Today we ask the question, “Is your PMS and booking engine the cause of your hotel marketing woes?”
First we’re going to assume in this article that we are targeting the Right Audience at the Right Time with the Right Message. If we’re doing this we should see a great return, cats should be meowing like crazy, and we should be looking at a fantastic RevPAR. But what if it’s not…
When it seems that the marketing is on point, your rates are on par with the OTAs, and your site is in good shape but your marketing is still not delivering; it’s time to look deeper down the conversion funnel. Today we are going to focus specifically on the the booking engine.
The booking engine, and in many cases the associated PMS, can be a the single biggest detriment to your online success with today’s modern hotel guests. We have first hand experience where the best marketing in the world can fall flat when the visitor is not able to effectively shop and book, be it on a desktop, tablet, or mobile device.
Unfortunately the booking engine and possibly the PMS is the most difficult part of the conversion process to change. Changing the PMS often requires hours upon hours of creating room types, adding rates, setting up systems and training staff. This can be a non-starter for many hotels. However, if you find your marketing efforts are not performing as you would expect then it’s time to consider making the big move.
Today we are going to look at an evaluation process you and your hotel must take to see if your PMS and booking engine are truly right for you. We’ll dive into three specific categories: distribution, mobile usage, and general usage. Yes there are more criteria, but for the sake of simplicity we are focusing on just three.
