Your tech stack is only as good as how much your team uses it. What you put in and definitely what you get out. With the rise of SaaS products for hospitality replacing the hotel legacy systems of yesteryear, getting staff buy-in and high adoption rates is key for a successful transition. It really comes down to your onboarding and training process. Continue reading for our checklist of must-have items to include on your training guide to increase your hotel technology adoption rate.
1 - Key reports
Pace reports, win/loss, GRC reports, just to name a few, are some of the key reports hotels use on a daily basis. Including ‘explore key reports’ on your training checklist will allow users to see how their new tech displays and records data. There is probably a way more in-depth list of reports that your team hasn’t even seen before that can have a high impact on their day-to-day so poking around in this area is a great place to win over your teams.
2 - Integrations
If you have a new piece of tech in your property, chances are, you’re transitioning other components of your tech stack. One of the main benefits of a strong tech vendor is that it opens up an entire ecosystem of solutions. They are most likely integrated with other strong software partners that are just as adept at solving some of your other business challenges. Having your software able to communicate with each other is a blessing and a sure way to increase the hotel technology adoption rate in your teams.
3 - Bells & whistles
When purchasing new technology, you typically purchase a specific tier or bundle of features. After playing around with the initial package, you’ll notice many of the features have more potential than you realized. Adding on a suite of tools to customize your product is a great way to increase the hotel technology adoption rate at your property because it allows your team to cater the features to what they use the most and find the most impactful. Perhaps it’s a special prospector tool the sales team would like to add-on. If the business case is compelling, it’s an easy way to get users not only interested, but highly engaged with the new tech.
4 - The provider is a resource
Tech providers are often a wealthy source of information with their extensive knowledge base. Use this to your advantage! Many tech founders are hospitality veterans trying to provide solutions based on their previous experiences. Get the most out of your investment and use the training and education centers they provide - you and your team might learn a thing or two.
5 - Stay in-the-know
Ok, hear us out - we know you probably don’t need ANY more subscriptions or junk mail in your inbox. However, subscribing to blogs and newsletters associated with your providers will give you industry news and know-how and up to date happenings. These tech providers often become industry thought leaders and experts and there’s bound to be content that is relevant to you like how to run your property more efficiently or upcoming challenges hospitality may be seeing and how to deal with them.
The thing with technology is that it is always changing and evolving and the way to keep a competitive edge is to stay on top of industry trends, news, and updates. You’ll be an industry expert in no time.
6 - Asses your purchase
After your teams have been trained on the new software, assess your product by measuring it against the goals initially set out and promised to you by your provider. What did you want to achieve with this new tech? Are you achieving these in an appropriate amount of time? Are they achievable now that you’ve effectively trained your teams? Getting your team's input in this phase lets them know that their input is valuable. After all, your hotel technology adoption rate is ultimately up to your users. Knowing that your tech is working and what results you’re achieving will put you on the right path to plan for longer term business growth.
