The days in which a hotel could operate with simple paper booking records are gone. These days, even the smallest hotels require digital systems to keep track of guest lists, bookings, cleaning, and employee schedules, and much more. Likewise, hotels hugely benefit from methods of tracking the many listings they maintain on various third-party booking sites and ensuring that the bookings made through these sites are properly communicated with the hotel.
All these things are just a few of the reasons channel management software is so important to today’s hotels. This software and related programs are indispensable for those in the hospitality industry.
Distribution Management
For a typical business, managing inventory is as simple as seeing how many units are on the shelves or in the warehouse. However, inventory management is not so straightforward in the field of hospitality. In this industry, inventory refers to rental units or rooms, which can be difficult to keep track of. Throw in cleaning or maintenance schedules, and this is even more difficult – especially when distributing those units across multiple third-party booking sites.
Channel Management Software offers easier management of this distribution. Hotel staff can easily know how many rooms are available at any time, how many are booked, and if any are out of commission for any reason. This makes serving the customer simpler and more effective, leading to more initial and repeat bookings.
Optimized Rates
Prices are always changing for hotel or resort rooms, based on a wide array of factors. Seasons, days of the week, sporting events, concerts, festivals, and holidays are all reasons why a rate might need to increase, especially as availability is strained. Unforeseen circumstances like weather events, natural disasters, or health issues like the COVID-19 pandemic have all been reasons for rooms to sit empty, which caused rates to drop.
With these things in mind, changes in pricing can be projected ahead of time but may also need to be adjusted quickly if circumstances change. When the latter happens, the ability to quickly change those prices across all distribution channels is imperative. This ensures accuracy and reduces the risk of lost profits or customer dissatisfaction. Good channel management programs allow for this, as well as tracking the resulting bookings.
Tracking Performance Analytics
How well is your hotel or resort performing? The answer to that question can help your staff, management, and investors understand what is working and what could be better. Tracking the performance of your various booking channels is equally important. Knowing where your customers prefer to book, and which platforms are bringing in the most return on the investment of your time can help your staff understand where that time is best spent for the greatest overall gain.
All these things and many others are the reasons so many hoteliers rely on channel management software to increase bookings, improve customer experience, and create opportunities to carve out profits from even the most difficult times of the year.
