What is a hotel CRM system: Benefits, features, and top 12 providers

A customer relationship management (CRM) system can be a fantastic tool to take your hotel marketing strategy to the next level. With a CRM, hotels can gather and store guest data to ultimately save time, streamline operations, and build customer loyalty.

In this guide, you’ll learn all about hotel CRMs, from the benefits of using one to the best software in the market today. 

During Passport 2024, Cloudbeds’ annual UserCon, Jackie Maloney, Senior Manager, Solutions Marketing, shared the importance of CRM for hotels and introduced Cloudbeds CRM.

Benefits of using a hospitality CRM

Let’s break down how hospitality businesses can benefit from using a customer relationship management system.

Improved customer satisfaction.

Hotels start fostering their relationships with their clients well before their arrival. CRMs have a crucial role in managing every step in the customer journey, from when they first visit your website to the moment they check-in and after they return home post-stay. The data collected in the CRM can be used to personalize each guest’s experience in several ways, ranging from their assigned rooms and room service to any upgrades they might want. 

For example, if you know that a guest is a wheelchair user, you can offer them a room on the ground floor with accessibility features before they even have to ask for it. 

Data-based decision making.

Hotels can provide fully personalized experiences to their guests by collecting and harnessing their data. Using a CRM to store customer data allows businesses to understand customer journeys and provide personalized experiences that can increase the chances of making a sale.  

With a CRM, you can create detailed guest profiles that include information such as their preferences, communication history, and feedback. The customer data that you collect can be used by different departments, from the sales and front desk teams to the kitchen and housekeeping, to make sure that you’re offering the best experience possible to your guests. 

Streamlined communications.

Managing guest communication can be challenging as inquiries and feedback often come through various channels. Centralizing all forms of communication can be made possible by implementing a CRM. This tool integrates emails, phone calls, live chats, SMS, and social media into one platform, and enables you to keep track of all guest interactions.  

Additionally, a CRM can be used to segment and manage email marketing campaigns, which can be an effective way to send notifications to hotel guests before and during their stay and request feedback after their visit.

Automation of workflows.

Hotel integrations play a crucial role in automating workflows in the hospitality industry. By integrating CRMs with other hotel software systems like a property management system (PMS) and point-of-sale system (POS), hotel staff can easily access and track room occupancy, guest preferences, and purchase history, all in one centralized location. These integrations save time and reduce the likelihood of errors, eliminating the need for manual data entry and allowing staff to focus on other essential tasks. 

Hotels can optimize their guest relationships and improve their sales management and targeted marketing strategies by automating processes across different departments. With a CRM, workflows can be set up to address customer complaints quickly and efficiently, significantly reducing problem resolution time.

Build customer loyalty.

CRM systems offer numerous benefits to hotels, one of the most significant being guest loyalty. When guests have a satisfying experience, they are more likely to return for future stays and leave positive reviews. In fact, studies show that 94% of customers prefer to purchase from a source they have previously used. CRM platforms allow hotels to create loyalty programs and track customer engagement, enabling them to monitor guest behavior and preferences. With this information, hotels can offer personalized rewards to encourage guests to return.

Key features of a hotel CRM software

There are numerous CRM solutions in the market today, and the best one for you will depend on your property’s size, specific needs, and budget. Here are some of the most important features you should look for when researching CRM systems for your hotel business.

Integration capabilities: You should look for a CRM that seamlessly integrates with your existing hotel management tools, particularly your PMS, to ensure that everything is updated in real-time.

Multi-channel: Having your communications with guests all in one place can streamline your internal processes and improve your hotel’s overall efficiency. A good CRM should be able to gather communication information from various channels, including email, SMS, online messaging, social media, and in-person interactions allowing you to offer customer support and follow-up on requests efficiently.

Contact management: A CRM allows you to collect and store guest information, preferences, and history, making it easier to personalize their experience during their stay.

Marketing automation features: Creating email campaigns is made easy with a CRM. By using marketing automation tools, you can send customized messages to specific groups of people and automatically add the guest data of anyone who interacts with your ads or emails. Additionally, using this tool, you can plan and schedule social media ads targeted to potential customers. This helps prepare and enhance the sales process, ultimately leading to more bookings.

Within budget: Of course, the best CRM for your property is the one that is within your budget. Pay attention to the pricing and avoid flashy features you are unlikely to use.

12 best hotel CRM systems in 2024

With so many tools in the market, it’s important to know which hotel CRM systems are leading the way in terms of features, scalability, and overall value. In this section, we will take a closer look at the top ten best hotel CRM software to help you make an informed decision for your hotel’s needs.

ALICE by Actabl

ALICE is an all-in-one operations platform designed to boost operational efficiency, improve productivity, and enhance guest satisfaction. With task-level data, you can gain visibility and transparency into hotel operations and hold individuals and departments accountable. This real-time communication, coordination, and task distribution across departments empowers your team to do more with less, improving efficiency and the overall guest experience.

Cendyn

The Cendyn CRM is a state-of-the-art customer relationship management platform that enables hoteliers to establish better connections with their guests while increasing their revenue. By utilizing a data-driven media planning strategy and a tailored testing process, Cendyn’s digital marketing expertise ensures that clients’ brands deliver personalized content that resonates with diverse segments. 

dailypoint

dailypoint is a top-rated data management and CRM platform designed to gather data from different sources, including PMS, POS, website, newsletter, and Wi-Fi, and create a central and consolidated guest profile. With the help of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and data cleaning processes, dailypoint generates extensive guest knowledge that can be used to improve the guest experience and drive sales. 

Experience Hotel

Experience Hotel is a hospitality CRM software that focuses on strengthening customer loyalty by helping hotel staff ensure a top-quality experience before, during, and after the stay. With special concierge tools, hotels can craft personalized marketing campaigns with upsell offers for restaurant deals, spa treatments, and room upgrades.

Hotels can use Experience Hotel’s comprehensive segmentation features to build targeted campaigns for prospective guests based on factors like nationality, age, interests, or familiarity with the hotel’s regional location. 

For-Sight

For-Sight is a powerful data-driven CRM system that hoteliers can use to gain actionable insights. By capturing and intelligently analyzing data from various sources such as PMS tools, Wi-Fi registration, and Reputation Management platforms, For-Sight helps hoteliers make informed marketing decisions. The system offers transparent analytical reporting from engagements, allowing hoteliers to improve guest experiences, increase upsells, and execute intelligent marketing. 

Hubspot

Hubspot’s CRM platform provides a seamless connection between your data, teams, and customers, all in one place. With HubSpot’s free CRM tools, you can effortlessly manage your sales pipeline to track and nurture leads and analyze business metrics.

HubSpot automatically keeps records of all customer interactions, whether they occur in an email, on social media, or over a call. Every interaction with a lead is saved in a unified, easy-to-use timeline, so you’ll never have to search through a cluttered inbox or spreadsheet to find out where a relationship left off.

Navis

Navis is a comprehensive CRM solution that is designed to bring together the efforts of sales teams, marketing departments, and analytical feedback for a holistic approach to business growth.

The reservation sales modules offer virtual telephony and chat support to sales reps, helping them with coaching and post-sale scoring and analysis for continuous improvement. The marketing suites provide segmentation, automation, surveys, and recognition of customers’ preferences, while the analytics combine sales and marketing data to measure ROI and KPI. 

Profitroom

Profitroom is a powerful marketing automation system that offers unique CRM functionalities. This system provides valuable data-driven insights to help drive revenue, improve guest engagement, and foster long-term relationships, all while supporting your direct booking strategy. The system’s user-friendly interface allows users to seamlessly maintain contact with guests by segmenting and automating relevant offers and content tailored to their needs.

Reputize 

Reputize is a CRM that allows hotels to manage their guest experience and online reputation through feedback, personal communication, and marketing automation delivered throughout the guest journey. 

Revinate

Revinate is a comprehensive hotel CRM that creates detailed guest profiles, providing personalized experiences that foster guest satisfaction and retention. Its reputation management tool consolidates guest reviews from different sites, enabling hoteliers to maintain a positive online presence.

Revinate’s guest profiles include information such as the booking method, the number of stays and nights, the total money spent, and the time since the last visit, along with other preferences. The system also collects reviews from Google, TripAdvisor, social media, and guest feedback and survey forms to offer a detailed account of the customer experience. 

Salesforce

Hotels looking for advanced CRM capabilities often choose Salesforce as their preferred platform. The system’s ability to collect detailed data for upsells and rebooking is priceless, and the customized mobile apps help to enhance guest engagement. Although Salesforce caters to various industries with its expansive app line, it excels at creating a personalized experience for guests, allowing hotels to provide tailored services.

Hotel CRM features on the platform include sales management, active real-time social listening, lead management, and complete data-gathering opportunities that track the customer experience throughout the sales lifecycle and the guest experience during stays.

ScaleFast

ScaleFast offers a CRM solution designed to streamline eCommerce, improve marketing, manage customer relationships, and track engagement for hospitality brands. 

Integrating your CRM system with the Cloudbeds Platform

The Cloudbeds Platform seamlessly integrates with a variety of CRM systems to help hotels maintain a top-notch customer experience. All reservation and customer data is updated in real time and any changes are instantly synchronized between Cloudbeds’ PMS and the CRM. This way, you can leverage your guests’ data to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

Final thoughts

A hotel CRM software is a crucial tool for enhancing guest experience, boosting profitability, and simplifying internal processes. By having an effective CRM at your disposal, you can streamline your hotel’s internal processes, reduce the time and effort needed to perform daily tasks and concentrate on delivering exceptional service to your guests.