Tips and Checklist
Introduction
Anyone who is currently grappling with the positioning of their hotel and is considering how their own sales strategy can be mapped digitally and which possible systems / tools are suitable for this, may consider the following tips and check list of use.
General – Diagnosis
It is always worth taking a look at the status quo on a regular basis.
- What does the data from the last 12 months tell you?
Consider all data and combination of the data including: Average rates, length of stay, advance booking time, occupancy by number of guests per room, source markets, target groups, occupancy by room categories/periods/days.
- Evaluation of guest feedback
General on hotel, rooms, F&B, MICE, wellness (as applicable for your property)
- Review your Distribution mix and distribution costs
Make sure you also calculate the costs for direct business as there are costs associated with it. Evaluate if you have any distribution channel in your mix that that result in a high dependency of your success (important to keep in mind as you like to balance your risk of reaching your revenue numbers, particularly if you depend on third parties).
- What is your competitive situation?
Are these hotels in your neighborhood? Are your competitor hotels part of a chain? Or are other destinations a competition to your property?
- What conclusions can I draw?
- Which strategies can be derived from this?
Tip: Sometimes it is difficult to get the data for your analysis from a single source. Ensure you take advantage from the different dashboards and reports you may have available such as PMS, IBE, Channel Manager, OTAs, etc.
Which Questions should you ask yourself….
to improve the guest experience and increase operational efficiency? Based on the result of your analysis you can ask yourself the following questions:
- Which key target groups do I want to serve in the future?
- Is what was good yesterday sufficient for my requirements tomorrow?
1. External perspective from the point of view of the different guest segments
2. Internal, operational perspective
3. Internal perspective from the point of view of working conditions and qualifications for employees
- Which services / processes do not offer added value? Can these be eliminated or, if not, automated?
- Which new services / processes do I need and how can they be offered (effort)?
Tip: This is a great exercise to involve other team members and make them part of the findings as this reduces the resistance of concluding changes. We recommend to include the enthusiastic colleagues as well as the critical thinkers as you will need to get every team member onboard when implementing change.
Which technology solutions do I need / are available to choose from?
The below list is only an extract with possibilities. Not everything may be necessary or the right thing for everyone! Make sure you split between internal and external solutions you require, that add value and/or simplify exchange and processes.
Sales & Marketing | External: Visual guest journey | Internal: Backoffice/ Operational Automation | Internal: Employees & Working conditions |
Booking Engines | Robotic-Tools | Cloud-based PMS | Cloud based solutions for more flexibility and remote work options |
Sales Engines | Meeting / communication tools | Automated room assignment | employee retention, training and development |
Channel Manager | Digital guest information | House Keeping apps | Leadership training and support/coaching |
Hotel Website | Self-Check-in | Self-Check-in | Shift routine work to robots or digital tools |
Media Channels / Social Media | Self-Ordering per user / smartphone | Self-Ordering per user / smartphone | Remove walkways for service |
Revenue Management (Rooms, MICE) | Contact-free pay options | Ordering Systems (F&B, MICE) | |
F&B concepts | Augmented Reality/ Metaverse | Digital Signage | |
Meta Search | | Thermostats and networked lighting systems | |
Setting Priorities – What to do first?
- Make a listing of ACTUAL and TARGET
1. Visualize your technology landscape
2. Consider solutions for guests and
3. Employees
- Set up a priority list (IMPORTANT: Include your team/employees)
- Take advantage of consultancy services
- And then… Step by Step working towards a successful change!
Briefly about GauVendi. We are a cloud-based sales system that combines elements of a PMS, CRS, IBE, and RMS. It uses AI for sales, revenue management, and automation. GauVendi has a new data structure that redefines room inventory management and allows for hyper-personalization through polydynamic and feature-based selling. Polydynamic enables selling each room multiple times and adapting the sale based on the guest's profile, while feature-based allows managing and selling inventory based on room characteristics and attributes. Core products include a Sales Engine, Dynamic Inventory Automation, Revenue Engine, Business Intelligence.
With our sales engine, hotels can proactively and automatically fulfill guest preferences when booking a room and thus achieve 20% higher average rates, higher conversion and higher guest satisfaction thanks to transparent product sales. The co-founder team has been in hospitality over the past +25 years working on property and servicing hotels in the areas positioning, sales & distribution strategy, revenue management as well as optimizing and automating of manual processes.
For more information, consultancy or support contact us at info@gauvendi.com