Published in Hotel Business for October 21- November 6, 2005
Hotels  Rely On CRM  Technology To Build  Relationships  With  Repeat  Guests
NATIONAL REPORT – Beyond new amenities, services, pricing, and other tangible features and tactics that hotels use these days to gain a competitive advantage, exists the more intangible world of customer relationship management. And it is within that realm that hotels now realize they can gain the ultimate competitive		provide them with e-mail confirmations and a follow-up to their stay that seeks feedback. We can do that much more immediately than chain hotels and get feedback more rapidly.” Beyond simple e-mail correspond-ence, Fashing said that the Townsend uses its CRM to do very focused marketing campaigns, depending on how much information it can pro-cure from guests.		e-mails seven days before a guest’s arrival that promote property amenities, a cancellation notice when necessary and, finally, a thank-you note the day after a guest checks out of the hotel. That note includes a link to an online guest comment card through which a guest can offer feedback about the hotel. Fashing noted that since its initial deployment of the CRM,		a long time ago and that it has definitely contributed positively to the property’s operating statistics. She could not say how much the CRM cost the hotel, but noted that for some features, such as E-Blasts, the price is on a per-project basis. Meanwhile, at the Red Mountain Spa, Digital Alchemy has been used for marketing purposes for two-and-a-half years now. The CRM helps		we’re adding luxury suites to the room mix and repositioning the hotel from a mid-priced product to a luxury product. So we need to manage a higher level of service and customize itineraries for guests. That’s the main driver of the CRM upgrade. We’re doing it to create ‘wow’ moments for our guests. “We’ll continue to use Digital Alchemy, though, for preference
advantage – customer loyalty. That loyalty is especially important to the non-chain affiliated hotels that can’t rely on huge national advertising campaigns. Such is the case with independently owned and operated Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, MI, which is part of the preferred hotel group and the Red Mountain Spa in St. George, UT, which is owned and operated by the Pivotal Group. In recent years, both of these properties have come to understand and utilize CRM technology and services in order to better serve, care for and								marketing,” Evans added. Red Mountain Spa chose SMS because it provides a full suite of management technology products and gives the property the ability to extract and utilize more customer data than ever before, Evans said. However, she is assuming that it will take approximately nine months to a year before the property can truly use the SMS CRM because it will take about that long to build guest preferences and information. When the system becomes fully operational, Evans ex-plained that Red Mountain will be using it to “recognize birth-days and anniversaries,
understand their guests, which are often repeat customers. Toward that end, both hotels have used CRM and e-marketing services provider Digital Alchemy, which has helped the hotels build stronger relationships with their guests. “In September of 2003, we took up a partnership with Digital Alchemy. At the time, we were looking to communicate better with and better understand our guests,” explained Tracy Fashing, director of sales at the 150-room Townsend Hotel. “We have since used it as part of our reservation process, so if a guest provides us with their e-mail address, we can		For example, if the hotel is running a New Year’s Eve special, the CRM can tell Fashing which guests have stayed at the hotel on New Year’s Eve night in the past. Furthermore, if a couple previously got married at the hotel, Fashing said that they could be offered an anniversary stay in the future because the CRM keeps track of such things.Digital Alchemy performs these tasks by linking directly to the hotel’s property management system. The CRM then mines data from the PMS and, through its E-Relationship program, sends reservation confirmations and pre-stay marketing		the Townsend has incorporated other features of the overall system, including the E-Blast manager. That program directs specific offerings to specific guests based on their previous stays, spending history and outlined preferences. She added that the hotel is looking to adopt other Digital Alchemy services in the future, especially when the owner decides to upgrade the hotel. Although she noted that it’s tough to quantify the revenue impact the CRM has had on the Townsend, Fashing pointed out the hotel received a return on its investment in the technology		the 109-room resort and spa sell customers on its many adventure activities and events. However, Deborah Evans, general manager of the hotel, revealed that soon Red Mountain will be adding a whole new CRM system that will work in tandem with Digital Alchemy in the pursuit of better guest experiences. “Within the past year we made the decision to go with PAR Springer-Miller Systems (SMS) CRM, PMS and POS,” she said. “Since using Digital Alchemy, we’ve seen our ability to address individual guest needs improve, and we’re in the middle of an expansion where		which we do now, but we will be more efficient and we’ll do special things for those occasions. We’ll also track guest spending and reward it at a more finite level. Via our Affinity Club, we’ll recognize our repeat guests more.” Evans didn’t have the costs associated with Digital Alchemy or SMS, but is confident that they provide a strong return on investment as well as enhanced revenue generation. “We use CRM to improve the experience of our guests and our service level,” she said. “We don’t use it to raise RevPAR, but ultimately, it can lead to that.