STRENGTHEN YOUR BACKBONE
The backbone of your hotel is the systems trifecta: property management, revenue management and central reservations. The systems should work together to help you operate your hotel efficiently and thus profitably.
Before evaluating systems, separate your must-have features from the nice-to-haves. Each property has its unique business mix, so be sure to find the systems that give you the tools you need to balance your property’s unique needs.
Also, consider the interface of each system: you and your team will be spending a sizable chunk of your workday within these interfaces.
These systems should be tested rigorously before your soft launch. You want to invest as much time as necessary to determine that your chosen technology stack works well for your property - and integrates accurately. Data should flow as expected between systems, providing a clean, clear and correct interface for hotel operations.
Discovering a vendor’s broken promise is never welcome, but it's especially painful when it's too late.Even though the time investment is intimidating, you won't regret testing the complete technology stack in a virtual environment. And the more you can replicate world operations - all the way down to involving your staff in the testing - the fewer surprises you will have on opening day.