December 2009 – For the busy Seattle Convention and
Visitors
Bureau (SCVB), job one is to match 55,000 visitors each year with the
member
businesses that can best meet their needs and make their Seattle stay a
great one. With the help of a comprehensive hospitality
concierge software system, the SCVB has matters well in hand
keeping
visitors happy and local business renewing their memberships every year.
The concierge
software Seattle CVB uses was originally developed for hotels, and
hundreds of quality properties use it to track guest preferences to
provide
professional, personalized guest
services. The solution is also delivering value to cruise
lines,
private clubs and—in Seattle’s case—the city’s tourism bureau. The SCVB
used to inundate visitors with maps and stacks of information about
tours,
dinner reservations, and hotel options, and relied on a staff member’s
Rolodex and sharp memory to ensure regular referrals to member
businesses.
Now, all that has changed.
Today,
the Bureau uses its specialized software called The
Concierge Assistant® (CA) to create well-organized,
chronological
itineraries for visitors that automatically match their plans with as
many
SCVB member businesses as possible. It is an effective way for the
bureau
to target its visitor services and provide greater value to
members.
The concierge system also documents SCVB’s value when it comes time for
membership renewals.
What have you done for
me lately?
“Members frequently ask what the SCVB has done for them, and their activity
tracking software system lets us list all the calls, dinner
reservations, hotel bookings and other services we provided them,” said
Ann Peavey, who manages SCVB’s visitor information program and serves
as its unique voice on Twitter where she is known as Seattle
Maven. “Concierge Assistant is a valuable tool for retaining our
membership. We always put members first when making recommendations and
visitor bookings, and we can show members our value in black and
white.” It works well for recruiting new members, too. The
system also enables the SCVB to demonstrate to Seattle-area prospects
the business it delivers to members. “We can show them the
business they could be getting,” said Peavey.
Peavey especially appreciates CA when visitors have
complicated itinerary
requests that go beyond dinner reservations. “We create a week’s
activities—tours,
attractions, even hotels in other cities—and print them in
chronological
order for visitors. Sticky notes are gone and we instantly match
visitors
to the right members.”
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Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau at
Pike Place Market
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SCVB’s interns are also more effective because they can simply
enter
key words and provide instant value to visitors. If a visitor wants to
stay in a hotel with a waterfront view, the keyword search can pull up
the elegant Edgewater Hotel and other bureau members who meet the
description,
complete with contact info, website address, everything SCVB needs to
make
a booking quickly. Peavey can also add notes about visitors so other
staff
members can meet their needs quickly without having to send e-mails
back
and forth.
The Concierge at Seattle Convention and
Visitors Bureau Center
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The Concierge Assistant system enables:
- Comprehensive recordkeeping for the Bureau
- Quantifiable service reports for membership retention
- An extended network beyond the CVB’s main office in
the Convention Center
and its satellite kiosk at Pike’s Market downtown to wherever staff
needs
it—on the Convention floor, for example, or a booth at a city event
- Real-time information about CVB member businesses
- Printed confirmations and itineraries for visitors
- Greater efficiency, shorter waits at the CVB’s
counter, and greener processes.
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CRM integration a value-add
The SCVB has been working with Gold Key Solutions, CA’s developer, to
integrate its CRM system with The Concierge Assistant. CA became an
important
partner in Peavey’s “mavenship” when she joined the Bureau in 2004.
While
CA currently records every booking the SCVB makes with member
businesses,
integration with the CRM system will enable the SCVB to record every
mention
it makes about a member to a guest. “This is word of mouth promotion
that
delivers value to our members and frequently results in immediate
direct
bookings,” said Mark Nold, the CVB’s IT director. “It will be another
way
we can show our members how we are working for them.”
About The Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau
Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is a non-profit economic
development
agency responsible for competitively marketing Seattle as a destination
for meeting and convention groups and leisure travelers. As a
membership-based
organization, SCVB connects more than 800 local businesses with the
lucrative
visitor market. SCVB’s visitor information centers offer
friendly,
courteous and complimentary service and assistance with Seattle
attractions,
sightseeing and tour information, dining recommendations and
reservations,
shopping, arts and entertainment and more. SCVB’s visitor service
program
is as critical resource for Seattle information and its team of
destination
experts are increasingly in demand for trip planning consultation and
on-the-ground
service. For more information on Seattle, visit its
websites: http://www.visitseattle.org/visitors/ccc.asp
About Gold Key Solutions
Gold
Key Solutions’ The Concierge Assistant improves guest services and
staff communication by creating orderliness and accuracy throughout the
entire concierge process for hotels of all types. The Windows-based
software
application increases staff efficiency and reduces expenses by
automating
all guest services activities and reporting, allowing managers to put
in
place a standard of excellence that may be continually refined. The
system
is available either as a property-based solution, or as a Web-based
system
that may be accessed online with most browsers. The Concierge Assistant
is used by over 400 full-service Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Hyatt,
Starwood,
St. Regis, Four Seasons and other quality properties. The system is
also
employed by many residential living properties and by personal
assistant
and professional concierge companies to optimize services to each
client.
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