Important abbreviations:
PMS - Property Management System
ROI - Return on Investment
Recently, independent hotels have been investing heavily in modern property management solutions. Here at Booking Ninjas, we have observed an increased interest in adopting cloud-based property management systems, and we did some research to understand why that is so. This article will attempt to describe our findings and how they might relate to your current situation.
According to managers of independent hotels, a property management system often pays for itself when discussing the ROI of investing in a PMS. There are several reasons why independent hotels invest in a PMS, and it all comes down to improving their image and their bottom-line. Let’s see what some of those reasons are.
The Need to Be Different
Independent hotels invest in PMS for various reasons, but it comes from a need to be different at the fundamental level. You see, every hotel has its unique brand, which it represents. This brand usually comes with a reputation such as excellent customer service, amazing food provision, luxury facilities, and others. Independent hotels make use of a PMS to augment their uniqueness.
Using a PMS, they can stand out from the local competition and establish themselves as progressive organizations. What’s more, using an efficient PMS that services the guest will leave an impression on the guests and allow them to become more memorable than other traditional hotels.
To Exceed Expectations
“The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not just to meet them, but to exceed them - preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.” - Richard Branson.
Independent hotels constantly face the challenge of setting and meeting expectations, usually from the guests. This places a lot of pressure on the managerial staff to provide an amazing guest experience right from check-in to check-out.
An easier way to handle these challenges is implementing a PMS tailored to perform their managerial duties fast, efficiently, and organizer. Of course, much thought has to be put into the decision process to ensure the right PMS is found, but it is usually a big win for the establishment when that is sorted out.
Using a PMS helps independent hotels exceed expectations by placing much of the managerial work on a suitable, easy-to-implement platform. The staff, in turn, only has to manage the digital platform while focusing on more hands-on duties.
To improve upsell potential.
Upselling is when you offer upgrades and improved services to your guests to get more value from staying at your hotel and increase your revenue. It has been proven that upselling is the most effective way of increasing revenue, and the only way to do that is to improve guest satisfaction organically.
Independent hotels now make use of cloud-based hotel management software to improve the upsell potentials of their hotels. This includes selling premium services and advanced features throughout the duration of their stay. Doing this ensures guests get the best service they could afford and improve their bottom line.
Communication improvement between hotelier and guest
Nothing says good customer service than a good communication protocol between the establishment and its guests. This communication requirement is more obvious when it comes to a hotel establishment, where guests expect to experience home comfort.
Improving guest-staff communication has always been a pain point for most hotels, and the ones who get it right are usually the most successful. Independent hotels recognize this fact and invest in a reliable PMS that can facilitate communication between staff and guests. One common implementation of this feature is integrating popular communication channels in the PMS such as WhatsApp, Phone systems, and other forms of instant messaging. This is a major factor that goes into the decision-making process of adopting a PMS.
TLDR: Our research showed that the increased development in technology has led to large-scale adoption of digital solutions, making it a much harder environment for non-tech-oriented establishments to thrive. The easiest implementation of modern technology for a hotel is a cloud-based hotel management software, and more hotels are now intent on getting their hands on them.
Booking Ninjas offers you the chance of deciding for yourself if you want the first and only property management system in the Salesforce ecosystem. Our modular solutions offer you the best hotel management services, and you get to choose which feature would be most important for your hotel. Join us now or set up a free 14-day demo.