HILTON HOTELS: BRAND DIFFERENTIATION THROUGH CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

HILTON HOTELS: BRAND DIFFERENTIATION THROUGH CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT HILTON HOTELS BACKGROUNDFounded in 1919 with the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, TexasFounder- Conrad Hilton1946- It went public as Hilton Hotels Corporation, with a portfolio of 15 properties in 11 states1964-Diversified into Casinos and Vacation Ownership.2000-Acquired Promus Hotel Corporation, which took Hiltons Close to 1700 properties marks.Global Workforce-1,00,0002002-Launched customer Really Matter (CRM) strategy2006-Hilton announced the opening of 1000th hotel in North America and its presence in 78 countries.

Challenges in Global Lodging Business2008-Set an aggressive goal of another 1000 hotels in North America and 1000 hotels in rest of the world.Challenges faced were :Highly Capital IntensiveHigh levels of employee turnoverDifficulty achieving standardization across all its hotels.

Hilton OnQ

What's an OnQ?

The Brain child of Tim Harvey(CIO and EVP of shared service at Hilton) and his team built on the premise that technology was an enabler for employees to deliver great customer service

OnQ was a central system which was a comprehensive and integrated IT infrastructure designed to support property level operations of each hotel in Hilton family.

It embodied both one stop shopping nature of an integrated solution and readiness to serve customers On Cue .

Cost Structure

Initial estimate of $93 m, Actual cost- $102 m

.

What was the necessity for OnQ?

Critical component of Hiltons aggressive expansion strategy, which firm could leverage enabling it to open more hotel ,at quicker pace. OnQ played a principal role in enacting the brand promise. It Would act as a competitive advantage which would take years for competitors to replicate.

The OnQ platform and Guest cycle.

CRM:- Customer Really MattersBenefits for Hilton HotelsSolidify Relationship with customerConsolidate Far flung dataArrival ReportHolistic view about the customerService RecoveryFinancial benefitsReduce Talk TimeCross SellOther long term benefitsData collection to measure resultsSample Arrival Report

Guest CategoryDiamondGoldSilverBlue4+Important ColumnsSvc Recovery ActionRe-imbursement InformationPersonalized MessageNumber of times customer has stayed on other national and international propertiesHilton Brand Positioning

Delivering the Customers Really Matter Promise:

Producing the Hilton experience starts much earlier than check in.

Data Flow Diagram:

QnQ reservations allows the agents to access clients data and update their preferences. This information shortens the time on the phone and it enables better services

Once report lists and ranks all the expected guests that had profile in QnQ, then they assign the Rooms based on their preferences.

This report also helps to provide better services to people who had difficulties in the past.

Hilton tries to speed up the process by recognizing the guests at the reservations center.

Gold and Diamond level members also had excessive benefits through MyWay Program.

SALT( satisfaction and loyalty tracking) survey which was key component of CRM initiative is used to measure the overall experience, ability to recommend, willing to return Key PointsThe Competitive Brandscape

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: INTEGRATION Same Technology Platform and Distribution Footprint throughout all brands Avoiding Complacency First multi-brand operator to roll out strong, integrated customer relationship management effort Marriot hotel-2004-Siebel Systems off-the-shelf software: Consolidating customer data for easy access by call center and property-level employees Starwood, Hyatt and InterContinental: Frequent guest programs to build relationships with high-value customers

From an electronic point of view CRM has been successfulReduced talk time on phoneMaintained more direct relationships with guests

Difficulty -- Effectiveness at the front desk to create a personalized interaction

Focus on measurement, executive championship, employee training & empowerment

Blackstone acquisition offered opportunity to decide whether the CRM initiative was worth reinvesting or not.

The future of CRMHilton should create a unique stay experience that cannot be imitated by other chains. In order to do that, every hotel management should invest in its employees by training them on how to make customers feelthat they aretreated special.

Should offer a clearlyunderstandable referral bonus program to itsloyal customers. A loyal guest canearn extrapointsbecause ofreferringHiltonto otherqualified prospective customers.

Recommendationsfront desk employees need to treat the customers as if they are coming to their own home. Try to relate with the guest and their travel.

14