This article was originally developed and published for Hospitality Net’s Data and Business Intelligence topic. Click here to learn more.
This past April, I traveled to Miami for our annual NAVIGATE conference to hear first-hand from hoteliers about the challenges they face in managing data silos. Bryson Koehler, CEO, RevinateDuring his keynote, he flashed the image on a screen, drawing smiles from the audience. It was a familiar image of the chaos of a server room: flickering fluorescent lights, a tangle of wires, towering boxes covered in dust — all that was missing was a bucket to catch the leaking water dripping from the ceiling.
Anyone who has worked in a hotel knows that server rooms like this are not uncommon. Unfortunately, the hotel technology stack is far from a smooth process of seamlessly integrated solutions with data flowing freely between them. Bryson’s point is that instead of focusing on what they do best (i.e. delivering an exceptional guest experience), most hoteliers are still dealing with a mess of legacy systems and point solutions held together by questionable middleware, webhooks, or manual CSV exports and imports. Even in 2024, the situation is still very confusing.
Often, these complex knots are created out of necessity—to resolve quickly. “Find a way to make it work.” When dealing with multiple core systems that don’t communicate well (your PMS, CRS, CRM, ORM, etc.), sometimes you need to do something unconventional. And this is what I always admire about hoteliers: their creativity and “Get things done” manner.
Continuing to use poorly integrated systems has a cost. It leads to fragmented and siloed data, which in turn negatively impacts operational efficiency and your ability to delight guests with personalized experiences.
For hoteliers to break free from these data silos, they need to start untangling their confusing technology stack and introduce the right technologies to future-proof their operations. Customer Data Platform It is an integral part of this effort, but it is not a panacea. Hoteliers need a CDP provider that deeply understands the challenges they face every day and is willing to roll up their sleeves and help them solve them.
The real impact of data silos
Let’s start with a simple example. Almost all hotels use some form of post-stay survey, sent to guests after they check out. Some of these surveys are even syndicated to online review sites like Google and Tripadvisor. But if your hotel is part of a group, will this survey data be used to improve that particular guest’s next stay at the next hotel? What happens if this data is just stored in silos? Alternatively, the data might be aggregated into group accounts for individual hotels, but again, can this data be used for the next stay?
Consider this scenario. Priya travels frequently for work and usually stays at Avertine Hospitality Group properties. After staying at an Avertine hotel in Chicago, Priya answers a post-stay survey and leaves a negative review, complaining about street noise and poor sleep quality. The review is published on Google, and its reach is amplified.
Priya is about to check into the Avertine Hotel in New York. Since the hotel does not use CDP, they were not aware of Priya’s recent negative reviews and booked a room for her facing the street. At 11pm, Priya called the front desk, frustrated with the noise, and asked to be moved to a quieter room. The hotel agreed and moved her to a room away from the city noise.
In this case, data silos between different hotels in the Avertine Group and their guest feedback systems meant that the New York hotel needed to deal with an urgent late-night guest issue and add another room to the housekeeping list for the next day, which was both time-consuming and expensive. Although Priya got a resolution, she was frustrated that a hotel in the same group simply did not listen to her feedback.
Now imagine the same scenario, but Avertine Group is equipped with a hospitality CDP that can collect data sources such as post-property surveys.
The morning Priya booked her New York hotel, Regina, the hotel manager, received a CDP-generated stay report highlighting all guests who checked in that day and the relevant details from their profiles. Regina discovered that Priya had stayed at several Avertine hotels before, but her most recent stay in Chicago had a poor Net Promoter Score of 4. Regina clicked to read Priya’s review and learned that she was not a good sleeper.
Regina took the initiative to ensure Priya’s room faced the building’s courtyard, shielding her from street noise. Regina also left a care package with a sleeping mask, earplugs, and chamomile tea. A handwritten note read: “The Avertine team wishes you a pleasant stay! ”
Priya was pleased to see that her feedback had been heard and addressed, and she slept soundly. The next day, she left a new, enthusiastic review—and revised her previous one to include how Avertine would make her next stay special.
Inefficient operations
The above story is just one small example of the potential costs that data silos can bring to hoteliers, and the benefits that can come from addressing them. Without a CDP, Avertine New York spent extra time and effort addressing Priya’s concerns. With a CDP, they were able to address the situation in advance, turning critics into promoters.
The costs of data silos don’t stop there, however. Has your marketing manager ever tried to send winter deals to ski season guests or wanted to target the self-drive market? They probably had to pore over their PMS and manually export lists without the right tools. Daniel Bank, Reservations Manager Parkhotel Adlertook care of the issue personally. “Even the simplest things, like isolating loyal customers, are time-consuming and frustrating.” he said of their legacy systems.
Data silos increase operational costs and reduce staff productivity. Without real-time updates, inconsistent data will continue to appear between departments, whether it is the front desk, reservation sales, customer service or different hotels within the same group. Inconsistency means you don’t have a complete picture of your operations or guest preferences.
Decreased guest experience
In addition to operational costs, data silos can negatively impact the customer experience. Priya’s story is just one potential example — but there are other barriers to personalization.
Guests expect proactive, personalized communications. They want to receive offers tailored to their interests and will quickly unsubscribe from content that is not relevant to them. Zendesk Survey68% of consumers want brands to use their data to personalize every experience.
What does that look like? Upsell offers through email campaigns based on guests’ favorite spa treatments. Special marketing campaigns targeting guests who drive loyalty levels in your market. “we miss you” Launch campaigns with dynamic content based on your guests’ recent stays. The possibilities are endless, and so are the direct revenue opportunities.
according to McKinseyBy deploying personalization, businesses can generate up to 40% more revenue.
So how can hoteliers achieve this kind of personalization at scale? It starts with the customer data platform.
The solution: CDP for the hotel industry
We’ve mentioned this a few times already, but let’s review the basics.
According to Gartnerthe customer data platform is “A marketing technology that unifies a company’s customer data from marketing and other channels to enable customer modeling and optimize the timing and targeting of messages and offers.”
CDP acts as a centralized data repository, pulling customer data from silos across multiple touchpoints and channels in real time. It then uses Identity resolution Clean and combine this data into a unified, 360-degree view of your guests. You can then segment these unified profiles to create targeted messages across channels so you can book the right guest in the fitting room at the right time and at the right price.
There is more to come, so I invite you View this guide for more in-depth resources.
However, as I mentioned above, CDP is not a panacea for all data silo issues. You need to choose the right CDP (Built for the hospitality industry) and the right technology partner. A CDP provider without industry expertise won’t know how to untangle legacy systems, leading to rough implementations and slow time to value. You may end up saddled with more middleware to make the solution work.
Additionally, not all data sets are created equal. Consider prioritizing integrations that will help you activate meaningful data to drive revenue. First Party and Zero-party data sourcesthere’s still debate as to what will have the biggest impact. Is it web browsing behavior? Bill spending? Spa appointments? Restaurant reservations? Survey responses? Each has its place, but hoteliers often have to make trade-offs with limited resources. Your CDP provider should be able to consult with you on the most valuable options for your individual property and technology stack.
CDPs have transformative potential to dig deep into tangles and future-proof your tech stack. But like all things worthwhile, it can get messy. Untangling the knots and establishing new norms and habits takes time, effort, and determination. But the results are worth it—and so will your guests.
About Revinate
Revinate enables hoteliers to connect directly with their guests.
Our customer data platform and communications solutions unlock revenue for hoteliers and enable them to control the entire guest experience – initial research, booking, check-in, throughout the stay and even after check-out – all through the communication channel that the customer prefers, whether it’s voice, text, email or web.
Over 12,000 hotels worldwide rely on Revinate to increase direct revenue and deliver a delightful guest experience.
Ask us how we do it. Visit our website Get a Demo.
Sanjana Chapali
Vice President, Brand Marketing and Communications
Revinate
