Hotel & Motel Management - June 2, 2008 - (Page 12)

12 Consultant’s Corner IN THE details Don’t put updates on hold Installation made easy Sales, revenue can increase Give employees the best H&MM June 2, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition When new systems become necessities T By Jon Inge H&MM Columnist he hospitality industry has a reputation for lagging in technology that isn’t always deserved because many companies make good use of modern systems to run efﬁcient, well-informed operations. Nevertheless, many properties hang on to their old systems for too long without realizing that this handicaps the property. Newer functionality, such as revenue management, Web booking and customer relationship management, would improve revenue and proﬁts far above the cost savings. But many hoteliers know that more modern systems, inte- grated across the property, would bring many beneﬁts; they’re just not certain how to implement them. All-in-one systems steadily have expanded their scope to cover many more aspects of an operation within a single application. At the same time, interfac- es between multi-vendor systems have become far simpler to set up. They’re more ﬂexible and more powerful than older links and much easier to implement, greatly improving the ability of systems to work together. Modern systems allow you to take advantage of the functionality your competitors already use to gain market share—Web booking, distribution channel management, rate/revenue management and so on. They also compile more complete guest proﬁle/history data you can use to generate more return visits through better anticipation of valued guests’ preferences and better targeted marketing. When hardware failures and network interruptions lead to missed reservation opportunities and error-prone manual checkins, they cost real money. A good refresh policy will replace all PCs every three years and servers no more than ﬁve years. This keeps them capable of meeting the ever-increasing demands of new software versions without becoming bogged down and reduces maintenance costs since they’re never out of warranty. It’s also worth considering remotely hosted systems, with servers located in professionally maintained and secured facilities. Also, keeping systems current improves staff productivity, minimizes idle time caused by hardware breakdowns and provides speedy, effective tools to let them do their jobs properly. It also helps staff retention, as they feel management cares enough to give them the tools to make use of their knowledge, skills and experience. Look at the whole operational picture and draw up an overall automation plan for the complete property. You probably can’t justify implementing it all at once, but you’ll have a template to work toward. No hotel can run manually these days; you must have these systems to stay in business. hmm@questex.com Jon Inge, a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, is president of Jon Inge & Associates of Edmonds, Wash. Contact him at jon@joninge.com. CIRCLE NO. 112 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.carrier.com http://www.carrier.com

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Hotel & Motel Management - June 2, 2008 Contents State Programs Help Define Green Hotels AmericInn Boosts its American Presence Questex, The Bench to Host Russia Event Perspective Letter to the Editor Legally Speaking Guest Column Marketing Matters Consultant's Corner Satisfaction Trends On Finance Travel Trends Cornell Insights Energy Star Update Maintenance Doctor Management Trends Trends & Stats Finding Financing Challenges Developers Credit Crunch Still Tops List of Lawyers' Concerns Mixed-use Funding Bleak, Panelists Say Luxury Landscape Keeps Pushing Higher PTACs Events Casegoods Seating Energy Controls and Sensors Pest Control Electronic Locks Transactions Supplier News Timeshare Misconceptions Still Prevalent Awards People Ad/Edit Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - June 2, 2008

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