with certain keywords and made sure that it was set up accordingly so that guests are able to enter in their data and upsell as much as possible. Working at the front desk in addition, I have seen how PMS has indeed aided in CRM. Now in PMS, we are able with the click of a button to see comments and messages so that we know exactly what the customer is expecting and we can have things ready before our guest arrives. At the hotel, the staff continually strives to go above and beyond to leave our customers with a memorable experience so as they will not only return to us at a future date but also spread positive word of mouth, which in the end, is the most effective advertisement.
Property Management system is as we all the know “heart” of the hotel. As technology advances, PMS systems have become not only the heart of the hotel but also the key to customer relationship management. It is used in several ways by hotels to build customer loyalty throughout the guest experience, from the reservation process all the way through check out. Modern customer relationship management tools have been assisting hotels in several different ways. Most importantly, the internet has completely changed the way that hotels have interacted with current and prospective customers. The website of a hotel is now the first point at which the customer makes contact with the hotel. This aids in making reservations as well as informing guests of the property. It is essential that the property is properly advertise because it can me a disaster if the hotel fails to meet up to expectations. In addition, now PMS has made it possible to program automatic emails for confirmation as well as follow up emails to thank the guest, this is a very useful tool for CRM. PMS is now able to build more detailed customer profiles so that hotels are able to properly access all of the guest’s wants and needs prior to arrival, this can be as simple as their preference to reading material all the way to the smallest details of what type of room and location the guest normally wants. When hotels are able to meet these expectations without asking the hotel, this is a huge step. As with all new technologies, it is essential to not overuse or overbear the customer with extra information. It is very easy to overstep your boundaries and in this way the customer can feel violated.
Having just finished training at the Hotel DuPont, working in reservations and revenue management, I can certainly see how these new CRM technologies will be very useful to hotels. First, it makes it very easy to set up a reservation for previous guests of the hotel, and now we are able to build more complex guest profiles so that one is able to upsell the product much more. In addition, we are able to easily build customer loyalty with the simple click of a button. I know that at the hotel, we have standard emails typed out and as we enter in the guest’s information, the email is automatically personalized. Also, when we see in our records that they frequently attend the theatre or the green room, emails are sent out when there is a special event or play. In addition, we have programmed our website so that it is found with certain keywords and made sure that it was set up accordingly so that guests are able to enter in their data and upsell as much as possible. Working at the front desk in addition, I have seen how PMS has indeed aided in CRM. Now in PMS, we are able with the click of a button to see comments and messages so that we know exactly what the customer is expecting and we can have things ready before our guest arrives. At the hotel, the staff continually strives to go above and beyond to leave our customers with a memorable experience so as they will not only return to us at a future date but also spread positive word of mouth, which in the end, is the most effective advertisement.
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