Q & A with Stephen Martin, Chief Sales Officer at RMS Cloud on how to best capture and utilise data throughout the guest journey. Guest experiences start well before a guest arrives at your hotel. Being able to optimise your guest’s journey from the moment they interact with your website, to when they confirm their booking, is just one part of capturing valuable data for your hotel. We now have access to so much data to make better guest experiences, but the true power lies in having a PMS that knows how to interpret that information. For example, a powerful PMS will host all your properties in a single database that will seamlessly configure data into robust and unified guest profiles in one centralised reservation screen, so your property can deliver exceptional experiences and therefore maximise your hotel revenue. It’s also important to have a PMS that can deliver on giving operators digestible data that is easy to interpret, secure and up to date.
What are the best methods for capturing and utilising data throughout the guest journey? Capturing accurate hotel guest data and imputing the correct information is a fundamental part of any successful hotel management strategy. We must put in place smarter technology to correct any human error, which is inevitable in data entry. Staff can mistakenly input the wrong customer address or end up with multiple profiles for
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is the power of guest data?
AccomNews - Winter 2022
At RMS we have hundreds of OTA integrations and understand the importance of ensuring data is captured in the correct method, which is why we have implemented a feature that overrides duplicates of guest data within your system when accepting third-party OTA bookings.
Tell us why it is important to create detailed user profiles?
Stephen Martin Chief Sales Officer, RMS Cloud
the one guest causing delays in the guest experience. Having a powerful system that intuitively picks up on these mistakes is a priceless tool that will help maintain accuracy in capturing data and a happier guest. At RMS we have considered all the different channels in which guest data can be imputed, which is why we’ve created advanced tools to ensure all data has been captured and utilised to its fullest potential. For instance, our guest merge feature will automatically run to merge duplicate guest profiles within RMS software by selecting two variables such as guest mobile numbers and email to verify the correct information. Further, staff can also merge profiles to update details through our channel manager, covering all aspects of incorrect guest data entry. Further, a user of RMS can integrate with ‘Google Address’ that saves staff time and errors with access to a keystroke, data-rich, and consistent customer address information. Another, valuable method of capturing and utilising data is ensuring your PMS doesn’t end up with duplicate profiles from your OTA.
There are so many reasons why user profiles are important. Our global enterprise solution is purpose-built and one of the original cloud-based hotel platforms that deliver transparency across all your properties. The importance of this is not just about creating user accurate profiles but profiles that speak to each property with one data entry solution. RMS can create advance guest profiles with our Golden Guest Record that allows staff to view all the customer information from one device, from any location and at any time. To offer the ultimate guest experience, this comes down to the micro details that you can only offer your guests when your hotel adopts a cloud-based PMS. Store detailed information from any of your properties about your guest so you can remember their preferred room or perhaps if they have an itinerary that crosses over two different properties, staff can easily view key guest details from any property - ensuring that the guest has a world-class experience.
How can guest data increase RevPAR and optimise sales revenue? Within RMS you can extract MARKETING
insightful information out of your lake data with one of our integrated business intelligence partners such as Intouch, extracting valuable data on your nightly rates or IBE results to help increase your bottom line. Your PMS should have advanced RevPAR tools to drive your hotel sales and optimise key trends. Having a strong revenue management tool in place will assist in executing a strong strategy to optimise sales through key performance metrics that include data to show operators more accurate information on room demands and be able to meet peak holiday expectations. You can also tap into rate management tools that automatically fluctuate with demands and previous data to increase your bottom line.
What else would you like our readers to know? Having an enterprise solution across multiple hotels means your security needs to be advanced and taken seriously to protect your data. At RMS we have undergone some of the strictest measures to implement rigid security protocols than any other PMS in the world with the highest level of two-factor authentication and RMS cyber security. When it comes to data security, we have also considered how multiple properties in your portfolio can view different levels of information across management and staff. Cluster up your different properties to share multisecurity levels between staff and information with our franchise grouping function, making sure guests, staff and high-level business information are kept safe.
