Classwork session 6 bis - Is Sms becoming a service mobile standard let's discuss

I think it's obvious that sms becoming a service mobile standard, because it facilitate the information exchange between a company and its customers. Because i work in the hospitality industry, i'll use it as an exemple : 

Sms are 160 character messages exchanged on mobile phones and it’s the most basic feature of a phone after the calling tool. Everybody use it and it is very useful to send out alters, mobile coupons and other incentives driving consumer loyalty and encouraging repeat bookings.

Guests do not have necessarily a smartphone to sign up for alerts and for receive the offers, also having a 3G (internet) connexion is not mandatory. The key benefit of Sms to the travel is the ubiquity of sms which approach the 100% that mobile can support.

Also, the high likelihood of text messages being read soon after receipt and mobile phones can overtake landline service in many homes. Sms can help companies and organizations in the hospitality sector by disseminating alters and call to actions quickly. It also allow companies to drive traffic and increase revenue.

Keywords can also be used in order to receive the text messages from the choosen company and most consumers have their mobile phone within reach and keep the device always on, they can respond to alerts and offers, to new product announcements simply by respond to this through the sms tool.

The sms also offers a simple and effective way to communicate with consumers when they are in the reservation process for exemple or when they’re making travel plans or taking decisions, the company can drive them easily and influence their decision.
A relevant messaging strategy can add value by providing incentives for participation and streamline consumers travel experience.

Classwork Session 6 - Marriott Travel Brilliantly

The Co-creation tool by Marriott allow guest to give their idea to the brand in order to share ideas between Marriott customers and they're allowed to vote (the brillant count) to select the best idea of the moment.
According to Marriott, it "change travel" because the customers take their part in the Marriott innovation product by giving their ideas to the brand.

The program works as follow : the customer submit his idea through the plateform, then Marriott put it online on the website and other customers are allowed to vote for the best idea. If the customer idea is selected, Marriott will implement it and give to customer an "brilliant" award.

The ideas : One of the ideas which appeal to me is the "Share and earn" technology. Finalist of 2014 brilliant award. I loved this idea because it allows customers through mobile app to give their feedback in real time and rate the service. It is very useful for both the customer and Marriott because guest will not forget something about their experience at the hotel during their holidays and Marriott can accurate his management efficiency within the hotel and also have the ability to respond to unfavorable experiences immediatly.

Marriott decide to select an idea when the idea have the highest rank of votes.

Webinar Assignement

Because i'm studying hospitality my webinar choose was obviously about a subject related to this topic.
After doing some researches on the internet, i found a webinar with the following subject :
"Next Generation Guest Satisfaction"
I think it was a good choice because we learned in MBA1 with your courses the challenges companies has with the generation C and how important it is to understand what our generation and people younger than us expect in order to increase the guest satisfaction.

First of all, the webinar was authored by some professors of the hospitality division of the Cornell University in New York (US). The intervenant are Bill Caroll, senior lecturer at the Cornell University and Michelle Wohl, VP marketing at Revinate.

During the webinar, i tried to understand the relationship between customer value and marketing and identify the fundamental aspects of modern marketing. I think it's important to understand how travel agent provide value for consumers and the webinar describe it well. Also they focus on the effectiveness of search engine marketing, how to use it and how to give flexibility to the pricing strategy.
Therefore, i learned how to react to customers perceptions of fairness regarding the pricing policies and they explained the importance of promotional plans for a hospitality product for exemple.
Finally, they show us how to organize a firm to be competitive on the long term and how to maintain customer value of a product or service.

I think the most powerful tool of the webinar is that allow us to follow a seminar online everywhere in the world and then benefit from the expertise from the best influencers of a choosen topic. Finally, maybe the only weakness of webinar is that is less interactive than face to face seminars and questions & answers are not part of the game. Good point for the webinar, you can watch it again and again. Also, you can easely share with people concerned by the topic.

Please find below the link of the webinar :
http://www.ecornell.com/external-videos/hospitality-webinar-next-generation-guest-satisfaction/

Unfortunately, they didn't put on their website a webinar download tool but is it free and viewable for all. Also, there is any hard copie like pdf document resuming the webinar.

Compare 2 companies that provide mobile apps - classwork - session 5

Comparing StayNtouch & Checkmate mobile apps

StayNtouch :
- Provides a mobile PMS called Rover (can overlay the existing PMS)
- Provides a channel management system and help to connect with distributors
- A very user friendly app (reduce 80% training time)

The mobile app :
- Guest service and housekeeping have mobile access to PMS via a touch-optimized interface.
- Guests can self check-in and out, view room bill and receive upgrade promotions.
- StayNTouch dramatically streamlines operations and increases margins, and revolutionizes how the hotels connect and engage their guests and how guests experience their hotels.

Client : MGM Resorts International

Checkmate :
What is checkmate ? It is a communication platform for delivering guest service.
What are their services ?
Mobile check in, in-stay conversations, room-ready notification, welcome text message,  collect guest feedback in real time,  real-time service recovery, room upgrade, learn about the client before he arrives (when he will come, if he is a VIP client)

Some of their clients : Radisson Blu, Carlson Rezidor...

Comparison :  
StayNtouch provides a mobile booking engine and channel manager to the hotel when Checkmate focuses on the communication with its communication plateform for guest service.
The big difference is that the hotel using checkmate will be more efficient in collecting preferences of the guests and tries to interact digitally but directly with them when StayNtouch will more focuses on the guest service processes and collecting automatically data. 

How has "mobile" impacted travellers' behavior ?
It impacted travellers behavior because the hospitality industry is traditionnally very linked with the human touch in every process of the stay at the hotel. The big difference now is that having a digital touch with the hotel open new opportunities in communication, in the guest service and obviously it will be a gain of time for the hotel and the guest. The guest will appreciate to not have to call the hotel or send an email to request something from the hotel and the hotel will be able to organize the customer arrival more easily. 

Which app provider you would choose for your hotel and why ?
Based on the whole informations from the two mobile apps i would choose StayNtouch because even if it would be great to gather informations and feedback more easily with Checkmate the fact is, giving the best service to the guests is a requirement and StayNtouch works better about improving the hotel services through its app.