How Hotel CRM Software Helps Hotels to Understand Their Customers Better

The advantages of hotel CRM are vastly underappreciated. The hotel industry is all about providing exceptional customer service. The hospitality industry is one of the fastest expanding industries in India and throughout the world. Managing growth would be impossible without effective automation and the usage of IT.

Customer interactions are essential in the hotel industry. The most important thing is to get repeat customers. One dissatisfied customer may do a lot of damage to a hotel’s reputation.

Similarly, hotel restrooms reveal how well hotels care for their customers. A good CRM will assist hotels in maintaining a good relationship with their guests.

What exactly is Hotel CRM?

CRM, or customer relationship management system, is a software solution that assists in the administration of Leads, Sales, and Marketing teams. Hotel CRM is a type of specialized CRM designed specifically for the hotel industry.

CRM enables hotel management to meet the expectations of their customers. Apart from managing leads, CRM also assists in the management of Customer Feedback, Loyalty programs, and, most importantly, a 360-degree picture of Customer information and interactions.

CRM also contains a phone system with an IVR and a Call Distribution Mechanism (ACD). A well-designed ACD assists guests in reaching the appropriate person in the shortest amount of time.

Making guests feel at ease is the essence of hospitality. A good hotel booking management system allows you to get to know your customers much better by keeping their preferences and histories.

Why is CRM required in the hotel industry?

1. The hotel industry is concerned with the concept of occupancy. Lower occupancy would imply lower profit.
2. Retaining happy consumers is simple and profitable. A proper Hospitality CRM will aid in the retargeting of existing customers.
3. Hotels have numerous lead sources, and it is critical not to overlook any of them.
4. Nothing is more appropriate for the hotel industry than a missed follow-up, since a missed reply can drive a customer to choose another option.
5. The hotel’s sales team must issue numerous quotations and changes. Managing this sales process is challenging without a proper CRM.
6. Travel portals and online booking agencies now account for a sizable portion of the hotel business. It is essential to integrate them on a single platform.
7. With many sites, locations, properties, a proper CRM is required to manage the occupancy percentage for each property.
8. Because the hotel sales team is dispersed and mobile, a centralized hotel management software is essential to handle everything on a single dashboard.

The significance of proposal or quotation management in hotel CRM

Hotel workers must send numerous quotations and possibly multiple modifications for a quotation. These proposals represent the Hotel’s reputation. These suggestions must be carefully and uniformly formatted.

Furthermore, the Hotel’s offering may vary depending on the client. For example, one client may select Rooms, Banquet halls, Entertainment, activities, and other auxiliary services. There would be a lot of ambiguity in the process if there is no formal proposal system in place.

Buyer’s Guide for Hotel CRM (Must have features in CRM)

When selecting a CRM, adequate care should be made to ensure that the solution satisfies the requirements. The following are must-have features to look for in Hotel CRM Software before purchasing the CRM.

1. Hosting Flexibility to ensure compliance with your IT Policy. If the CRM is hosted on the cloud; the cloud infrastructure, as well as the software, must meet security criteria.
2. Lead Generation from All of the sources will help to prevent leaks and lessen the sales team’s effort. Walk-ins, websites, travel booking portals, and other platforms can all be used to generate leads.
3. Marketing aptitudes. Despite the fact that today’s digital marketing field is quite broad, the Hotel CRM should offer fundamental marketing capabilities such as data classifications, bulk and group messaging via SMS, email, WhatsApp, and so on.
4. CRM APIs. A CRM API that is appropriate ensures that the product can interface with any software platform.
5. Follow-up mechanism. The functionality includes notifications and follow-up reminders.
6. Management of quotations. One of the most important elements needed in Hotel CRM. The quoting functionality is essential for both Web and Mobile CRM.
7. Logs of Activities. All activity records, including calls, SMS, emails, visits, and meetings, should be logged in to CRM automatically or with no effort.
8. App for mobile devices. In today’s world, it’s impossible to conceive a CRM without a feature-rich Mobile App.
9. Dashboard for CRM. CRM dashboards provide all necessary information to all parties involved at the touch of a button. CRM dashboards are useful not just for managers and administrators, but also for executives.
10. Integration of IVR and telephony. Telephony and CRM have emerged as the two most critical components of the Customer Experience. CRM must include a proper telephonic integration.
11. Tracking of the Sales Team. The most important advantage of any CRM is that it allows Sales Managers to coordinate, assist, and track the actions of their sales team.
12. DE duplication and data quality. Data that is tainted is dangerous data. CRM should be able to evaluate data quality and report discrepancies.
13. The vendor’s CRM implementation skills. Check to see if the vendor firm has already deployed the CRM in certain well-known hotels. Take feedback from existing CRM users if necessary.
14. Ticketing and customer service. Customers have issues and complaints about the hotel industry, just like any other service industry. CRM should have a proper ticketing system in place to handle customer concerns.
15. Notifications and escalation. Everything isn’t always flawless. However, if something goes wrong or is likely to go wrong, CRM will notify and alert the appropriate team members.

CRM Practices in the Hotel Industry – Tips for Implementation

Any CRM, or software for that matter, is only as good as its execution. However, CRM success is not completely dependent on the provider. Here are some pointers for a smooth CRM implementation in the hotel industry.

1. Planning is essential, as is defining the CRM system’s deliverables.
2. CRM installation necessitates extensive change management. Be ready for the same thing.
3. Never underestimate the importance of training. Furthermore, one-time instruction may not be sufficient. Training is an ongoing process.
4. CRM usage must be monitored on a regular basis to ensure success. CRM audit practice is extremely beneficial.
5. Plan the CRM integrations as thoroughly as possible. Integration that is poorly conceived can cause more harm than good.