Digital Alchemy's eMarketing Tools Help Hotels Provide Critical, Time-Sensitive Information to Guests
Published on Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:29 pm
Source: Digital Alchemy/Press Release
Digital Alchemy's eMarketing Tools Help Hotels Provide Critical, Time-Sensitive Information to Guests
eBlast and iBlast solutions facilitate urgent communications and help hotels keep guests informed during unexpected events and crises
Minneapolis - June 10, 2013 - When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM), the hospitality industry is one of the world's most challenging businesses. Since hotels operate 24 hours a day, they are often forced to deal with rapidly evolving situations and events that are sometimes out of their control. When a crisis occurs, hoteliers require a means to quickly and professionally communicate critical, time-sensitive DA boston eblast information to both current and arriving guests who may be affected by a given situation. From unscheduled road construction or weather alerts to security emergencies, efficient guest communication is a critical element of a hotel's inherent responsibility to its guests.
In the hours and days after April's tragic Boston Marathon bombing, The Lenox Hotel was effectively locked down. Located just steps from the crime scene, police barred the hotel from welcoming new guests for a week, and Lenox management was tasked with keeping guests apprised of the situation as it unfolded. Fortunately, The Lenox had access to the eBlast platform from Digital Alchemy, a leading provider of hospitality-specific CRM and eMarketing solutions.
"Using Digital Alchemy's system, we were able to immediately reach out to our guests and update them on the status of the hotel as soon as we knew," said Christopher Smith, Sales and Revenue Analyst for The Lenox. "Without being able to communicate with our guests en masse, this process would have been significantly more complicated and our guests would have been in the dark much longer. Digital Alchemy's email marketing tools proved to be an invaluable way for us to quickly and effectively communicate with our guests so we could manage the crisis."
With the addition of Digital Alchemy's iBlast solution, hotels can further increase the speed of guest communications through the use of pre-made templates and the self-service system. iBlast serves as a complement to the eBlast platform that allows properties to access their CRM data any time of the day or night to send urgent communications on the fly.
"Although hotels typically use our solutions for marketing purposes, the efficiency and flexibility in which they are designed to operate also make our services an ideal tool for urgent guest communications of all types," said Kelsey McIntyre, Email Marketing Manager for Digital Alchemy. "Our system allows hotels to immediately reach anyone that could be affected by a certain occurrence, or to access their database for any other reason."
Even in the event that a property loses access to its PMS database, Digital Alchemy can assist by providing a backup database detailing upcoming reservations and past guest history. "A property management system can go down for any length of time and for any number of reasons," continued McIntyre. "Since we store a copy of the PMS data in our Cloud, we can provide that information to the property at any time so they can continue to operate using the most current data available before such a crash."
"Our PMS system crashed and chaos ensued," said Renee Maronge of Le Pavillon Hotel in New Orleans. "We lost over two months of data. All bookings and changes to existing bookings were considered gone and impossible to recover. However, Digital Alchemy was notified of our situation and they came to the rescue. They had a remarkable database that included each and every booking on file, the dates each guest booked, and what rate and room types were held. They sent us a daily capture of each booking during our entire downtime. Using this information, we were able to run manually without a working PMS system for over three weeks while the servers were rebuilt. No relocation of guests was necessary and problematic situations were kept to a minimum. I don't know how we would have managed without the incredible help from Digital Alchemy."
In addition to using the eBlast services to reach their guests, hotels can also use their more traditional eRelationship pieces to keep their guests informed. Digital Alchemy's CRM suite of Reservation Confirmations, Cancellation Notifications, Pre-Stay Marketing communications and Thank You Notes can be altered to display dynamic information pertinent only to specific stays. For example, Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail, Colorado, uses these dynamic abilities to meet its guest communication needs. "With Digital Alchemy, we are able to change our emails quickly, so that guests always know what is happening at the resort," said Patricia McNamara, Director of Sales and Marketing at Sonnenalp. "I have never before worked with a company that is so responsive and adaptable to our many needs."
For more information on Digital Alchemy's comprehensive suite of CRM and e-marketing solutions, please visit www.Digital-Alchemy.com.
About Digital Alchemy | Since launching the first true CRM solution to the hotel industry in 1999, Digital Alchemy has become an established leader in customer relationship management (CRM) and e-marketing solutions for the global hotel and spa market. With a comprehensive suite of integrated e-mail CRM offerings, the product line has grown to include a powerful and flexible set of tools for building and maintaining profitable relationships with current and prospective hotel and spa guests. Current Digital Alchemy clients include over 650 properties, which include some of the most prestigious independent hotels and resorts worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Data2Gold.com.
