3 Ways to Maximize Efficiency with Concierge Software
Table of Contents:
Concierge & Technology • Smarter Guest Experience • Staying Ahead • Understand Your Guests • Service that Stands Out
These days, concierges spend too much time doing what they do best—managing reservations, coordinating services, and handling endless requests. By automating certain tasks with concierge software, they can put their energy into what really matters—creating unforgettable experiences.
Concierges have been around way longer than hotels. In the Middle Ages, the concierge held the palace keys, controlling access to even the most important rooms. The concierge, as the king’s trusted advisor, managed the household and performed special tasks at the request of the court. A few hundred years later, the role changed from palaces to hotel lobbies. Now, they help travelers find their way in new cities.
Today, the concierge profession continues to undergo fundamental changes. With everything at our fingertips—rideshares, food delivery, instant reservations—guests don’t rely on concierges the way they used to. It is easy to see why some in the profession worry about being replaced by technology.
If the technology is applied correctly, it can elevate the concierge role to new heights.
Today’s concierges spend too much time doing busy work and not enough time focusing on their guests. Smartphones and automation can handle repetitive, robotic tasks. Automating these tasks lets concierges focus on improving the guest experience. They can leverage their networks and craft one-of-a-kind, unforgettable experiences.
Let’s discuss how the right hotel concierge software can cut out the grunt work, free up time, and help elevate the guest experience to a whole new level.
Enhance the Guest Experience with ALICE’s Concierge Software
Every concierge we talk to shares the same frustration: “Every morning, when I get to work, I have to open seven browser windows on my computer: personal email, work email, housekeeping system, concierge system, Google, property management system, and my calendar.” That’s before they even start helping guests!
How can hotel concierges make magical guest experiences when booking a dinner reservation requires so many steps? They must find a nearby restaurant, call to reserve a table, update the property management system, email the next shift, and adjust everything based on the guests’ schedule.
Meanwhile, guests using apps like OpenTable can book a table in seconds. All the information is updated in real time and in a single database. However, while guests reap the efficiencies of technologies, they (and the hotel) miss out on the concierge’s local expertise and personal touch.
That’s where Actabl’s hotel concierge software, ALICE Local, comes in. Concierges can simplify their work by using one software for all reservations. This means no more juggling multiple systems. Rather than having to open up a new window to make a reservation, ALICE pulls in Google search, making it easy to add a new restaurant and store the information in a digital digest of previously searched restaurants. And since it integrates with the hotel’s property management system, any changes are automatically updated for the whole team.
As a result, with concierge software, they can spend less time on tedious work and more time planning a fantastic post-dinner evening of dancing and drinks that make a guest’s stay unforgettable.
Discover how ALICE Local can help streamline your concierge’s workflow.
The Smarter Way to Stay in the Know
In a city like New York, new restaurants, bars, clubs, performances, and galleries keep appearing. This makes it hard for concierges to stay up to date in the latest hotspots. This is exactly where they can leverage ALICE to increase their competitive advantage.
Using a single guest services system to manage all concierge requests doesn’t just streamline the process—it helps the whole team work smarter. Instead of scrambling to stay updated, concierges across departments, shifts, and even different properties can collaborate. As your guest services team adds new restaurants to the reservation database, they can create an ongoing list of recommendations; they can update this list as they discover new hotspots.
Understand Your Hotel Guests for an Improved Experience
The art of superior guest service lies in making the right recommendations for each guest. As your team builds up its database, you’ll begin to develop a better understanding of your guests’ preferences and habits, which means you can personalize and improve the quality of your recommendations.
For example, you might learn that 80% of your guests are going to the same 10 restaurants. That insight could influence your on-property menu items, or even open up a door for partnership. More importantly, if you learn that a certain VIP always dines at the same restaurant, you might want to go the extra mile and make a reservation on his behalf the next time he checks in.
Keeping good notes and accurate tagging makes it easier to provide suggestions based on your guests’ needs. Every time a new restaurant gets added, your staff will have the option to add relevant tags such as #brunchspot, adding a note that says “Contact Jim for VIP service,” and leaving personal reviews like “Good cocktail menu,” which can be viewed by other staff as they send their guests to the recommended restaurant.
Focus on What Truly Matters: Exceptional Service
Great technology should take the mundane tasks off your plate so you can focus more time on providing great service. As made evident by a study from WinSavvy, Millennials crave experiences that they can share with friends and social media. As much as 80% of travelers want more personalization in what they consume.
With less time spent dealing with technological grunt work, who better than ALICE’s concierge software to create these experiences? Discover how ALICE can help you do just that—empowering your concierge to easily deliver personalized service. Request a demo using ALICE to see how it can transform your guest experiences.
