How often in the business world do we have the opportunity to receive honest feedback from others—feedback that might prompt us to make the necessary changes to improve our businesses? For the hotelier, guests, staff, and peers are often crucial to providing useful input that can point to where things are going well, and not so well. When it comes to the hospitality technology industry, it is hotel groups, customers, and system users who provide the necessary information for property management system (PMS) providers to truly understand where issues lie. But whether hotelier or hotel technology provider, the common problem is that customers often don’t feel that they are being heard. Just like a guest would look for a hotel that will listen and address their needs, hoteliers need to find a PMS provider that will do the same; one that values and regularly uses one of our best business tools today, the customer survey.
Honest customer feedback from PMS customers is key to the success of that customer, as well as the success of the PMS provider. Surveys provide insights into how their product is used in real-life situations and can uncover problem areas of which the company may not be aware. Surveys also allow companies to gauge themselves monthly, quarterly, and yearly to see where customer scores may have dipped, and then dig into specific problems that need attention. Surveys of customers can also shine a light on company superstars and, in-turn, help the company to look for those specific strengths when hiring new employees.
When evaluating a potential PMS partner’s customer survey habits and abilities, here’s what you might want to ask:
Do they conduct trainer reports? One form of reporting that may be found within some of today’s more advanced PMS Providers’ survey plans is that of providing two levels of survey feedback reports. Level one is used to find out how the trainer did at delivering the material. Level two is sent one month after the trainer has left, and the property is on its own. This survey’s purpose is to learn about areas in the system where more training might be needed.
Do they conduct regular general evaluation surveys? This type of survey can be used to let the PMS provider know how they are doing in areas such as speed, report availability, integration, support, training, and how Likely they are To Recommend (also known as LTR) the PMS to others. The LTR scores are then used to calculate what is called a Net Promoter Score, which tells customers and the company how they are doing overall.
Do they do different surveys for different teams within their company? Ideally, various teams within the company should each have their own survey to learn about possible gaps in their particular processes.
Do they send post-new release surveys? More and more, PMS providers will send what are called post-new software release surveys out to all users to gain a better understanding of what worked well during the release and where successes and any failures might be.
Knowing what customers want is essential to any successful business, whether hotelier or PMS provider. Finding a hotel technology company that understands that value and takes the time to send surveys on a regular basis can make for a better business partner in the long-term and in turn, help your business grow.
