The Independent Hotelier's Guide to Property Management System Selection

The 12 Steps of Property Management System Evaluation- Step 1

Step 1. - Select the Project Manager

Designate a Project Manager that has been granted authority for the evaluation project by the owner or management company. The Project Manager is accountable for the evaluation process and results, and should see the project through from start to finish.  Being granted authority and taking accountablility is essential to the sucess of any project. 

The Project Manager is the first person to be selected, and this selection should be completed before the property management system evaluation process begins. The project manager may be a consultant, a manager at head office, a manager at the hotel, someone in operations or someone in the information technology department.

The main function of the Project Manager is to facilitate the evaluation process, as well as set meeting agendas and schedules.  The Project Manager will also provide reporting to the team at set milestones.

Jeff Sefton

The Property Management System is the Core Business System in a Hotel

The Property Management System is the Core Business System in a Hotel, performing the functions of single reservations, group reservations, guest check-in and check-out, guest invoices, group billing, guest requests, rate management and management reporting to help the hotelier make better business decisions.

Hotel departments including front office, reservations, housekeeping, sales, accounting and maintenance rely on the property management system to look after the hotel guests and to perform their job on a daily basis.

External systems such as Point of Sale in the Restaurant, Phone Systems, Movie Systems, On-line Booking and Global Distribution Systems tie into the "core business system", the Property Management System.

Would it surprise you to know that some Hoteliers have:

- Purchased a property management system for their business without ever having seen a demonstration of the product.

- Purchased a property management system for their business without ever having evaluated the features of the system.

- Purchased a property management system and later admitted they didn't have a full understanding of what they were purchasing.

- Spent millions to build their hotel, with the property management system being an after-thought.

- Made a purchasing decision based primarily on price.

- Waited until their current system was on its last legs before even thinking about looking at alternatives.

- Never asked about service, support or training until after the purchase.

- Purchased a property management system without checking references.

Sure makes you think, doesn't it?

Jeff Sefton

Why You Should Have A Relationship With Your Property Management System Vendor

Having good relationships with your vendors is important to your business.

Successful Chefs understand the value of having a good relationship with their vendors, it's essential to providing the best food experience for their customers.  A chef that understands relationships, wants to work with a food supplier (vendor) he trusts, offers him a superior product, delivered on time and at a fair price.  The chef knows that his business depends on serving meals to his customers that keep them coming back, while keeping his and his restaurant's reputation intact.  The vendor in turn knows they keep their customer, the Chef, by having a good relationship and taking care of him.

Their relationship may mean that if the Chef gets in a bind and needs an emergency delivery, his food vendor will go out of his way to look after him, and in return the Chef is a loyal customer, pays his bill on time and treats his vendor with respect.

Something to note here is that the Chef and the Vendor have the relationship, not their respective companies.  Relationships are between people and relationships are about trust.

When you are selecting a property management system vendor, you need to remember that the vendor you select will be supplying your business with a tool that will be an integral part of running your business and looking after your guests.  Your team will be using the system to reserve rooms for your guests, check them in and out of your Hotel, account for charges, manage guest services, special requests, compile guest history, produce reporting, rate/revenue management, forecasting, calculate Travel Agent commissions and much more. Departments such as Front Office, Sales, Housekeeping and others rely on the property management system every day and they also rely on the property management system vendor to provide a good product and a superior level of support.

You can get a feel for the potential property management system team by speaking with as many people in the organization as possible.  Since relationships are between people you want to make sure that the organization as a whole is geared to looking after their clients.  You also need to speak with the vendor's existing clients for references, ask them if they have a good relationship with the vendor team and find out how they are being treated.

If you cannot visualize yourself having a good relationship with your potential property management system team then choose another property management system.

Good luck with your evaluation process and your business relationships.

Jeff Sefton