For many hoteliers operating their property couldn’t go without its property management system. Newer SaaS PMS solutions have not only proved to be cost effective, seen to significantly improve operational efficiencies, help enhance the customer experience but they can also make a considerably positive impact on your bottom line – here’s how;
Cost: Legacy systems that were and in some case are still commonly being used in many properties involve out-dated software with intense hardware and maintenance requirements. It is thought that companies can spend up to 75% of their total IT budget just to maintain and run existing systems and infrastructure – that doesn’t sound overly financially practical!
With software as a service (SaaS) solution a service provider takes over complete asset management i.e. SaaS eliminates the need for expensive onsite hardware and software and as a consequence reduces the overall cost of ownership. It is easier to setup, install, and maintain and makes your operations more secure. Hotels subsequently don’t need to buy software licenses; all and any stresses of maintenance and compliance are on the vendor’s shoulders and to-boot there are no recurring upgrade costs to worry about because they are completely automatic – you are always logged into the latest version!
With the introduction of the cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) hoteliers now have the option to move from a license based to a subscription-based model, allowing them the opportunity to avail of a more agile, flexible, quality solutions at an affordable cost
Via Integrations and Improved Operations: One of the biggest strengths of a cloud-based PMS is that it can be easily connected to other software applications, even if these applications don’t share the same provider. This lowers the I.T. requirements exponentially, not to mention making it vastly easier for future expansion of your software and operational requirements. This also means hoteliers can;
- Easily streamline and automate their property’s daily routines and efficiently manage reservation management, housekeeping, restaurant operation and more, with just a laptop or mobile device and Internet connection.
- Have the ability to connect and distribute online room inventory in real time; they can access rate control & flexibility, advanced rate management, yield management, rate and stay restrictions etc. from a single point dashboard therefore allowing them to easily create, control and sell the right rates and packages at the right time to the right customers.
- Access information, make decisions, respond more quickly to requests, track and close work orders electronically, all in real time. It has the potential to increase room attendant productivity by 20%, eliminate 80% of calls made to the front office and also has the potential to cut 50% of operational costs.
By saying goodbye to your legacy systems you could cut down on your operational costs, increase efficiency and productivity and as a indirect consequence increase your guest experience and improve the perception of your brand.
Guest Satisfaction via Self-Service & Personalisation: Today’s mobile traveller is all about convenience, efficiency and personalization, they want to be self-sufficient and are interested in utilizing technology to achieve this. The majority of travellers would like to see greater automation of hotel services with over half wanting to use their mobile device to receive bills (58%), check-in (54%), checkout (57%), pay for hotel services (51%), and open their hotel room door (50%)” 2016 Cognizant Travel Survey. By implementing a PMS SaaS solution hoteliers can provide greater automation and self-service options to guests.
Another very attractive feature of a PMS SaaS solution is its ability to consolidate pertinent guest stay information and preference data (from multiple sources) all in one place. By tracking intricate details of the guest’s experience through every phase of their stay and then building a repository of guest profiles, hotels can use the data to enhance the customer experience. Hoteliers can promote real time offers and sell customized relevant ancillary products, services and/or packages to the right customers, at the right time in their journey and at their moment of decision (all based on the availability of those additional streams on a hotel-by-hotel basis!).
The use of a PMS SaaS to enable and deliver a personalized service can generate increased customer loyalty, higher occupancy rates, and an improved bottom line.
Switching to a SaaS PMS enables hoteliers, big and small, to invest in powerful tool without having to bear the huge cost of infrastructure. Hotels have the ability to simplify their processes, automate most operations, boosting their efficiency, increase guest satisfaction and most importantly improve the property’s bottom line all at the same time!
If you haven’t considered making a switch to a SaaS PMS, maybe it’s time you did!
