Hoteliers Guru recently launched a series of interactive educational workshops for hotel customers dealing with Channel Management, Direct Booking Engine and Property Management Systems.
One of the challenges we have as Software Engineer and Service Provider, is how to “impart the knowledge base” of some of the many useful time saving features our systems offer.
Its only when customers have a good understanding of the features and benefits the applications have can we say that we’ve achieved our mission to service customers.
With this in mind the goal we set for conducing workshop training (for hotels) was twofold.
1. To develop better understating, of the many features our software applications provide
2. And to get hoteliers to know when and how to apply some of the many hidden and useful tools (built into the program) in day – to – day situations.
Let’s explore further…
These days, the orientation and training programs conducted by most Software Service Providers is done virtually. Let’s face it – It’s easier to offer programs this way simply because of time, distance and human resource constraints.
Face to face human contact is becoming redundant as application providers move into a virtual world. At first glance, the virtual experience is great – providing instant access to support and a good “show of face” for new customers and even existing ones using the service.
But in reality, is this true!
Our decision to engage customers in private interactive workshops was because we know that new and existing customers have very different usage requirements and expectations that cannot be dealt with in any one training session.
Then, lets add the word “virtual” to the mix and much of the face to face interaction and commitment level when two parties meet becomes less relevant or important.
In other words – we think our customers will never be able to comprehend or make the most of our services, if there’s only brief and cursory virtual encounter which offers to impart 100 % knowledge but leaves a 20 % retention rate in daily real time usage situations.
Although the Software Platforms we build, be it Booking Engine, Channel Manager or Cloud Property Management system, were designed to be user friendly – as software engineers, we need to look at how users interreact with the systems in order to get the most from it.
Design and functionality by themselves don’t make a service and more so if customers don’t know how to engage or use the “hidden” features. Service Providers need to be clever and ingenious about how to impart knowledge – especially of the many usage benefits which allow customers to be more productive with their time.
Training sessions no matter how long or short – expose the users to what we call the “retention gap” (forgetfulness).
This means that detailed information introduced in any one training session: such as updating, monitoring, or reporting … can be mind-boggling and difficult to comprehend or stored as a reference for future use. And if you can’t remember how to use the application to its maximize potential – its likely you’ll talk down about all the things it can’t do or do as well as similar applications which a competitor may offer.
Let’s face it we’ve all been there at some point. We may grasp the basic functions first time but we forget and don’t remember some of the more important features and when or how they can be used to help save us time.
Our challenge – was to find ways to engage customers in learning to make experiences that are practical, fun and useful to day to day situations.
Putting it all together – we decided on conducting a series of interactive workshops curated to be highly flexible, incorporating a dynamic mix of pre-determined lessons, situational analysis and discussion, and creative exploration – designed to encourage group feedback, interaction and discussion.
The interactive workshops we offer make learning experiences practical to day to day situations to help foster better retention and usability in real live situations for hoteliers.
Participants are a mix of staff and senior management from key functions and departments.
In the B2B environment we operate – delivering value and service, be it in the form of a products or services – helps us to become a trusted advisor and partner to our hotel customers and establishes the foundation of future growth.
Any hotel wanting to participate in our workshop session are welcome and advised to reach out to our support teams for further information.
