Enhancing Loyalty: Best Practices for CRM Systems in Asia-Pacific

Managing the customer relationship is one of the most critical elements of gaining and increasing loyalty, and yet can be the most difficult for hospitality chains to master, as customers interact with chains via a burgeoning number of contact points; email, mobile, online, and of course, at the front desk. Never before has technology, and specifically software, played a more important role in improving what is ultimately the human experience of hospitality, both in terms of curating and providing it, but also in the way that customers express their gratitude for that experience in the form of loyalty.

That interaction takes on added complexity when the same system attempts to straddle the numerous languages and states of economic development that hospitality leaders face the Asia-Pacific region. Unlike the mostly homogenous U.S. market, Asia-Pacific encompasses customers from a variety of cultures, religions, and levels of economic and technological development, each bringing with it challenges in creating unique and satisfying experiences for hospitality customers.

Ultimately, robust CRM systems offer advantages to frontline staff, interacting with customers in a language that may not be their own or the customer’s native tongue, to solicit and elicit information designed to improve the quality of her or his stay. Guest relations staff may also assist in keeping the customer deftly engaged technologically between stays, enticing towards leisure stays, or making the next business trip one to look forward to, of course at one of their properties. CRM systems, including the human aspect and technology, can integrate almost seamlessly to face the challenges of an Asia-Pacific region that stretches from the important economies of China and Japan, through the hospitality heartland of Southeast Asia, down to the developed market of Australia.

Through interviews with industry professionals in those countries, examination of customer information gathering strategies, and assessment of the use of email and other marketing campaigns, this report looks at the role that CRM software systems can play in curating the customer experience and increasing loyalty in these markets.

In this report:

• Define what the Asia-Pacific travel traveler wants from a hospitality provider and its loyalty program
  
• Spotlight some of the region’s most important markets and their specific characteristics relating to customer expectations
  
• Examine the interplay between hotel staff and the software layer of customer relationship management systems, and how each can help the other
  
• Recommend best practices and forward-looking strategies to maximize those tools for customer loyalty and retention