A new era of business-to-customer communications is taking shape and, in this new world, fast, intimate, service-oriented communications are eclipsing traditional broadcast marketing. In a world where service experiences are instantly made public on TripAdvisor and where communication is increasingly integral to service delivery, real-time interactions with customers are now essential for service brands. Consumers expect to engage and receive service through the mobile channels where they live their lives. Effective, Real-Time Customer Relationship Management (RTCRM) turns customers into brand advocates and results in the development of world-class brands. READ MORE

There is no scarcity of impressive numbers and statistics espousing the exponential growth in the use of smart-phones and other mobile devices across the globe. Equally we have abundant access to these same data-points professionally refined and indexed specifically to the Connected-Traveler, also known as our addressable market. However, as an industry do we adequately understand how to intersect this market with highly relevant guest-facing mobile solutions? In this article we review where we came from, the challenges we have overcome, where we are now, and most importantly identify initiatives to improve adoption and subscription rates to our guest-facing mobile offerings. READ MORE

Many articles provide tips on how to deal with angry customers such as “don't take the angry outburst personally”, “sympathize with the customer and get them to calm before solving their problem” and “maintain an assertive, positive and calm attitude”. All are excellent tools and your team will achieve high customer service scores if they apply them. However, do you have a plan to deal with the anger that creates havoc “behind the scenes” when the customer isn't looking? If you don't, you are probably dealing with high turnover rates and wondering how to fix it. READ MORE

The hot topic of late has been on how to engage guests through their mobile devices, and thus hopefully establishing a new group of loyal customers. Beyond engagement, we decided to take it a step further, looking into how much they use mobile media as a payment tool. Since mobile payments are used in the retail market already, what do our hotel guests have to say about mobile payments in hotels? Do they use mobile payments now? Will they use mobile payment methods to settle hotel payments? What about buying that cup of coffee at the coffee bar or the souvenir t-shirt at the gift shop? READ MORE

Dear Hotelier, I know it's hard to hear, hoteliers - but your guests are just not that into you. In the movie, "He's Just Not That Into You," a young woman is regularly disappointed when she misreads signals from men. These days it seems that many hoteliers are either missing or mis-reading signals about how the ever changing nature of our mobile experience is affecting guest expectations. READ MORE