Hotel Management Software: Your USP to Unparallel Hospitality

A hotel consists of several departments and processes, each significant in its capacity. Any shortfall on part of one can have a massive impact on the performance and productivity of the hotel. It is, therefore, important for a hotel to gain access to a business solution that helps reduce costs and optimize performance. This is where Hotel Management Software (HMS) comes handy. It helps minimize manual efforts across various processes and saves a lot of time. Time is the most valuable asset a hotel can possess. The more time you invest in attending to your guests and enhancing customer experience, the more your hotel business will prosper.

A good HMS helps you to make the most of your key resources to gain competitive advantage. You can administer and organize the activities of your hotel, better. At the end of the day, having the right software can be the difference between ‘working on your hotel business’ and ‘working in it’. The choice is yours to make.

How you choose the good Hotel Management Software:

Which hotel software will suit you the best? The answer to this depends upon the benefits that you are willing to extract out of it. Choose software that offers all the necessary features to optimize your hotel’s efficiency and increases your return on investment. Furthermore, the software should integrate easily with other applications that are relevant to your business.
Having a Hotel Management Software is a blessing in disguise and can change your business for the better.

Some key features that underline the importance of Hotel Management Software are:

• Time is Money

  Hotels, irrespective of their size, operate round the clock. A hotel consists of several departments and processes that need to be managed effectively on a day-to-day note. With a never-ending list of tasks to attend to, a good HMS is a must-have. It helps regularize tasks and avoid discrepancies that can greatly mar your business. Not only does it help in identifying tasks that are critical to value addition, but also lets you channelize and direct your human resources efficiently. This minimizes your cost of operation.

• Automating Hotel Operations

  Housekeeping, Front-Desk, Room Assignments, Point of Sale systems (POS), Reporting, etc. are different facets to a hotel that is critical to its existence. By automating these operations, you can ensure the timely accomplishment of tasks and save time for activities that require greater attention. It helps reduce operating costs and increases your revenue, manifold.

• Ease of Accessibility

  With most HMS being cloud-based, you can gain access to real-time updates on your mobile device, even when you are on the move. Most importantly, you and your team members can collaborate and manage different activities more efficiently from a single dashboard.

• CRM & Customer Data Management

  With all the guest information stored in one place, CRM can keep a close eye on customer preferences and details. This lets you predict and analyze their behavior, thus facilitating guest service excellence. Furthermore, HMS also helps simplify your work by managing walk-ins, online reservations, inquiries, travel agent bookings, etc. Sending automated emails confirming reservations, extending the facility of self-check-in, and collecting customer feedback, is always an added advantage.

• Front-Office Operations

  Front-Office is the heart of a hotel and plays a pivotal role in maintaining customer details and managing room inventory. Most importantly, a Hotel Management Solution helps automate and simplify the reservation and payment process. It helps update room reservation status, allocate rooms and facilitates room change. Moreover, you can also manage electronic key cards, process payments securely and issue receipts to customers.

• Back-Office Operations

  You can gain complete access to your back-office operations with a Hotel Management Solution. Facets like Inventory Analysis, Staff Management, Internal Messaging, Invoices, Financial Reports, etc. can be easily managed from the same platform.

• Training & Communication

  Training new staff for a hotel business is a tough ask. Resorting to age-old methods of recruitment and training can unnecessarily complicate things and kill a lot of time. With HMS to your rescue, you can simplify your day-to-day operations. This helps the trainees learn the ropes to your business, quickly.

• Channel Management

  Most customers, nowadays, make use of multifarious channels and online travel agencies to get the best price on hotel bookings. Competing in terms of price and room availability is critical for a hotel’s business. A good HMS lets you manage the distribution of room inventory provides real-time room availability updates and helps revise rates on a regular note. To gain an edge over your competitors, it helps you create special rates and discounts that can be updated with different channels and travel agents. Most importantly, all the aforementioned functions can be accessed from a single interface.

• Website Creation

  The website to a hotel can be considered as its face value. An appealing, clean and user-friendly website have a significant impact on the minds of the customers. Your bookings can increase manifold and can help transform your property into a money-making machine. Get hold of software that offers the feature of web editor or website creator, to help enhance your online presence.
  Certain software even helps create an application for your hotel business that is compatible with Android and iOS platforms. This allows you to keep a tab on your bookings, print vouchers, and receipts, and help manage activities like housekeeping, inventory distribution, etc.

• Point-of-Sale Services (POS)

  Most hotels, nowadays, are home to facilities like restaurant services, gym, and spa, in-room services, minibars, etc. You must get hold of software that offers multiple point-of-
  sale terminals. This can help automate transactions and keep all financial data in one place.

• Payment Gateway

  Cases of fraudulent transactions and misuse of customer’s payment details surface now and then. To safeguard the interests of the customers, a hotel must make use of a management solution that offers the choice of an integrated payment gateway. Ensuring secure card payments for online bookings can help win the trust of the customers.

• Third-Party Integration

  The hotel software must integrate seamlessly with other applications that are indispensable to your hotel’s business. Easy integration with financial accounting software, fiscal printers, SMS gateways, booking engine, channel manager, POS, etc., helps efficiently manage your hotel’s operations and sales.

• Tech Support

  Integrating HMS with your hotel’s business is a complicated process and requires technical expertise. Make sure that your vendor provides round-the-clock technical assistance, to help resolve software related issues.
  In an open market scenario, you must stay one step ahead of your competitors, at all times. With automation being the need of the hour, a good Hotel Management Software is inevitably your stepping stone to
  success. By streamlining and simplifying your daily activities, it helps you earn that extra ounce of time, which can be utilized towards customer relationship building. Making your customers happy is the biggest strength your business can possess. Profits follow, afterward.