The hospitality industry is significantly challenged by their clients becoming more sensitive to pricing, less loyal to brands, and more sophisticated in their travel. Because of this, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) represents a strategic necessity for organizations to attract and increase the patronage of their guests. A CRM strategy is therefore necessary for managing the diverse segments of companies in the hospitality industry and improve the experiences of their customers.
In order to understand the process of CRM and its application to real hospitality businesses, the example of Hilton Hotels has been chosen. With a hundred years of working in the hospitality industry, Hilton Hotels and Resorts was managed to create a unique OnQ information system for effective CRM implementation.
Hilton’s OnQ CRM system was developed for the purpose of managing large volumes of diverse customer data as well as storing it for analytics purposes (Kurtz et al. 314). The first point to note that for serving clients effectively, the company has created an expectation feedback system that would allow the team members at Hilton Hotels to check customer profiles quickly and easily. The system improved the company’s efficiency and saved time, thus providing high-quality services to customers.
A customized approach to each client is especially relevant in the hospitality industry where competition is rising, with hotels developing news ways in attracting clients through new products and services. Thus, Hilton Hotels was challenged with creating and delivering better value compared to its competitors.
The second point worth noting is that the combination of CRM and Hilton’s unique OnQ system represents a valuable resource that can be effectively used for leveraging revenues, and, as a result, show positive effects both for the brand’s image and the customer base. Since the integration of the OnQ system in 2002, there has been a significant increase in the calls to the call center of the organization. In terms of return on investment (ROI), Hilton has made a significant profit even with high expenditures that went towards CRM maintenance.
Overall, for the Hilton brand, the implementation of the OnQ system led to an increase in customer satisfaction, which is an essential element in reaching a successful brand image. The OnQ solution has shown to be helpful to highlight the issues and inconveniences that the company’s clients have faced during their stays at hotels. Also, it has been instrumental in establishing the value of customers to the company based on their profile history and feedback.
With the use of predictive modeling, the company can make forecasts regarding the likelihood of its customers returning. In addition, the emphasis on the demands of customers and their experiences resulted in making clients feel valued, recognized, and cared for. By having a comprehensive CRM technology, Hilton has been recognizing its customers and increasing the efficiency of reservations as well as overall service quality.
The information on Hilton’s CRM system can be used in the future when working at organizations in the hospitality industry to increase the quality of services provided to customers. The case of OnQ that was implemented by Hilton Hotels and Resorts shows that companies that deal with large volumes of customer data should be inventive in order to keep their clients and reach high levels of satisfaction. However, since the CRM system implemented by Hilton Hotels dates back to 2005 when it was first introduced, it can be suggested that the organization’s management reevaluates its use and integrates updated solutions for enhancing the quality of services provided to clients.
Work Cited
Kurtz, David, et al. Contemporary Marketing. Nelson Education, 2009.