A hotel guest CRM is the software that keeps a hotel's record of every guest and every stay, and uses it to send the emails, offers and loyalty points that bring guests back. CRM stands for customer relationship management. A hotel CRM is built for hotels: it understands stays, rooms, rates and dates, not just contact details.
The CRM collects guest data from several systems. The property management system (PMS) sends each stay: the dates, the room, the rate and the bill. The hotel booking engine sends the email address and phone number of each guest who books directly. Front desk staff can add preferences, such as a high floor or a vegetarian breakfast. All of this is the hotel's first-party data, data that the hotel collects itself, with the guest's consent.
The first job is to join records. The same guest may appear as "R. Menon" from a travel site, "Rahul Menon" from the website, and only as a mobile number from the restaurant. The CRM matches these into one guest profile, using the email address, the phone number and the name. Then it groups guests into segments, such as business travellers who come every month, or families who come every summer.
The second job is to contact guests at the right time. The CRM sends a welcome message before arrival, a feedback form after check-out, and offers before the dates when each segment usually travels. It sends them by email, SMS or WhatsApp, often through a customer engagement platform.
For instance, a group of 15 resorts in Kerala sees that one guest, an architect from Chennai, has stayed at its Kochi hotel twice for work, and at its Munnar resort once with his family, in May. His profile shows that he asks for a room with a view and a vegetarian breakfast. In March, the CRM sends him an offer for a family stay in May at the group's backwater resort in Alappuzha, with 15% off for returning guests. He books it directly. When he arrives, the front desk sees his preferences in the PMS and gives him a room facing the water.
Many hotel groups also run a loyalty programme, in which guests earn points for each stay and spend them on free nights. The points are kept by loyalty programme software. The CRM reads each guest's points and tier when it decides who gets which offer.
How is a hotel guest CRM different from a general customer relationship management (CRM) system? A general CRM is built for salespeople who track business customers and deals. A hotel CRM is built around stays, and its main users are the hotel's marketing and front desk teams.