Another
HITEC has come and gone, and what a blast it was! Baltimore was HOT -
not just because of the searing heat, but also more importantly due to
the masses of super TECH that was on display @HITEC. And let's not
forget the jam-packed parties (a.k.a. Networking events). If you
attended HITEC, you will know what I mean, if you didn't, too bad - it
was a hoot.
Walking
the aisles is always a treat, you get to see, or at least try to see
most of the world's vendors under one roof at one time. The Goliaths
take up the center spots, whilst the newbies are parked on the periphery
that as I've said before, probably has the next killer app. I admire
the determination of those folks.
Bumping
into long lost buddies is always welcome, and this year was no
exception. I think I did more handshaking and hugging in the aisles and
at "networking events" than I did on actual booths. One individual was
so pleased to see me that he insisted on taking our photo and posting it
onto Facebook...
Sadly
though, I was unable to attend any of the education sessions, which
greatly upset me - but there are only just so many show hours, and when
you deduct HFTP and HTNG meetings as well as a few private briefing
sessions, you are not left with very much availability. Still, I hope
some were digitally captured for posterity, and I can play catch-up when
they are finally distributed.
But what I was in search of was THE SECRET SAUCE. So many folks use this term that I was hoping to taste it, or at least catch a whiff of it - but alas, it eluded me.
At
HITEC - I was on a mission. I wanted to find out how technology can
justify itself in a Hotel. I'm realistic enough to understand that we
can't operate Hotels without certain forms of technology, but how do we
really measure the effectiveness of it, and justify the expense to Hotel
Owners, who are themselves looking for an ROI on just about everything.
Over
the last 2,000 years that we've been operating Hotels - admittedly,
there has been some improvement, or has there? In their most basic form
they still provide the same thing - a place to break a journey, get some
rest, something to eat and drink, and wash-up. How they do it, comes as
many variations as there are colors on a Pantone color chart.
A
Hotel is simply broken down into two parts: Hardware - the physical
building and systems, and Software, the people who make it run and
whatever you say or think - give it a unique personality. Again, these
come in many flavors, shapes and sizes, but the fundamentals are still
the same.
The
Guest varies by Demographic, but all said and done at the end of the
day, the needs and wants are the same - a clean, comfortable and
affordable place to stay.
So where's the problem in delivering this?
Those
of you who are regular readers of my BLOG - know that I often point out
deficiencies in a Hotel that I have stayed, and my Baltimore and New
York experiences were no exception. I will keep the names of the
establishments out of the comments - but feel free to speculate:
BALTIMORE
- One
night I wanted a cab. I asked the Bellboy who was standing around at
the front of the Hotel (I assume this is his station) to help me get one
- his job - I again assume. Few moments later he had hailed one, and it
arrived into the Hotel's entrance area. He opened the door (I assume
his job) and when I had sat down and told the driver where to take me -
he promptly slammed the cab door realizing I was not going to tip him -
for doing his job, that admittedly he's already paid to do. He walked
away sulking...
- Then
there was the fact that the Hotel does not change towels or linens on a
daily basis - apparently to help save the planet... On two occasions
they took my wet Bath Towel and hung it on the hook behind the bathroom
door - where my dry T-shirt was already hanging, and so the T-shirt
became wet, and unusable...
- Let's
not forget the charge for Wi-Fi. I was categorically told by the lady
who checked-me in that it was inclusive in my room rate. "Just log-on as
normal" she said, and it will be taken care of - it was not. I was
charged and not just for one connection in the room, but for multiple
devices.
- Lastly,
I sent three shirts to the laundry for cleaning so as not to schlepp
too much dirty stuff around with me on the next leg of my journey. Two
of the three shirts were returned with black oil stains on the front. *
NEW YORK
- My
choice of Hotel was one that I last stayed at in 1975, and after making
a booking on Agoda, I wrote a short note on the Hotel's Facebook page
to say how much I was looking forward to coming back. After a few short
hours, they responded saying how happy they were I was returning and
looked forward to my visit. When I checked in, the Receptionist treated
me like "a nobody", did not welcome me back, and gave me a sub-standard
corner room. There was no Banana in my room - or even a Welcome back
note from the GM. Come to think of it, for the 4 nights I was there, I
did not see any Management in the public areas...
- My
room (1448) had a stale odour, chipped wash basin, one of the blinds
did not have a pull string, some walls had torn wall paper, one of the
photos over the bed had "a stain" on the glass (I hate to think what
that was...), one of the air vents was stained, and I had to pay for
Wi-Fi although I'm 100% sure Agoda said it was inclusive.
- I
was allowed two bottles of House drinking water per day from the
automatic mini-bar. On two days, they were not replenished and I had to
request them.
- One
day, I returned to the Hotel after doing some shopping. The cab pulled
up at the Hotel entrance and I opened the door in front of the Doorman
who was busy counting his tips. To help get out of the cab, I lifted the
bags off the back seat on to the ground, in front of the Doorman. Do
you think he helped me? Dream on!
- I
invited a friend for Dinner at the Hotel - in one of their signature
restaurants - a steak house. Our so-called Waiter was the most
un-attentive individual I have ever encountered. It was like it was such
an effort for him to serve us. I heavily discounted his tip!
OK - enough of that griping - let me get back to the main reason for this BLOG and that is the hunt for the Secret Sauce.
Justifying
tech expenditure is becoming more and more difficult, and I'm
constantly challenging, as well as being challenged as to why we should
be adopting certain Tech strategies, and to justify them. One of those
might be for example, should we still put a HSIA wired port on the desk
when most people connect over Wi-Fi? Another could be - do we need so
many standard power sockets when people mostly require USB power. I ask
myself, is USB the new Universal power socket?
So,
when I met up with three leading vendors at HITEC I was trying get a
feel for this kind of justifiability. They specialize in the following
areas:
- Point Of Sale and PMS
- IPTV/In-Room Entertainment and HSIA
- In-room Tablet based services and apps
What was I looking for?
I was hoping that these companies could provide me with meaningful metrics on how their systems are being used - for example:
1. Point Of Sale and PMS
Apart
from Hospitality - these folks are also heavily involved in the Retail
space servicing several leading high street retailers. These retailers'
measurement of customer behavior is literally off the charts. They know,
for example, what time people come in the store, what are the popular
items they look for and buy, how long the average person stays in the
store, how they pay, how often they come back, if something is on
special what else they may be tempted to impulse buy, where items should
be placed in the store, and of course the average transaction value.
They also know to play different music at certain times of the day so
you are either walking more quickly, or subdued to take more time to
wander through the aisles.
Questioning
this Vendor if they take the info from their own PMS and compare it to
the data from the PoS to see if certain demographics have additional
purchases and what exactly they purchase, they look back at me with
blank faces.
With
this type of data, could we do predictive analysis based on future
business on-the-books and then used with revenue management systems,
could support the decision making process as to which type of guest will
yield more, and how certain offers in F&B or other areas of the
Hotel may be attractive to them. They don't.
2. IPTV/In-Room Entertainment
Similarly,
I asked these guys if they could tell me how certain types of Guests
used the TV? Could they tell me for example if a specific Guest
demographic stayed longer on HBO or BBC than others? How often was the
TV remote clicked, how often was the TV used for wake up calls, or the
PPV system used, again by a certain guest demographic. They could not.
3. In-room Tablet based services
Their
VP Sales and CTO told me that their solution was mainly used for: Wake
up calls, requesting amenities and room make-up or turndown, and
ordering room service. When questioned if they could tell me how many
Guests used the device versus say calling down or speaking with a real
member of staff, they could not. Could they then tell me which type of
Guest likes to have a wake-up call, or request a room turndown, they
could not!
So,
using just these three examples, I'm finding it hard to understand the
justification process for (certain types of) technology in a Hotel.
Saying
these are service enablers, or add to the guest experience is no longer
good enough - we have to have hard facts and I'm wondering how we can
get these. Recently, one CTO of a major Asia based hotel group asked me
if I had access to any reports which showed how guests were rating
internet access - much like they would the comfort or cleanliness of a
room, and I could not produce any. There was just anecdotal evidence to
say Guest's need it, but how they enjoy consuming it, or paying for it,
was not measured. At least I could not find any information to
substantiate this.
Then
another question is niggling at the back of my mind. If we know that
Guests are not using the in-room phone for revenue generating purposes,
and that they receive calls on their mobile phone versus the in-room
phone, the question is not why do we place so many units in a room, but
why do we still install voicemail for Guests, if it's almost never used?
Taking
these examples, and my comments on the two Hotel experiences - it's
definitely time to get back to basics and question why we do things.
What
are the true benefits these technologies bring to the Guest and
business? How can we measure the effectiveness, and to really understand
the masses of data that these systems collect, which can better help us
provision services to guests, rather than guess which I believe in many
cases we still do, and often fail miserably.
If you've found the Secret Sauce - please send me some!
* After raising these comments to the Hotel, they agreed to refund my HSIA and laundry charges.