Running a hotel today is no simple feat. With many unavoidable costs and tight margins, the primary goal of almost every hotelier is still to make as big a profit as possible. In order to achieve this you ideally not only want to increase your top line sales but you want to decrease your expenses all while retaining the same level, if not an increased level, of service. But how is this possible?
While there are plenty of good reasons to move your hotel operations to the Cloud, we’re going to focus on four and tell you why moving to a cloud based PMS system not only cuts costs but can have a significant effect on that all important bottom line.
#1. Trim IT Setup and Maintenance Costs: With Cloud computing a service provider takes over complete asset management i.e. Cloud eliminates the need for expensive onsite hardware and software and as a consequence reduces the overall cost of ownership. 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!
This all means that hotels can move PMS expenses from CapEx to OpEx and lower costs associated with running this enterprise software. Any saved capital can then be invested elsewhere in the business.
#2. Seamless Integrations: With countless systems and multiple departments, managing a hotel today can be challenging and complex. However, Cloud simplifies integration with other systems such as the integration of core hotel systems for improved operational efficiency via automated data exchange.
Seamless integration of multiple systems via Cloud technology not only empowers hoteliers but also can save them a significant amount of time; it provides them with the ability to share data across departments for a deeper understanding of guests and the market allowing hoteliers to market appropriately.
The ease of connectivity between online systems has created endless possibilities that can both enhance the guest experience and increase revenue.
#3. Increase Ancillary Revenue: Following seamless integrations, one very attractive feature of Cloud technology is its ability to consolidate pertinent guest stay information and preference data (from multiple sources) all in one place.
This collated data provides a real insight into guests stay and spending habits thereby enabling hoteliers to create loyalty-generating offers and increase guest wallet share. With such rich guest data, savvy 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!).
When Fontainebleau Miami provided and prompted a “Late check-out” option to guests on their mobile service, they saw, in the first 30 days, a substantial 141% increase in revenues from extended guest stays/late check-out!
#4. Via Guest Satisfaction: There are now numerous studies and pieces of research indicating that positive guest experiences and overall satisfaction are profitable. According to the Harvard Review, customers who had the ‘best experience’ spend 140% more compared to those who had poor experiences. Along with spending more, those who have a better customer experience, are more likely to be a satisfied and according to Forrester Research customer experience and satisfaction is highly linked with loyalty – AND loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase (White House Office of Consumer Affairs)!
So our basic formula is: Customer experience + Satisfaction = Loyal + Increased Spend
But what makes a guest satisfied today? 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 Cloud based technology system hoteliers can provide greater automation and self-service options to guests. Appealing to their convenience and flexibility needs increases overall customer satisfaction and if we refer back to our formula; Customer experience + Satisfaction = Loyal + Increased Spend!
There is no doubt that a Cloud based PMS system does not only cut costs but, if used correctly and to its full ability, it can have a significant effect on your bottom line, helping to boost your revenues. Hotels that don’t see any need to make the switch are rapidly being left behind; they are missing out on some considerable cost savings and major visibility of pertinent guest data that Cloud technology has enabled.
Read more articles on Hotel PMS, Mobile PMS and Cloud PMS.
