........................................................................................... 8 BEST PRACTICES ...........................................................................................FOR CRM IN A CRISIS YOUR HOTEL’S DATABASE (THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF YOUR GUEST RELATIONSHIPS) IS YOUR NO. 1 ASSET. IT NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AND NURTURED, EVEN IF YOUR DOORS ARE CLOSED. In times of crisis like the coronavirus global pandemic when things change rapidly day to day and informed, nuanced communication is vital. Your hotel’s customer relationship management (CRM) serves as a powerful central command station for connecting with guests. As you monitor the situation, adjust operations and plan for recovery, a CRM gives you the ability to target and personalize your outreach (digital marketing, email and social), pivoting when needed with advanced sophistication quickly. Hotel CRM also helps you track customer sentiment trends and gather business intelligence to gauge impact and support re-opening. As such, here are 8 best practices for using a hotel CRM throughout the crisis lifecycle. PRO-ACTIVELY COMMUNICATE 1 THROUGHOUT THE CRISIS Now is not the time to go silent. Don’t appear tone-deaf, but a Throughout the crisis, keep your nuanced outreach can go a long guests informed about the impact way to keep the relationship to their travel plans based on local alive. Inspire warm/fuzzy feelings and global news, any updates to with flashback moments at your your cancellation and rescheduling property, video messages from staff policies or-onsite offering changes or tutorials from housekeeping on such as F/B and spas, as well as matters your property excels at, such your safety and security measures as bedmaking, craft cocktails or if your doors are still open. Keep the welcome rituals. connection alive with your guests as well with nurture messages. STRATEGIZE YOUR 2 SEGMENTATION As plans for re-opening begin, it’s messaging. Either way, map this important to strategize about what out in a staged approach with segments will be the first to be your defined audiences under able to travel. Will it be for leisure, each phase. This will allow you business, or both? Will it be hyper- to determine whom you should local, or do you anticipate travelers communicate with, in each phase. from further afield? Leverage micro This planning will directly impact segments as well based on lifestyle your revenue forecasting as well, so demographics and psychographics, stay aligned with your revenue team as each group’s desire to travel will to ensure a collaborative approach. resonate based on targeted BUILD NEW EMAIL LISTS BASED ON NEW SEGMENTS 3Once your segmentation plan has keep your communication efforts is complete, you are ready to start on this top of mind. If you are re- marketing to your different lists. targeting those who have recently People need confidence before they canceled their bookings – email travel again, so share what you can marketing is a great way to inspire with them about changes you’ve them to re-book. As before, think made to ensure their safety. Safety about the different scenarios and the will be a huge deciding factor for right approach for each segment. those thinking about booking, so UPDATE YOUR 4 PRE-ARRIVAL EMAILS Success! Bookings have slowly activities, local tips, etc., but they started to come in again. This is can also be used to communicate great news, but how do you continue about important changes. The more to instill confidence about their transparent you can be about these stay? Things will most likely be quite changes, the better the overall different when they get there, so experience will be for each guest. now is the time to let them know. To ensure you are maintaining the Pre-arrival emails can be the best right level of personalization, use way to excite guests about their segmentation and dynamic upcoming trip. It’s a great channel to content to tailor your messages for communicate about dining options, specific guests. ENHANCE YOUR 5 PRE-ARRIVAL SURVEYS To help you prepare for new guests, Pre-arrival surveys allow you to open you may need to gather important up the dialogue with your guests to information from them, such as their ensure they feel comfortable before arrival, whom they are traveling with, arriving. Channeling queries and allergies, and transportation needs. storing the data within your CRM will What better way to field questions streamline your re-opening and the before arrival than with a survey? guest experience. LEVERAGE GUEST PROFILES 6 IN RECOVERY PLANNING Guest profiles are the cornerstone central place allows you to leverage of CRM. The wealth of data that what you need for marketing, is stored and actionable within a revenue, and operations purposes. guest profile enables hoteliers to Use your guest profiles to build out improve the guest experience from your plan for re-opening. As well the moment they make a booking. as market data, target those who From segments to interests, and are more likely to travel based on preferences, having this data in one location and previous spend. LEAN ON CRM TO REDUCE CONTACT ON PROPERTY 7The human side of hospitality will a hotel CRM will ensure the effect always be what makes people travel, is minimal. Automation and other and that will never change. We are, technology enabling contactless however, faced with the need to transactions will also have a reduce contact and keep a safe hugely positive impact in restoring distance. This might feel like it will someone’s faith to stay safe impact the guest experience, and it and healthy at your hotel after a will, to some extent, but leveraging crisis. Keep this in mind while you technology and automation through plan and budget. TRACK TRENDS AND SHARE WIDELY 8Last but not least is your tracking hotel’s progress and successes. This and reporting. If you aren’t able to insight gives the whole team the report out on the success of your big picture trends that can cascade crisis management and recovery and recede on a daily basis, arming strategy, it may as well have never them with the insights they need to happened! While you ramp up, it’s make revenue, staffing, opening and imperative that you can track your other decisions. Robust business intelligence in a hotel CRM allows you to prepare, strategize, build, and restructure for a strong recovery. CONTACT CENDYN TODAY Cendyn is the #1 CRM for thousands of hotels across the globe www.cendyn.com.