The power of collaborating is well known across industries. In hotel technology, drawing on the expertise and strengths of partners can deliver robust 360-degree solutions. But which tech integrations should hotels be focusing on to thrive?
The centre of daily tech life at any hotel is usually the Property Management System (PMS). And a modular PMS like SIHOT.PMS can do so much, from handling reservations to supporting guest and employee needs through apps. But a PMS can’t do it all. Working with technology partners – who are experts in their fields – can improve and expand your hotel’s features, while elevating services for your guests.
Hoteliers often struggle with the sheer volume of technology out there. And the reality of ensuring all technology seamlessly integrates is another pain point. Research shows that the average hotel works with 15-20 technology vendors, yet 45% say that fragmentation prevents them from achieving a robust end-to-end technology solution. That’s why ensuring technology fully integrates should be a focal point in every hotelier’s tech-buying journey.
SIHOT integrates with +250 leading technology providers in the industry. But which integrations should hoteliers prioritise for success?
Tech-driven upselling opportunities
Upselling is a key strategy for revenue generation and the profitability of hotels at the moment. So any technology that can help hotels upsell to booked guests has the potential to be a game-changer. This includes automated emails and offers sent to guests before they arrive, encouraging them to upgrade their room or buy ancillary services. Upselling hotel rooms has increased 31% year-on-year in the last few years, demonstrating an industry-wide trend. Upselling tactics can also include solutions such as in-room tablets, which have controls for the room’s settings plus options for upselling TV entertainment packages and room service.
There is a range of technology that has been developed specifically for hotels to upsell, which simultaneously improves the personalised customer service experience. SIHOT’s PMS integrates with a range of specific upselling systems as well as guest communication systems which have upselling features.
Consolidating guest information
A customer relationship manager (CRM) can pull together data from across all the departments of a hotel, providing extensive information about guest preferences and habits. Some CRMs link with review websites, and can automate emails to request reviews post-stay. Crucially, this can also enable hotels to quickly see and reply to guest reviews, which is beneficial for brand image and guest relationships. Ultimately, a CRM should consolidate and enrich guest data, leading to personalised communications and improved in-person guest experiences.
Hotel-specific CRMs enable improved data analysis and reporting, and integrating one of these CRMs with your PMS improves marketing campaigns to be more targeted to guest preferences. It also ensures there is a single source of information about guests, enabling teams to elevate many aspects of service delivery. SIHOT’s PMS integrates with eight of the leading hotel-specific CRMs in the industry.
Expanding reach on booking sites
A channel manager is technology that allows hoteliers to sell inventory across multiple booking sites, simultaneously and in real-time. It ensures accurate availability and rates are reflected on all selling platforms. Channel managers help hotels perform better because they ensure visibility and up-to-date inventory information, maximising bookings and profit.
Integration with the hotel PMS is vital, as the key role of a channel manager is to feed information from the PMS to the hotel’s booking engine, OTAs and any other selling partners. By updating rates and managing inventory across multiple platforms, the channel manager means revenue and reservations staff don’t have to manually update sales channels whenever a reservation is made. SIHOT’s PMS integrates with several of the leading channel managers for the hotel industry.
Charging competitive rates
Selling rooms means everything in the hotel world, and setting the right rates for those rooms is made all the easier with a revenue management system (RMS). With the ability to optimise and maximise room revenue by analysing data such as occupancy rates, pricing, and booking trends – hoteliers can make informed decisions to increase revenue and profitability.
Integration with a PMS is vital for seamless data flow. The data in a hotel’s PMS provides critical information for the RMS to better support pricing, including reservations, occupancy, room inventory, and room rate data. When the RMS is integrated with the PMS, the two systems work together, providing real-time data and analytics. The SIHOT PMS integrates with a number of leading RMS partners in hospitality.
SIHOT can support you to integrate the technology into your PMS that will help your hotel thrive – contact us to find out more.