Running a hotel is a complex business, and it’s important to stay on top of the latest technology to get ahead in such a competitive market. The hotel industry must continue its path towards digitalization, therefore, a hotel management software is a key element in the improvement of business administration. It is important to carry out a prior search and investigation to find the perfect hotel PMS to implement in your establishment.
Of course, not all PMS systems are the same, and it can be confusing to choose the right one for your business. It’s essential to know exactly what hotel management technology is and why it is so important, so let’s take you through everything hotel PMS related so you can make the most accurate decision for your hotel.
What is a hotel management software?
A hotel property management software (PMS) is a management system that hotel managers use to manage the daily activities of their hotel such as reservations, reception, housekeeping, maintenance, billing, collections, analysis and reports.
All of these activities demand a lot of work and can be time consuming, so the goal of a PMS system is to save hotel managers and their employees time and money. Year after year, these hotel management softwares have improved to become essential tools for managing these businesses. Beyond the simple performance of basic customer service tasks, a PMS system covers many areas:
- Guest loyalty programs.
- Data collection and analysis.
- Service administration.
- Reservations and registrations.
- Reception.
- Housekeeping.
- Billing and collections.
- Maintenance.
- Reports and analysis.
No doubts, there is a suitable pms system for your hotel, which can help you stay ahead of your competitors and make sure your guests have the best experience possible.
Functions of a hotel PMS
As we have seen, a hotel PMS must have functionalities that automate the reservation processes, reception, housekeeping, maintenance, reports…
Bookings
These can be made in advance or be walk-in reservations. A hotel PMS automatically manages both, simply and effectively. It also facilitates group bookings, where a large volume of personal data is recorded at once.
Reception
The most mechanical reception functions can be carried out automatically: check-in and check-out of guests, room assignment, extra services… Thus, the reception staff can focus on more personalized attention.
Housekeeping
A PMS system also allows you to indicate the rooms that are clean, the ones that need to be clean, the ones available, the ones that need some repair… This software also facilitates the staff management and work shifts.
Billing and collections
The management of the hotel’s billing is also done through a PMS software. Billing, accounting, trial balances, reports… It’s much faster and easier.
Reports and analysis
Each hotel department must generate specific reports that allow it to draw conclusions about management, implement improvements and facilitate decision-making. In addition, it allows you to protect and analyze customer data to create guest profiles and purchase and behavior patterns.
Why your hotel needs a PMS system
Do you still use paper or Excel sheets to manage your business? Basic customer service tasks such as room bookings, billing and room availability can be performed in a much more automatic, efficient and documented way in the long term.
Using a PMS software can save you time and effort by automating common tasks like updating rates and room availability, sending email reminders to guests and billing. A PMS system implies that the hotel staff spend less time on administrative tasks and more on customer service.
The use of a hotel management software also allows you to increase the income of the business since it performs complete monitoring and collects data that can be analyzed to implement improvements.
The challenge for any hotel is to provide a personalized experience to customers while managing its operation competently. And that is nowadays achieved in a much easier way with the help of a PMS software, which gives to the guests the experience they expect and facilitates the management of the company.
But sometimes a PMS itself is not enough. In this sense, Goguest offers a management and guest experience solution that integrates within the PMS completing its functions and acting as a hub with a single dashboard. You can contact our team if you have any questions, we are happy to help!
