TECHNOLOGY : CRM mobile applications . “ There are a huge number of data-collection methods , but the killer one is mobile apps ,” says Robert Cole , president and founder of RockCheetah , Menomonee Falls , Wisconsin . “ If you have a frequent guest program with a mobile app , and you know where these people are and what they are doing , that is terrific . But hotel groups aren ’ t very good at their mobile apps .”
How much is too much ? While collecting data , hotel companies are trying to walk the fine line between engaging customers and flat-out harassing them .
“ I think there will be a backlash — I just don ’ t know what form that will take yet ,” says Robert Habeeb , president and COO of First Hospitality Group , Rosemont , Illinois . “ I ’ m becoming personally frustrated with buying a pair of shoes one day on the web and the next day getting 10 shoe ads . I think that will have some chilling effect on consumers . Maybe someone will come out with a website where they guarantee first the lowest prices , and second that they don ’ t sell the information .”
One way to ensure a “ spray and pray ” assault doesn ’ t turn off guests is by personalizing the customer messaging , something Minor Hotel Group , Bangkok , looks to achieve with its new CRM platform , CPR Vision , launched earlier this year . The system has provided an immediate boost in personalization power with the ability to customize offers based on user profiles as well as the tools to better communicate with guests during their stay . That said , company executives stress it still comes down to how much data guests are willing to provide and how they prefer to receive marketing messages .
“ Guests are ultimately the master of their own profile and destiny , and we have to communicate with them in the fashion they would wish , in the time they wish , as often as they wish , with the content they require ,” says Marion Walsh-Hedouin , vice president of marketing communications and public relations for Minor Hotel Group . “ We ’ re able to custom-build something for them , if they so wish . If they don ’ t , that ’ s absolutely fine .”
A QUESTION
OF LOYALTY
Branded hotel chains are not just competing with online travel agencies to drive bookings through their respective websites ; chains are now in danger of losing market share to the OTAs on the loyalty front as well . With many larger intermediaries now sporting customer-retention programs of their own , the space is getting alarmingly crowded .
“ This is the first chance that someone has had to really break into that patent hotel companies have had on this loyalty phenomenon ,” says Robert Habeeb , president and
COO of First Hospitality Group .
It all comes down to cost and commission . But hoteliers stand to lose even more on the deal from there once an OTA loyalty program is in play , since it is both encouraging that guest to keep booking through that OTA ( which repeatedly profits the hotel less ), guest data flow into the hotel is limited and in some cases there may even be OTA promotions and incentives the hotel actually pays for .
“ There will be substantially less revenue for the hotel if the person books through the OTA — a 20 % or even higher discount on the room rate ,” says John Burns , president of Hospitality Technology Consulting , Scottsdale , Arizona . “ If you look hard at the OTA loyalty programs , for the most part they are obtaining additional
“ THIS IS THE FIRST CHANCE THAT SOMEONE HAS HAD TO REALLY BREAK INTO THAT PATENT HOTEL COMPANIES HAVE HAD ON THIS LOYALTY PHENOMENON .”
– ROBERT HABEEB , FIRST HOSPITALITY GROUP
concessions from the hotels — free breakfast , or an upgrade — that the hotel is funding . When a person is a member of an OTA loyalty program , they are getting benefits that the hotel , rather than the OTA , is underwriting .”
The answer for many hotel companies is to fire back and expand their own loyalty networks in the face of OTA encroachment . Louvre Hotels Group is stressing a three-pronged focus on data warehousing , relationship marketing and ensuring employees physically enroll guests as new members on-site when they arrive at the property .
“ As we are capitalizing on our data warehouse , we are communicating very frequently to our client base to make sure they are going to buy our own loyalty solutions ,” says Francoise Houdebine , Louvre ’ s vice president of sales and marketing . “ Afterward , we have trained our hotels to enroll guests when they arrive at the hotel . Our client information is something that we must turn into profit at some point . Efficiently managing a loyalty program is making sure you ’ re turning this client information into revenue .” www . hotelsmag . com December 2013 HOTELS 51