Mobile CRM Systems Coming to a Hotel Near You

Product managers at CRM application vendors love to talk about web integration. After all, when customer make their own selections of products and services online, web servers capture the details and nuances of their requests in place of human agents or sales professionals. What might have once landed in the heads of clever field agents now resides in a master database of likes and dislikes.

Some organizations experience resistance over installing CRM applications because staff members fear they’ll eventually be replaced. In fact, companies that use CRM software and web-based tools effectively tend to expand their business far beyond the capacities of their current staff. And the evidence of this trend is popping up in some unexpected places, like your local hotel.

For years, major brand hotel chains have urged guests to shift their appointments from the phone to their company websites. Not only does self-service web booking offer guests a comprehensive view of the prices and options available, it allows key customer data to be fed directly into a chain’s CRM system. Savvy hotel managers can use CRM data to predict the needs of incoming guests, especially repeat visitors. Anticipating these needs can impact everything from hotel decor to the kind of food and beverage on hand.

Now, imagine the power of a CRM application that can track a hotel guest’s wants and needs throughout the duration of their stay. That’s exactly what Runtriz has created with a custom hotel CRM application that runs on an iPhone or an iPod touch mobile device. By putting the entire range of hotel services -- from room service to special requests -- at the fingertips of guests, hotel managers encourage more sales through increased interaction.

Over time, managers use the CRM software not just to streamline special requests, but to build profiles of travelers and the kinds of services they request the most. This kind of CRM application can influence everything from the kind of food offered on the menu to the types of amenities offered throughout a property.