When was the last time you examined your technology systems in your hospitality venue?
Maybe you’ve gotten used to aging, unresponsive systems, and technology that hinders more than it aids. Or upgrading systems was never a priority since you joined.
But today, using technology effectively is essential to delight guests and manage a modern-day hotel effectively.
Look out for these five tell-tale signs that it’s time for an upgrade.
1. You’re finding it difficult to keep track of business and financial data
Are you still relying on Excel spreadsheets or manual accounting to track your daily earnings for your hotel?
With so much happening day-to-day, keeping track of every sales transaction uses up valuable people hours and may result in human error, resulting in a frustrating experience. You also miss out on valuable data to help you make informed business decisions.
Effective analytics helps you cut out manual labor. You’ll be able to:
- Track total sales by location, allowing you to see which location on your hotel is most popular
- Break down total sales by day and time
2. You start hearing excessive complaints from customers about slow service
A study by Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research found it takes just 5-30 minutes of waiting to create a significant (47%) drop in guest satisfaction.
If you’ve reviewed your recent customer feedback and you see multiple reviews or complaints about long wait times on your premises, it’s time to review how to improve.
First, get feedback from your service staff on the ground and ensure your staff are trained adequately to handle these situations. If they’re spending significant amounts of time fiddling with systems, it’s time to review your technology stack to help automate manual tasks to reduce wait times.
This can help relieve your staff of some of their tedious responsibilities and allowing them to focus more on delivering a better service experience.
3. Your competitors are miles ahead of you
The hotel industry has changed drastically in the last 20 years.
Solutions like contactless solutions, guest management solutions, near-field communications (NFC) smart cards, and multi-use applications are now the industry standard in the hospitality industry. If your competitors adopt the latest technology to attract more guests, you may be losing out on sizable revenue opportunities and opportunities to set yourself apart from the competition.
4. You’re struggling to adapt to new business needs
Nowhere is this clearer than the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where the demand for digital and contactless payments skyrocketed.
Guests aren’t relying on cash or credit cards anymore. Contactless payments is now on track to surpass half of all smartphone users by 2025, according to an eMarketer survey. Digital and contactless payments offer convenience and ease of payment that other form factors can’t replicate.
If your current systems can’t keep up with these new trends and demands, it’s time to consider whether it’s time for a comprehensive upgrade.
5. Your customers expect something you can’t deliver on
A recent survey by Oracle Hospitality showed 64% of US hotel guests said it is “very or extremely important for hotels to continue investing in technology to enhance the guest experience.”
Guests want technology to make their life easier. They want a robust booking system and automated check-ins and check-outs. Even your once-commonplace hotel swipe card as room key is on the way out, replaced by keyless entry through a smartphone app.
Adopt the cost-neutral way to upgrade your hotel’s systems
What if there was a way to enjoy new technology without busting your budget or making it feel like a never-ending race? We understand implementing new technology and getting staff trained is a challenge.
PouchNATION helps you remain cost-neutral by reducing unnecessary implementation and integrating our solutions with what you already have.
Here’s how:
- Our contactless solutions run smoothly with your existing computers and tablets
- We can add contactless technology to your existing door locks, eliminating the replacement of your existing mechanisms
- We have cost-friendly subscription plans to help you choose a plan that meets your needs
