On HotelRunner blog, we keep mentioning offers and opportunities the Internet provides for the accommodation industry. Under today’s conditions, it is a must for every property to use the Internet and technology effectively. That is the only way to catch up with the increasing competition.
Currently, guests prefer the Internet for communication, but that is not the only issue. Many hotels are able to use technology effectively within their property. It is quite possible to order food, make spa reservations and access electronic keys through digital menus, which is because of the increasing expectations of guests from a digital era. However, you should do much more than just providing Internet access, especially for marketing and reservation or technology within your property. Your staff members should be able to adapt themselves to this digital change.
Adaptation process
First of all, younger staff members adapt themselves to requirements of the digital era more easily. However, it would be clever to note that all members of your staff should be part of specific training and adaptation process.
Each department within your property will have a different type of technology. Therefore, you will have more effective results if your staff focuses on improvement in using technologies specific to daily business life, rather than trying to learn everything in a short time. There are many responsibilities of department managers for this issue in terms of leading and counseling.
Training plan
On the other hand, remember that your staff members should not fail in using technology most of the time as the property has an all time dynamic structure. In other words, they should already know how to use technology as part of their job and have relevant experience.
It is possible to do that through in-house training. It is a must to make a solid plan before using a new technology especially in a property that has a large number of employees. If related employees are provided with a private training course, it is possible to reduce possible problems to the least.
User-friendly technologies
In addition, the issue is not all about the benefits of any technology. When that technology is not used properly, it might bring about losses rather than benefits. Therefore, you should follow the training period of your staff members to know to which degree they adopt technology. If you think that they cannot use this innovation properly, you should either prolong the training period or seek for alternative solutions.
3 questions you should ask before making a choice
Therefore, you had better consider the following 3 points before making a certain decision about using a new technology for your property:
1- How necessary is it? – If you do not really need it for your property, you will waste your time and money in vain.
2- Is it usable? – Can your staff members adapt themselves to this new technology easily? Can they use it effectively? If you cannot answer these questions positively, you had better take a look at other options.
3- How long will it be used? – Technology is changing very rapidly and at times some technologies might lag behind in digital competition before you even adapt yourself to it. This results in failure of your investments within a short time. It might be good to make a research on the new technology you are planning to use to determine whether it is a long term investment for you at the very beginning.
HotelRunner, which is developed specially for the management, promotion and online sales of your property, is designed as user-friendly for anyone to make use of it easily. Create your account for free and test HotelRunner, which will be enough for you to see how user-friendly it is both for yourself and your staff, and let a single application meet many of your needs.
