Claudine Vio – Hotello

The Hotel PMS at the service of the autonomous hotel industry

Posted on 10 March 202330 March 2023 by Claudine Vio

Le PMS hôtel au service de l'hôtellerie autonome

Online booking

In order to move towards an autonomous hotel industry, hotels must offer an online booking option to allow guests to book their stay without having to call or send a reservation request. Online booking allows the consumer to validate the cost of their stay, choose their room and the options they want without contacting the hotel directly and waiting for a response from them. By integrating this feature into your Property Management Software, guests can easily book their stay online and receive instant confirmation.

Online Check-in and check-out

Hotels can offer an online check-in and check-out solution to minimize waiting time at the front desk, to allow guests to do a late check-in or if the receptionist is busy with other guests. By integrating this feature in your hotel PMS, guests can easily do their check-in and check-out online, all without having to interact with hotel staff.

Online payment

Hotels can also offer an online payment option to ensure payment is being collected. By integrating this feature into the hotel PMS, guests can easily and securely make their payment online while limiting data entry errors since the card is not handled by hotel staff and is not stored in the Property Management Software.

Contactless technology

The use of contactless technology to offer an autonomous hotel experience is also an advantage for hotels. For example, self-serve kiosks that allow guests to do their check-in and check-out without waiting at the front desk or room keys that can be replaced by electronic keys accessible via a mobile app. Online ordering solutions for food and laundry services are also a possibility to minimize physical interactions with the hotel staff.

Use of chatbots

Chatbots are a great tool to answer guest requests quickly and allow the hotel to maximize revenue by offering additional services. Chatbots can be integrated into the hotel PMS to answer frequent guest questions, allow guests to order room services and provide a personalized accommodation experience.

In the hotel industry, Property Management Software’s optimization is essential to offer an autonomous guest experience. However, it is essential that the concept of an autonomous hotel industry not only suits your property and your clientele but also that the technology is fully integrated throughout your customer journey.
From booking to check-out, to payment and key delivery, the technology helps simplify these steps in your guest’s journey but that means using connected and efficient technology. When the customer experience is well thought out, hoteliers have a lot to gain by connecting their systems since the customer does 100% autonomously what a hotel employee would have done for them. Thus, the customer finds it innovative and different and the hotelier is able to devote more time to the management and the customer relationship.

3 misconceptions about Property Management Software

Posted on 4 April 202226 August 2022 by Claudine Vio

3 fausses idées sur un Property Management Software

PMS are only used by large establishments

You could be missing an opportunity for your hotel if you believe that Property Management Softwares are only used by large properties.

One of the most important features of a PMS is that it is able to adapt to any establishment and its needs. A PMS can be useful for small establishments with a small amount of staff or with multi-tasking staff as well as for large hotels with several departments on top of the front desk, such as housekeeping, customer service, management, sales and marketing. Indeed, a small hotel also has to optimize its occupancy, its staff’s schedule and tasks and its profitability.

PMS are tricky to use

Although new technologies are evolving rapidly and many new features and improvements are being offered, they should not be complicated to use on a daily basis. For hoteliers, the goal of a hotel management software is to simplify the management of their property. This includes automating their repetitive tasks to save time and improving their productivity, efficiency and communication. Therefore, a Property Management Software’s interface has to be easy to use and navigating through the software must be intuitive. The hotel industry having a high staff turnover, the software must be user-friendly and straightforward to simplify and accelerate the training of new employees.

Moreover, a cloud-based Property Management Software is very convenient. Cloud hosting allows hoteliers to access their hotel management software from their own mobile device (computer or tablet) without having to be in-person at their hotel. All they need is a Wi-Fi connection and a web browser.

PMS can replace hotel managers

A Property Management Software can automate hoteliers’ repetitive tasks but it should not replace them. Your hotel management software must be your best ally and not your competitor. It is a tool made available to you to improve your performance and efficiency, particularly by saving you time on a daily basis so that you better serve your guests. Indeed, a PMS is able to automate several tasks such as room assignment and nightly auditing while also sending emails to guests about their stay and generating reports.

You can also benefit from the resourcefulness of a Property Management Software. By being at the heart of your hotel, it continuously collects a lot of data about your customers, helps you track your activities and analyzes your performance.

Everyone has their own idea of why a Property Management Software could benefit their hotel. The most important thing is to define the needs and objectives of your own hotel and not to let yourself be influenced by misconceptions such as that a PMS is only used by large establishments, that they are complicated to use or that they can replace hotel managers!

The advantages of using self-service kiosks in the hotel industry

Posted on 20 January 202220 January 2022 by Claudine Vio

Provide a modern, contactless experience for your guests

Self-service kiosks simplify, speed up and automate your guests’ check-in and check-out processes.

Whether it’s check-in, check-out or even a walk-in, your guests will be fully autonomous and won’t have to wait at your front desk. They will be able to go directly to your kiosk and identify themselves in order to start checking in. Afterwards, all they will have to do is proceed with the payment process and get their room key. Moreover, using a kiosk will allow your customers to add additional services to their stay and therefore increase your revenue. Once their stay is over, they will be able to finalize their check-out and make a payment.

Streamline your front desk’s work

The self-service kiosks can also simplify your front desk’s by automating repetitive tasks such as arrivals and departures. Also, did you know that your kiosk can be connected to your Property Management Software in order to collect your customers’ data? It can also connect to your electronic key system and your payment system.By automating their repetitive tasks, your employees will have more time to devote to your customers and will be able to respond to their requests much quicker. To do so, by ensuring your guests’ satisfaction, you also contribute to their loyalty.

Overcoming staff shortages

The lack or turnover of staff is a well-known problem in the hospitality industry. Indeed, the demand is often very high compared to the supply and many hotels are understaffed during high season. To overcome the lack of staff, avoid seasonal recruitment and improve your front desk’s organization, self-service kiosks could be an advantageous solution as they are available at any time of the day.

In the hotel industry, technology has the advantage of evolving rapidly and offering ever more efficient solutions to provide travelers with an outstanding experience. Opting for the self-service approach, in particular with the implementation of a self-service kiosk, will allow you to offer your guests a fast and contactless experience while streamlining your front desk’s work and making up for staff shortages.

Why should you reconcile technology and your staff?

Posted on 18 August 202130 August 2022 by Claudine Vio

reconcile-technology-staff — Why should you reconcile technology and your staff

Putting people at the heart of the experience

Although some generations, such as Millennials, are technology-savvy, only your staff can provide a warm and friendly welcome. In the hotel industry, customer relations are based on customer satisfaction, so it is crucial to exceed their expectations in order to build this relationship. Your guests visit your hotel to have a memorable experience, which is why each of their requests must be listened to carefully and responded to appropriately. Whether it’s by decorating the room with balloons for a birthday party, or accommodating a late arrival due to last minute unforeseen circumstances, your employees should be equipped with the emotional intelligence to respond to requests and ensure the satisfaction of your visitors.
In addition, human reflexes are essential in the hotel industry, as the unexpected can happen at any time and force you to react quickly. Although technologies often have automatic processes that can be triggered, each situation is unique and your employees will know how to adapt their response appropriately, which is very difficult for technology to do.

Hotel technologies, an advantageous solution

Technology is an excellent tool to improve your staff’s efficiency as well as to compensate for certain shortcomings. For your staff, technology can significantly simplify their daily tasks, freeing up some of their workload. The automation of repetitive tasks will allow your employees to dedicate more time on satisfying your guests and offering a unique stay. For example, the confirmation of arrival information is a repetitive task with no added value. This can be done very well by kiosks and thus offer a faster and easier check-in for all.

Also, technologies can be of considerable help during a labor shortage, without compromising your guests’ experience and satisfaction.

The importance of a balance between technology and people

Despite the advantages of each, it is only together that technology and your staff will benefit you. Your property can benefit from this duo at many stages of the guest journey and across many departments.

For example, technology can display the activities a guest has booked, but only your staff can properly analyze this data and develop personalization strategies accordingly. As a result, using technology alone would not be useful, and your staff would have a hard time collecting the information manually without a PMS, for example. Your housekeeping staff can also benefit from this winning combination; using a housekeeping app makes it easier to assign rooms, allowing your staff to dedicate more time and attention to each room. However, the human aspect is essential, as some tasks are unique to each room and stay.

In conclusion, technology should not replace your employees, but rather help them deliver a unique and memorable guest experience. Technology therefore acts as a productivity and efficiency lever for your hotel. There are many ways to improve the experience of your customers, whether it is by using your PMS, by adding a personalized touch, or by having check-in kiosks: all these solutions will benefit you.

Your Property Management Software is much more than just a simple software

Posted on 17 June 202130 August 2022 by Claudine Vio

plus-quun-simple-pms-hotel — Your Property Management Software is much more than just a simple software

Improve your staff’s performance

The advanced features of your PMS allow you to centralize your operations and automate your repetitive tasks. For example, you will be able to automate a wide range of tasks such as booking related tasks, emails regarding guests’ stays, room allocation, guests’ arrivals and invoicing.

Thus, by automating your staff’s recurring tasks, you optimize their available work time and improve their productivity on a daily basis. Moreover, your staff will have more time to accommodate your guests’ requests and will be more attentive to their satisfaction.

Analyse your activities to make better decisions

As a manager, possessing a PMS helps you to have a global vision on the activities of each of your hotel’s departments. Numerous tools such as reports, analyses and performance indicators will allow you to regularly and accurately monitor your performance (annual, monthly and weekly), whether it is regarding your occupancy rate, your sales, your number of reservations, your turnover or other metrics you are interested in. Also, these analyses will be beneficial to design your future strategies and will facilitate your decision making. Indeed these data can be compared to those of previous years in order to see your performance’s evolution.

Strengthen your relationship with your clientele

Undoubtedly, your PMS is an powerful advantage if you want to improve your relationship with your guests. It collects all your customers’ data, including their personal information and information about their previous stays such as their consumption habits and preferences. This can help you to have a better knowledge of your clientele. As a result, you will be able to anticipate their needs and expectations and personalize their experience while they stay with you. This one-of-a-kind personalization will improve your their satisfaction as they will feel more valued and unique.

Gathering information about your guests is also beneficient for your communication strategies. Indeed, it allows you to better target and personalize all communications with your customers, whether it be before, during or after their stay. The relevance and effectiveness of these communications are paramount because they help you keep in touch with your customers, promote your offers and services regularly, and above all, build a long-term customer loyalty.

Your Property Management System is a key asset when improving the performance of your teams, analysing your activities in order to facilitate your decision making and also strengthening your relationship with your guests. Now that you know the potential of your property management software, why not take full advantage of it?

Integrated payment in your PMS: a gift for your employees

Posted on 16 November 202011 August 2021 by Claudine Vio

paiement-integre-pm — Integrated payment in your PMS: a gift for your employees

Efficiency

Integrated payment into your property management software simplifies your front desk team’s daily tasks. Indeed, automating all your guests’ debit and credit card operations will help you avoid transaction and entry errors. Also, it will make it easier to close your cash registers and credit card batches. Hence, your employees will be able to work faster, to be more efficient on a day-to-day basis, and offer outstanding service to your guests.

Rapidity

De plus, l’intégration des paiements permet de faciliter les dépôts et les pré-autorisations de vos clients puisque les opérations se font dirMoreover, the integration of payments simplify the task of taking deposits and pre-authorizations, since operations are done in a few clicks directly from the software and without having to manipulate the payment terminal. The pre-authorization process or payment made upon arrival will be faster and will accelerate the check-in process, increasing your guests’ satisfaction.

Safety

When taking a payment or a pre-authorization during your customer’s stay for which the guest entered his PIN, it guarantees you a secure final payment without asking for your guest to come back to the reception. Therefore, the PIN code confirms that your guest stayed at your property and allows you to avoid any possible protest.

Virtualization

Integrated payment can also be virtualized, meaning that the payment terminal is virtual and not physical. This option allows departments that don’t have physical terminals to take payments at any time, since the payment will be taken directly from the software. This software communicates with the virtual terminal, which sends the validation when the payment is accepted.

Connectivity between your property management software and your payment terminals is a real advantage in terms of productivity and safety. Indeed, it allows your staff to gain in efficiency, since their tasks are automated. This tool allows you to gain safety, since payments are made without handling terminals nor cards by your staff, but rather by PIN validation. This connectivity will facilitate the process of compliance with PCI DSS regulations. Part of the compliance is ensured by your PMS provider and your payment provider.

An efficient booking engine

Posted on 21 April 20201 October 2021 by Claudine Vio

What an efficient booking engine should offer to travelers

First, an efficient booking engine should be able to simplify a traveler’s booking. This tool is ergonomic, simple, fast and intuitive, which offers the best experience possible.

The ideal booking engine should allow a person to book a room but also other elements that can improve its stay, to give the opportunity to the hotelier to increase the REVPAC.

Moreover, it’s recommended to opt for a booking engine that can integrate itself with the best property’s comparator sites and that is adaptable to different devices to be efficient.

Secure online payment must also be provided by the booking engine. Indeed, it must comply with the PCI DSS standard which protects travelers’ data during the transaction, which reassures them and helps them to proceed to payment with confidence.

When choosing your booking engine, be sure that its booking itinerary is smooth and coherent. It has to respect your property’s brand image and to highlight your rooms’ pictures accompanied by a description. This will build travelers’ confidence while strengthening your e-reputation and favoring conversion.

Furthermore, an efficient booking engine must be accessible to all, it must be compatible with several languages and currencies so that individuals wishing to make a reservation can be sure of understanding all the information. Otherwise, your establishment will encounter difficulties concerning the attraction of international guests and therefore increasing its market.

Finally it would be relevant to check whether the tool chosen allows you to integrate a customer assistance as for example an integrated chat.

What an efficient booking engine should offer to hoteliers

A booking engine must meet the needs of each hotelier. It must be able to adapt itself to your sector and to the activities of your establishment as for example by offering a schedule which includes all the particularities of your property such as bedrooms, rooms and equipment.

It must have a user-friendly interface and must allow you to update your photos and texts, to create your packages or any other items that future guests could add to their reservation.

Thus, the ideal booking engine should be able to integrate with your property management software and channel manager. This allows distribution to be managed efficiently across all channels, avoids overbooking and allows the PMS to simplify daily operations and the reservation processing.

It would be appropriate to opt for a booking engine equipped with a dashboard that allows you to analyze the property’s performance specifically to statistics related to sales and bookings, the number of visits, the conversion rate and the turnover.

Moreover, the automatic sending of confirmation emails or a reminder sent by SMS are essential. It is a great mean to confirm all the information relating to the booking made by a customer and to avoid no show.

Having a booking engine on your own website will help you stay competitive and increase the number of direct bookings. However, it isn’t enough to only opt for a booking engine, this tool must be as optimized as possible in order to convert users. This conversion is possible by offering a simple, smooth and secure booking experience!

Why use online check-in?

Posted on 4 March 202030 March 2023 by Claudine Vio

The complexity of this solution comes from two main elements: payment and key handover. For the former, online payment is the most popular option. For the latter, it will depend on the type of key used at the hotel, such as magnetic keys, keys with a code, classic keys or QR codes, etc. The easiest option is to use a magnetic key, which can be retrieved at a welcome kiosk. This kiosk can complete and automate the procedure. If you are not equipped with welcome kiosks that have a key retrieval function, you can alternatively dedicate a special express check-in line at your front desk. Clients who have checked-in online beforehand will be able to directly go through this special line upon their arrival.

Additionally, combination door locks or QR codes are other options to make your clients more autonomous. Once their online check-in is complete, they will receive a code or a QR code which will allow them to access their room.

What is the main advantage of online check-in for client?

The main advantage for clients is that they no longer have to present themselves to the front desk upon their arrival, having to wait in order to retrieve their room key. This way, you guarantee a reduced waiting time upon their arrival. Even if the client has to present themselves to the front desk in order to retrieve their room key, the procedure will be faster, especially if the hotel has set-up a special front desk line for clients who have checked-in online beforehand.

This gain in time is an undeniable advantage for a client. If your client is a business traveller, they will be able to go to their meetings earlier, while if they are here for leisure, they will be able to enjoy the services you offer faster. For recurring clients, online check-in is also a major advantage as they are already familiar with your hotel and will not require a member of your staff to walk them through the new procedures set-up at your hotel.

In some cases, online check-in can offer other advantage, such as being able to check-in outside the conventional front desk check-in hours. This can be appropriate if the front desk is not open at night. It can also be advantageous when you offer multiple furnished units across a city, as the client will be able to immediately check-in without having to visit the front desk which could be located far from their furnished unit.

What is the advantage of online check-in for the hotel?

The hotel using this technology can benefit from many advantages. Firstly, they will be able to significantly reduce waiting times at the front desk. This wait can unfortunately negatively impact the client’s perception of your hotel upon their arrival. Reducing this waiting time can also allow your staff to provide a better and lengthier service to other clients and ensure they are available to respond to any requests.

There is also an advantage when it comes to staff management. The number of staff members assigned to the front desk can be reduced, or you can re-allocate their role and responsibilities. Your staff will then avail of more time to inform clients, thus allowing you to provide a concierge service which you could not have afforded prior to this resources’ re-allocation.

You can also make your hotel more autonomous if you have set-up the necessary technology. Your clients will be more independent and will be able to access their room without having to visit the front desk.

This is an excellent way to make the most of technology!

4 tips on how to efficiently manage your hotel management software’s database

Posted on 5 July 201929 August 2022 by Claudine Vio

Tip no.1: Explore your hotel management software’s possibilities

Whether you have basic hotel management software or one with advanced features, you should take down all of your client’s information. Some may already be there, such as their name, address and dates of their stay. While being very useful, this kind of information may not be sufficient to lead effective marketing campaigns. An advanced hotel management software allows you to create your own fields. Customizing your fields can help you to get more information about your clientele depending on what interests you the most. For example, you might want to know the reason for their stay (business, family holiday, romantic holiday, etc.) or how they heard about you (recommendation, web search, advertisement, etc.). These elements will allow you to generate some statistics and compare them in order to narrow your results and better target your clientele.

Your hotel management software should be able to link an existing contact to a new booking. If you create a new contact for each booking made by the same person, you will then dilute the information and your statistics will be biased. Thus, if a client has stayed with you many times using a different profile every time, they will not be considered a regular guest and thus you will not be able to provide them with offers they would care about.

Tip no.2: Be rigorous

Every action taken within your hotel management software will then be used for sales and marketing. In order to generate satisfying results, every question your client is asked needs to be directly linked to a future action. If not, then it is very likely that the fields will remain blank.

Amongst the essential information you can ask your client, their e-mail address is the most important. A client you cannot reach by e-mail can be a lost client. Due to less and less advertising campaigns being carried out by postal mail, e-mail has become an essential tool to promote your hotel to the right clientele. You therefore need to consistently ask your clients for their e-mail addresses, even those booking via OTAs, so that you can reach them without having to go through an intermediary.

Tip no.3: Be relevant with your clients

Whether it be for your hotel management software or part of a competition, clients are often reluctant to share their personal information. Keep in mind that the more relevant and appropriate you are, the better your chances are at obtaining accurate answers. Hence, try to avoid asking unnecessary or redundant questions. For example, if a client books a room as a part of a business organization, the reason for their stay is rather obvious.

Tip no.4: Use your hotel management software’s marketing reports

These reports will allow you to learn more about your clientele by producing graphs or tables. These filtered reports can also help you to infer some information about your clientele. For example, if you launch a last-minute offensive, it is highly unlikely that your international clientele will be interested. You can therefore filter out your international clientele from your database to avoid losing them when sending out this last-minute offer. Additionally, if you are targeting families who have stayed with you before and have kids, you can filter your reports to target this specific segment of your clientele whom you know have brought kids in the past.

Data is part of the wealth of your hotel management software. It can make a significant difference when it is time to put together a sales or marketing plan, as a single wrong or missing piece of data may force you to revise your plans completely.

Optimize your online booking process

Posted on 21 May 201930 March 2023 by Claudine Vio

Online booking tools, primarily created to optimize conversion rates, require some help in order to properly carry out their mission. Here are a few variables you should keep in mind to guarantee your online bookings.

optimiser-processus-reservation-en-ligne

The notorious Book now button

The first step for an online booking is to click the Book now button, which will then lead the potential client to your booking platform. While browsing through various hotel websites, one can notice how this button significantly changes from one website to another. Indeed, it varies by colour, size, location on the website, and also by its accompanying text. This button, which serves as a bait for the booking process, plays a significant role and should thus be conveniently located on your website. It needs to quickly catch your potential client’s eye and must stand out from the other content on your website. You must never assume that your Book now button is clearly visible. You may find this button conveniently located, however if you were the one who set it up and designed it, it might be more obvious to you than it is to your clients. It is therefore important to carry out a series of user tests before taking a final decision.
The Book now button must also follow the user while they browse through your website. For example, your client should never have to go back to the home page to find this button again. In the best case scenario, the button should always be visible on your client’s screen.

Your hotel’s presentation

The potential client has clicked on your Book now button and must now continue to have a pleasant and convincing experience to finalize their booking. Even on a booking platform, you must take each opportunity to show your hotel under its best angle. Each room you wish to sell online must come with specific, good quality pictures. You could also consider showing your client pictures that are not already available on your website. The potential client will then have a better idea of the type of accommodation you can offer.
It is also efficient to customize your booking platform so that the buttons’ colours are the same as the ones used on your website. The potential client should never experience a significant difference throughout their online experience, when going from your website to your booking platform. To showcase your commodities on your booking platform, consider choosing simple icons which are complementary to your visual identity.

Marketing stress

Marketing stress can be a useful technique when you only have a few rooms left to fill and you wish to optimize your occupancy. Marketing stress consists of notifying the potential client that there are only a few rooms left for the specific dates that they have chosen and thus creates a certain notion of urgency. This implies that the potential client should not wait too long to book should they wish to stay at your hotel. Marketing stress will also give your client the impression that many other clients have already chosen your hotel, and that therefore they will make the right choice by also choosing to stay with you.

Promotional codes

Offering promotional codes is an excellent way to improve your clientele’s loyalty and increase your hotel’s occupancy rate. By offering them a promotional code which gives them a discount on their next stay, your clients will be more likely to stay at your hotel for their next trip. In fact, if they already know that a cheaper rate is available to them at your hotel, other options will not seem as interesting to them in comparison (and they will have already experienced a stay at your hotel). This promotional code can be valid for a couple of years or you can pre-determine a limited amount of time for which it will be valid.

Using options

When your potential client is well into their booking process, it is time to offer them options which can increase their final transaction amount. You can thus offer them, for example, on-site parking, a wine bottle upon arrival in their room, breakfast, lunch, dinner or even Wi-Fi, all of these services being for a certain fee. In reality, any additional service a client can purchase on the phone should be available to them online. This will increase the average final transaction for your clients and will also provide you with more accurate forecasts as to which products will sell each day.

Offer online packages

Packages are probably the most delicate thing to market online, especially due to the uncertain availability of various factors: the staff availability when it comes to a package with a massage and material availability when to it comes to a package with equipment rental. Nevertheless, marketing your packages online is a great opportunity if your inventory management is offered by your hotel management software or your booking platform.
You can also decide not to market all of your packages online, however you should still keep the most popular ones in order to allow your potential clients to book them online. This way, the person looking to book their stay at your hotel will be able to do so online at any time and will not have to call your front desk. Marketing your packages online will allow you to conduct more efficient marketing campaigns. For example, when you send a newsletter promoting your newest package, you will be able to add the package’s booking link, so that your clients will be able to book the package online directly without having to call you.

In order to optimize your online bookings, your PMS software and your booking platform must obviously be linked to avoid overbooking. You will be spared of any manual tasks involving rate and inventory adjustments, allowing you to focus on optimizing your online bookings using all the techniques mentioned above.