Smart technology is transforming the way how the hospitality industry provides guest experience. 

In the face of increasing competition, technology for the hospitality industry is driving both cost savings and higher revenues. With the current corona virus outbreak, hotels are being forced to redesign their operations by adopting new technology-driven innovations. So, which are the key hospitality areas where technology can play a significant role in the Post-COVID era? 

Let’s discuss these key areas in details:

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Any talk about the hospitality industry will revolve around exceptional customer relationships and experience. The right CRM tool is key to building a great experience for hotel customers. 

Apart from managing sales leads and promotion, CRM technology can play a pivotal role in the post-COVID phase in many areas, including:

• Personalizing guest experience –

Based on previous guest visits and data analysis, CRM can create a personalized guest experience that can set your hotel apart from your nearest competitors. Statistics show that a targeted pre-arrival campaign through CRM has a higher open rate – 57% and click-through rate – 15.5%. 

Additionally, with 46% of millennials booking a hotel room using their smartphone or tablet, CRM can help you reach out to online customers on a variety of devices.

• Analyzing target audience –

Today’s hotel guests indulge in a variety of activities, including restaurant dining, corporate meetings, spa, physical fitness, and shopping. Hotels are using a 360-degree rich-profile to entice their guests and capture this data to determine their target audience. Using CRM and predictive analytics, hotels can segment guests with similar interests and target them with the right message. Additionally, consumers are also interacting with your business through online social media platforms and mobile apps. This valuable customer data can also help in designing marketing campaigns and promotions.

• Gaining customer loyalty –

Customer loyalty is among the main growth pillars for any hotel. Reward-based loyalty programs often fail within the first couple of years, while a high percentage of traditional loyalty programs have negative sentiments. 

CRM-driven loyalty programs are a significant improvement over traditional programs by analyzing your customer sentiment and finding out what does not work for them. Besides, CRM tools help you derive insights on what guests prefer in terms of personalized services, room pricing, and other services. Through automated responses, CRM technology imparts value to customer feedback and helps in turning them into loyal customers.

2. Sales and Marketing

Before improving the guest experience, you need to first bring in guests through the door – which is where marketing and sales play a crucial role. Even before the onset of the current pandemic, hotels were adopting online marketing technologies like digital and mobile marketing to woo its consumers. So, how can you leverage future possibilities from the investments of marketing/sales in the post-COVID era? Here are some pointers:

• Retain what works best –

Hotels that have invested in online marketing assets like email marketing, content articles, and social media promotion can derive insights on what can work for them in the post-COVID era.

• Upgrade your digital marketing reach –

To deal with the current outbreak, hotels have invested in the latest trends in digital marketing like local SEO marketing and video-based promotions. Focus on the marketing channels that are working best in identifying and reaching your audience and conduct hyper-segment campaigns that can let you capitalize on the attention of your audience. 

3. Use of Touchless Technologies

The post-pandemic era is going to open doors to a new way of life with new avenues in the way we conduct business. As hotels, this is a perfect opportunity to embrace touchless technology that can help maintain social distancing and keep physical interaction at bay. 

• Pre-check-in preference and customization –

Be it selecting a hotel room or using a mobile app to make hotel payments, bring in a virtual platform that customers can use for placing their pre-check-in preferences (floor selection, room selection, transport availability, allergies, and food preferences). Such a step lets the guests customize their stay at the hotel and make their stay more comfortable at their convenience.  

• Mobile check-in/check-out – 

In the post-COVID phase, it’ll be the right decision to adopt the use of touchless technologies like app-based check-in/check-out and conduct virtual payments. These steps can reduce face-to-face interactions between hotel staff and guests to a great extent and eliminate the possibility of any infections and risks.

Embracing these technological factors has the potential to transform the future of the hospitality industry. In the post-COVID era, hotels should aim to leverage and grow their investments into these latest technologies that can raise the guest experience to the next level.