What Do Reporting, and Baking a Cake Have in Common?

When you are baking a cake, it is imperative that you follow the recipe, use all of the ingredients and  use the correct quantity to yield the best result.  Leave out just one ingredient or use the wrong quantity of any of the ingredients and  the result can be disappointing. 

The same holds true for reporting in respect to the data that is input into your property management system. Incorrect or missing data skews the reporting results;  however this can be more than disappointing.  If you are making business decisions based on reports that are created using incorrect or incomplete data, this can have a financial impact on your business.

Let’s take a look at an example of a marketing campaign and reporting.  This campaign has been launched, and a substantial portion of your marketing budget has been allocated to this campaign.  Within your property management system a special rate has been set up that relates directly to this marketing campaign. When a potential guest calls into your your hotel reservation office, the reservation clerk asks qualifying questions during the booking process and determines that this booking relates to this current promotional campaign.  The clerk chooses the appropriate source of business code, market segment and promotional rate for the reservation and inputs complete guest contact information including mailing address and email address.  You then have the information needed to send out a follow-up letter or email campaign for guest satisfaction surveys or perhaps email campaigns relating to future events or special rates to this customer.  Thanks to the accuracy of this particular reservation clerk, further reporting data is complete with an accurate source of business, market segment and rate selected.  This data is now available to yield accurate reporting.

Now let’s look at some factors that may affect why the data can be inaccurate or is incomplete.

• Not all clerks are thorough and consistent in obtaining and entering guest information.

• Reservation staff may be rewarded for volume, however accuracy is secondary.

• Some mandatory fields in a reservation may be bypassed and filled in with numbers or stars.

• When the front desk covers after hours for reservation staff they may not be as well informed.

• Front desk or reservation staff may be rushed and choose the quickest method of input, not the most accurate.

• Staff may be rushed and choose to go back to fill in the appropriate information, they end up unable to as they are too busy for entire shift and it never gets done.

• It’s easy to choose the first item in source of business or market segment list than it is to search for the correct one.

• Staff may choose to input the correct rate amount but do not choose the correct rate name or category.

It is essential to have a process in place that includes consistent training, and an ongoing auditing of  processes that affect your reporting data. 

Staff should be rewarded not just for productivity, but for productivity and accuracy combined, as both are equally important.

Accurate and consistent data can be created if everyone concerned understands the flow of data and the benefits that accurate reporting have on the business.   

Once you have decided on a property management system for your lodging business, the first thing that you want to understand is the data flow and how it affects reporting.  Build a process for best practices with regards to data entry in your new system, monitor it regularly and enjoy your accurate reporting.

Jeff Sefton