June 21, 2002 - The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant
Group always has been known for its first-class service. From its start,
the San Francisco-based boutique hotel collection has excelled at beating
guest expectations. Its trademark cozy fireplaces in its lobbies, its elegantly
designed guestrooms and its friendly, individually designed, chef driven
restaurants have earned the company a reputation for high-quality service
with a personalized touch.
Kimpton�s ability to consistently anticipate,
meet and exceed guest expectations has helped it grow to 33 hotels throughout
the U.S. and Canada. Its properties, which average 184 rooms, are found
in seven states and in two locations in British Columbia. The company will
open hotels in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley this year, and in San
Francisco in 2003.
�Kimpton Boutique Hotels has plans to double in
size in the next five years,� said Steve Pinetti, Senior Vice President
Sales and Marketing. �Most of that growth will be on the East Coast.�
As Kimpton�s customer base has grown, so too has
the company�s need to recognize repeat guests. In early 2000, Kimpton executives
discussed the best way to roll out a systemwide program to recognize its
best customers. It decided on a two-phase approach and selected GuestWare
as the software tool it would use. GuestWare, Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) software for the lodging industry, is developed, marketed, implemented
and supported by Diversified Computer Corp., Seattle.
First Phase Expands Guest Recognition Program
The first phase of Kimpton�s plan included the
implementation of recognition standards and processes to deliver personalized
service to repeat customers. Within these standards, each hotel was given
the opportunity to customize its recognition program to maintain local
identity and flair.
Kimpton
chose GuestWare�s Guest Recognition software as the tool it would use to
track guest preferences and reward its repeat guests. Guest Recognition
automatically builds and maintains a database of repeat guests using data
from a hotel�s Property Management System (PMS). GuestWare�s matching process
compares expected arrivals with past customers and identifies each repeat
guest.
Taking a conservative approach with its CRM system
rollout, Kimpton decided to launch its guest recognition program at the
individual property level and not corporatewide. GuestWare was tested first
at the Hotel Palomar in San Francisco. GuestWare Version 2.0 was selected
because it already met the technical objectives of phase one and it had
a Lanmark interface for Guest Recognition.
Within six months of the GuestWare installation
in April 2000, the Hotel Palomar was able to expand its recognition program
from fewer than 50 guests to more than 1,500 guests. GuestWare showed the
hotel that more than 35 percent of its guests were repeat customers and
that on some days that number reached more than 50 percent.
�When I first saw GuestWare and discovered what
it could do from a guest recognition standpoint, I got very excited,� said
Shirley Bovone King, Kimpton�s Guest Loyalty Champion. �I had been using
index cards to track guest preferences. To be able to organize and automate
that information was great.�
After a very successful six-month pilot test at
the Hotel Palomar, Kimpton began to add GuestWare to its properties at
a rate of about four hotels per month. Within eight months GuestWare was
installed in 26 Kimpton hotels. King said the software should be in 33
of Kimpton�s hotels by the end of July 2002. Kimpton�s primary goal was
to implement GuestWare�s Guest Recognition component but GuestWare�s Rapid
Response and Incident Tracking features also are used to log critical guest
requests.
Logging Guest Experiences Improves Service
Rapid Response enables each Kimpton property�s
staff to log, dispatch and follow-up on all guest requests and problems.
Incident Tracking gives each hotel the ability to quickly log an incident
(a.k.a. experience), gauge the response time to it and track the amount
of compensation used to satisfy a guest. General managers at Kimpton�s
hotels are given incentives to log incidents.
�From a hotel asset point of view, to be able
to quickly identify and eliminate recurring maintenance problems is valuable,�
King said. �Many of our hotels have been using Incident Tracking to manage
vendors as well. The beauty of Incident Tracking is that there is a function
that enables us to track costs.�
By logging guest experiences, a very valuable
history for repeat guests is created. All issues logged for a guest are
clearly listed in the guest arrival report. This makes it easy for staff
to create a better experience during the guest�s next visit.
At the Prescott Hotel in San Francisco, staff
noticed that one guest ordered the same breakfast each time he visited.
Using GuestWare�s Incident Tracking, they were able to create a running
order that reminded them to serve him the same breakfast selection each
time he stays at the hotel. The personalized service impressed the guest.
At other hotels, Incident Tracking was used to track guests� needs for
hypoallergenic pillows, improve towel service and reduce door lock difficulties.
GuestWare worked closely with key executives at
Kimpton to develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for GuestWare.
It defined the processes and guidelines for how each hotel would implement
the new guest recognition program. Part of the document defined the role
and responsibility of each department and management. Kimpton designated
a GuestWare champion and co-champion at each hotel to take ownership and
drive the program.
Another purpose of the SOP was to define the standard
guest preference guidelines. In keeping with the individuality of the boutique
hotel concept, GuestWare allows staff at each hotel to create their own
unique preferences while adhering to some corporate standards to be met
across the collection of properties.
Conference Calls Key to Successful Implementation
With so many hotels rolling out GuestWare, executives
at Kimpton decided regular biweekly conference calls were vital to ensure
a successful rollout of the guest loyalty program. The phone meetings included
GuestWare champions from each hotel and at least one senior executive.
The calls created an open forum for participants to share success stories
and concerns.
It was not uncommon for Thomas W. LaTour, CEO,
Pinetti and general managers to participate in the calls. Kimpton executives
used this opportunity to emphasize the importance of the program, review
property statistics to measure success, and create competition and incentives
among hotels.
One Kimpton property with a success story to tell
is the historic Hotel Monaco, a boutique hotel set in the heart of downtown
Salt Lake City. Thanks, in part, to the level of customer service that
GuestWare enabled, the 225-room hotel won 87 percent of the transient business
in its competitive set in December 2001. That compared to 70 percent for
its competitors, according to Brett Cunningham, assistant front office
manager and guest loyalty champion at the hotel. That success occurred
just nine months after GuestWare was installed in March 2001.
Cunningham said the Hotel Monaco welcomed 15,000
guests between March 2001 and January 2002. A little more than 4,100 of
those were repeat guests logged into the GuestWare database. Each record
includes not only contact information but also the guest�s preferences,
visit history, how much they spent during previous visits, as well as birthday
and anniversary information. Guests who make a reservation for a first-time
return visit are pre-blocked into the best rooms, given an apple and bottle
of water in their room and welcomed with a personalized, handwritten note.
Second Phase: GuestWare Enterprise Centralizes
Kimpton�s Guest Profiles
Once
guest recognition processes were in place and each property had built up
a significant database of repeat customers, the second phase of Kimpton�s
plan was rolled out. It includes a systemwide customer information system
run by GuestWare�s Enterprise software. Using Enterprise, Kimpton hotels
can share and recognize repeat guest profiles and preferences. Properties
also can create and maintain an ongoing central database of customer profiles
and visit history for marketing purposes.
Enterprise first was tested at several Kimpton
properties in the fall of 2001. It since has been implemented throughout
the chain. With Enterprise, each Kimpton hotel sends an updated guest profile
database through the company network each night using encrypted files.
The database goes out over the Internet to a FTP site where it is pulled
into a central database hosted by Diversified Computer Corp. Each property�s
database is then merged with the guest profiles from all other Kimpton
properties. A cleansing process occurs within that central database to
ensure the integrity of the data.
Only the first batch of guest profiles sent from
a Kimpton hotel to the central database includes every profile. Each subsequent
daily transmission includes only new or changed data. The system architecture
has a fault tolerant design that allows hotels to continue to use GuestWare
even if their connection to Enterprise is lost.
After guest profiles from each hotel are merged
in the central database, selected profiles are returned to each hotel.
The criteria, or rules for selecting those returned profiles are set by
the management company. In Kimpton�s case, it is currently focused on their
most frequent guests. Kimpton�s goal is to increase the number of profiles
identified to all guests with personal profiles in GuestWare.
�The focus of our program is recognizing personal
preferences and rewarding loyalty,� King said. �We promise our guests their
preferences will be met at all Kimpton Boutique Hotels. That would not
be possible without Enterprise.�
While Enterprise works to a hotel company�s advantage,
it also works to a guest�s. Enterprise enables a hotel�s staff to include
a guest�s property-specific preferences for a hotel within a chain or global
preferences to be recognized at all hotels in the chain. Using Kimpton,
for example, a guest might have a favorite room at the Monaco Denver but
also have a pillow preference that applies to any Kimpton Boutique Hotel.
Enterprise allows hotels within a chain or collection of properties to
accommodate such preferences.
Central Reservation System Connectivity
Enterprise also enables Kimpton�s central database
to interface with its Pegasus Solutions Loyalty Program System (LPS) and
Central Reservation System (CRS). This allows a guest�s preferences to
be seen at the time a reservation is made. Earlier this year, Kimpton,
GuestWare and Pegasus successfully developed, tested and installed the
CRS interface. Approximately 20,000 guest profiles were transmitted in
the first run. Guest profiles currently are sent to the Pegasus LPS and
CRS from the central database at DCC monthly after they have been merged
and cleansed.
The interface enables transmission of complete
guest profile information. That data includes specified global preferences
that are available to the reservation agents. Having profiles of repeat
guests available at the point of reservation streamlines the reservation
process and enhances the guest experience.
To date, only guest profiles with addresses or
e-mail addresses are included in Kimpton�s GuestWare databases. Those are
pieces of information that King said are not easy to collect.
�Getting an address is tough,� she said. �Addresses
are not required over e-channels and a lot of travel agents are reluctant
to provide that information.�
One of Kimpton�s corporate initiatives is to improve
its address collection rate. Guests are encouraged to complete a card with
address and preference information at check-in. Kimpton also is developing
a Web site that will enable a guest to enter personal preference information
on-line.
Sales and Marketing Benefits
One of the primary goals of a CRM initiative is
to collect and use information that later can be used to drive incremental
revenue from existing customers. With a database of guest profiles available
to each hotel�s sales team, the potential to mine that data for leads is
tremendous.
Data can easily be extracted out of a property-level
GuestWare database or Enterprise�s centralized database to create mailing
lists or e-mail lists. Kimpton currently is having success with property-level
mailings and is looking to bolster its corporate marketing with Enterprise.
King explained that GuestWare enables a sales
team to generate a report showing a list of companies and their repeat
guests. The list can be used to identify new repeat guests from companies
that previously have not been targeted as a corporate account or for group
business. One Kimpton hotel recently landed a major U.S. company account
because of such data access.
�One of the main selling points also was the fact
that we were able to track their employees� preferences,� King said.
For the Hotel Palomar and other Kimpton hotels,
GuestWare has become an integral part of guest recognition.
�GuestWare helps us provide the personal touch
that makes Kimpton Boutique Hotels unique,� Pinetti said. �Being able to
know guests� preferences, no matter where they stay in our collection,
is truly a competitive advantage. GuestWare�s robust data mining capabilities
also provide the means we need to create new business. That is extremely
important in a challenging business environment.�
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