Technology could be the missing ally for your business. Utilizing hotel automation to free up your staff’s time and open revenue generation opportunities is the starting point
In the dynamic hospitality world, repetitive and manual functions are part of the daily routine of front-line teams. In this context, sales and marketing managers seek to streamline these activities so that efforts can be directed towards revenue growth. For this, using automation for hotels is the perfect solution.
According to Industry ARC, the AI market for Travel and Hospitality is expected to surpass $1.2 billion by 2026. Additionally, an Accenture study reveals the sector has a 74% higher chance of increasing profitability by adopting AI.
There’s no denying it: technological solutions are a consolidated part of the industry nowadays. The question is how to use them effectively to bring more efficient day-to-day operations for human agents who deal directly with customer service.
If your hotel still isn’t using specific technology to enhance everyday tasks and meet real-time traveler demands, you’re likely leaving money on the table.
Want to know more about this topic and how to take your operation to the next level? Take a look at this article!
What is Hotel Automation?
Hotel automation is the use of technology to handle some daily activities with minimal human effort or intervention. The goal is to improve operational performance, allow front-desk agents to focus on revenue generation, and optimize marketing and sales strategies.
AI in hotels can automate important routine aspects, such as:
- Streamline 24/7 communication with accurate responses to traveler inquiries;
- Follow up with travelers who requested quotes without booking;
- Send messages with check-in/check-out instructions;
- Offer upgrades or additional amenities with perfect timing.
Nowadays, there is a huge variety of options on the market, from PMS integrations to traveler communication assistants. To choose the best ones, it’s crucial for you to identify the necessary and time-consuming processes that can be automatized so that your staff is free to focus on more pressing matters.
4 Tools to Enhance Operational Efficiency for Hotels
After understanding the bottlenecks in your hotel’s routine, it’ll become clear what should be automated to further improve business results. To help you in this step, we’ve selected 4 must-have tools that are game-changers when it comes to enhancing everyday activities.
Check them out!
1. AI Reservation Agent
75% of traveler interactions occur through chats on hotel websites, with nearly half related to booking quotes. To provide high-quality and immediate responses for this volume, you most definitely need an AI reservation agent.
Beyond booking price info, travelers often ask the following questions:
- Are pets allowed?
- What’s the check-in time?
- Is there a hotel restaurant?
- Is the hotel close to public transport?
- Are there tourist attractions nearby?
Intelligent automation addresses these queries and frees the front-desk team to engage in more consultative sales or personalized negotiations.
Did you know? Asksuite is already responsible for over 1 billion messages exchanged between hoteliers and travelers, with more than 80 million people served by our AI reservation agents.
We’ve compiled valuable insights for your hotel based on this data and launched our 1st Annual Report on Customer Service & AI in Hospitality. Download it now and take your strategy to new heights!
Imagine how much time our AI-powered agents saved and how many travelers would be waiting for a response without this innovative support!
2. Omnichannel Inbox Platforms
Everyone has different communication habits no matter where you’re from. That’s why it’s vital that your hotel is present on every channel, from emails to social media. At the same time, maintaining continuous and integrated chats is essential for providing a more than satisfactory experience to travelers and guests across all channels.
To achieve this, an omnichannel inbox platform is a must-have tool. With it, human agents no longer waste time on manual functions, such as:
- Searching for chat history in multiple locations;
- Looking for the context of a particular chat;
- Navigating various tabs for hours on end.
Centralizing data, besides saving time, minimizes communication gaps and facilitates end-to-end service management. It assists front-desk employees along the entire traveler journey from booking quotes to post-stay marketing actions.
3. Personalized Messaging Platforms
On top of responding at the right time on the right channel, info provided to travelers must be relevant. This means you need hotel technologies that personalize automations according to each situation.
Counting on a personalized messaging platform allows customized messages to be automatically sent for different contexts, such as:
- Follow-ups on abandoned quote requests for a specific time;
- Check-in/check-out instructions for the guest’s stay;
- Additional service offers for guest-to-be profiles;
- Promotional vouchers for celebratory dates.
Ensure the chosen tool integrates seamlessly with systems that provide travelers’ personalized data. Asksuite’s platform connects with over 300 PMSs and the most widely used CRMs on the market. With our upcoming launch, you’ll tailor efficient communication with just a few clicks.
Stay tuned: Asksuite will globally reveal a product to revolutionize your end-to-end service very soon. The best part? It’s totally integrated with our omnichannel platform that we already offer.
4. Relationship Management Platform
Tracking and monitoring travelers’ and guests’ actions to generate revenue is the next step in automation. A platform to centralize and manage relationships with existing and potential customers is the answer to support you in the challenge.
By choosing the right tool for your hotel, you can automate tasks such as recording all contacts received, no matter the channel, while qualifying communications using smart tags.
When using the tool correctly, you’ll have access to important data. Here are some practical examples:
- Number of services performed by each team member;
- Direct booking conversion rate by channel;
- Volume of follow-ups sent;
- Potential revenue in the sales pipeline.
Besides, you’ll better understand how to direct actions for travelers, depending on where they are in the funnel stage – whether in the consideration phase or ready to make a decision, for instance.
With so many options on the market, the question becomes: which one is the best tool for your business? Let’s keep the discussion going to find out.
What is the Best Automation Solution for Hotels?
You now understand that the main goal of activity automation is to enhance every hotel’s performance and results, allowing service teams to focus on tasks that can generate more revenue and require more human attention.
That being said, the best automation solution is the one that addresses the specific bottlenecks of your business. Implementing automation means boosting your hotel’s growth and maximizing revenue opportunities. The decision needs to be well-founded and well-thought-out.
Want to understand how personalized automations can impact your hotel’s revenue? Asksuite is the leading expert on this subject and is ready to help. Talk to one of our specialists now!
