Property Management Systems (PMSs) and Ticketing or Service Optimization Systems (SOSs) are undoubtedly the backbone of any hotel. They’re what keeps operations flowing smoothly and your guest records safe and searchable.
A Customer Experience Management (CEM) solution, offering both messaging and guest feedback capabilities that integrates with both your PMS and SOS systems, is then imperative to make sure you’re both engaging your guests and accurately keeping a record of them.
Today, we explore CEM integration with PMS and SOS systems, their benefits, and why it should be a primary consideration for your current CEM solution or one that you are considering adopting.
Why is integration critical in guest journey programs?
Over the years, CEM solutions have risen in popularity due to their ability to deliver a more personalized experience for guests and creating greater engagement. It’s grown to be an essential tactic that fosters unforgettable moments and strengthens brand reputation.
Integrating a CEM solution with a PMS and SOS system has a range of benefits, with the primary benefit being the ability to have guest information at your fingertips during online and in person conversations. Having this insight is great for adding context to requests or inquiries, as well as engaging customers in a personalized manner throughout their entire stay at your hotel. For instance, if a guest is asking about breakfast options for room service, by having their information and visibility into their check in and out date, you can ask if that is a service they’d like every morning while they are staying with you. What’s more, if they have stayed with you before, you can have visibility into their last order or requests and suggest the same thing. By offering that simple suggestion, you show attention to customer preferences and that the quality of their stay matters – a great tactic to become more consumer-centric and drive loyalty.
Integration with PMS and SOS systems is also a great feature because it gives you immediate visibility into a guest’s previous encounters with your establishment and their assessment of the experience. By asking a series of feedback questions after the guest’s visit or even during key moments during their stay, you can get insight into each guest’s experience and include that in their profile. Questions like asking how the room was, the check-in process, or their overall stay can provide details you can leverage in your PMS and SOS systems to take note of in future engagements.
Lastly, integration with PMS and SOS systems are key because they help your business stay organized and streamline operations. With integration, team members are no longer forced to communicate through separate channels or reference a number of platforms to understand a customer. An integrated CEM solution can house everything in one unified platform and allow functions to flow effortlessly so your establishment can provide a fast and effective experience for guests.
PMS Integration
Property Management Systems keep all hotels in check. Whether it’s through sales, operations, or even reporting, they’re an inclusive tool that helps organize teams and guests.
With CEM integration, engaging guests is made simple and effective through a PMS. In a standard PMS system, guest records are collected to provide context to employees when the guest arrives. However, when you integrate a CEM platform you can go one step further and automate welcome messages to interact with guests consistently, on the channel of their choice. By selecting the guest of choice from your PMS solution, a CEM allows you to choose an appropriate date and time, craft a message in line with their interests and send/schedule it out. For instance, if a guest is set to arrive in a few days, a CEM integration allows you to message them to remind them of their booking or upsell amenities or room upgrades.
Furthermore, with a PMS integration you can capture important moments such as spa appointments or restaurant reservations, so you can push out mini-surveys automatically to rate the experience. Getting any sort of customer feedback can help you understand how well you’re doing, in addition to helping you build a strategy that is more in line with guest preferences. With an ideal CEM solution, you can even receive feedback in real-time to assist you with recovering at-risk guests.
It’s evident that PMS integration is a great option for streamlining operations and initiating a line of communication with guests. By reaching out to them first or being readily available on the channel of their choice you encourage them to connect with you and continue to drive loyalty and revenue.
SOS Integration
SOS or Service Optimization Systems integration is an equally important addition to a thriving hotel. Whether you want to automate daily operations or increase guest satisfaction, a reliable SOS system can provide assistance.
With integration to a CEM, the action of creating a request ticket and fulfilling them is made easier for both your teams and the guest. With the integrations, guests can submit requests using a CEM solution embedded into the hotel’s app. Once submitted, the CEM pushes the request to a ticketing system where team members and management can view and mark the requests as acknowledged or fulfilled. When the ticket is marked, the guest obtains full visibility with a real-time update of their status.
Having this integration provides an on-going line of visibility for the guest that deters them from wondering where their request is or when it’s going to be completed. This also makes it easier for the hotel teams to see what tasks need to be fulfilled, for who and when – so they can better manage their time and resources. Most importantly, it streamlines the need for an operator to take a request then enter it into another system, greatly reducing people time and ensuring a faster degree of service.
With an ideal CEM solution in place, you go beyond the standard hotel transaction and actively engage guests throughout the entire buying journey. What’s more, when you integrate effectively with a PMS and SOS system you increase your scope and streamline operations – qualities you want in an ideal CEM solution.
