Manage your hotel smartly – with the right tools

Effective process management in the hospitality business is key to its development, growth, high productivity and excellent customer experience. When processes are well structured, measurable and traceable, this facilitates daily work and allows for faster and more flexible reactions to problems or unforeseen situations.

"The customer is at the heart of everything - that's why processes must not only be efficient, but also oriented towards how the guest perceives their stay.

Efforts must be made to maintain a high and consistent level of service, ensure speed without compromising quality, and minimize costs without negatively impacting the guest experience. When there is a clear standard and traceability, it creates not only confidence in the team, but also a solid foundation for business development. "

- Miroslav Stefanov

(Founder of PMS Startup Overview)

The standard structure of a hotel includes key departments such as reception, housekeeping and maintenance, restaurant and kitchen, marketing and sales, as well as administration and accounting. In order to function effectively, clear coordination between them is necessary - something that is often hampered by manual processes or a lack of centralized information. This is where a PMS (Property Management System) solution plays a crucial role, ensuring connectivity between departments, automating communication and facilitating the management of reservations, cleaning, payments and internal requests - all in real time and in one place:

1. Reception

   
   

The reception is responsible for individual communication with each guest and coordination between the restaurant and the housekeeping. The activities performed by the reception staff are:

• Check-in and check-out of reservations

• Collection of personal data

• Payment of debts

• Occupancy and reservation management

• Processing inquiries and complaints

• Preparing reports

🔑 Here are the moments of guaranteed interaction between the hotel and the guests - the process should run smoothly and make the guests feel special.

💡The mechanical execution of these activities slows down the process enormously and takes away the attention of the reception, which is already occupied by more important activities. PMS software automates and centralizes, relieving employees and eliminating the risk of errors.

2. Housekeeping and maintenance

   
   

The Housekeeping and Maintenance Department is responsible for the maintenance and cleanliness of the rooms and facilities. The department's activities include:

• Cleaning and furnishing of rooms

• Troubleshooting

🔑 In most hotels, the level of cleaning varies depending on the length of stay. It can be daily cleaning, linen change every 2-3 days, or a thorough cleaning after check-out.

💡The biggest obstacle facing the department is ineffective communication. With the help of a PMS tool, communication is optimized, showing details about cleaning and the current condition of the rooms, as well as giving each employee the opportunity to register existing problems as soon as they notice them.

3. Restaurant and kitchen

   
   

🔑Unlike regular restaurants, hotel restaurants have advance information about guests and can anticipate the food they need to prepare, as long as they receive timely information about the workload.

💡Automation allows for centralization of reservation information, which helps the kitchen anticipate workload and prepare for guests with specific meals. It also makes it easier to track orders and requests, as well as inventory audits.

4. Marketing and sales

   
   

A specific marketing and sales department is rare - in most cases, activities are distributed between receptionists and managers.

These activities include:

• Pricing and services

• Planning and executing promotions

• Customer Relationship Management

💡PMS software helps measure and analyze performance, track promotions and personalized offers, and organize surveys.

💡Surveys make guests feel important - to be effective, they must require minimal time, be able to be completed on the go, provide an opportunity for free expression, and be presented unobtrusively.

5. Administration and accounting

   
   

A large part of the administration and accounting activities is delegated to receptionists:

• Reports to ESTI

• Invoices

• Fiscalization

• Daily reports

💡With the help of PMS, information is centralized and synchronized between reception and accounting. It allows for easy invoice posting, automated data filling, and tracking of bank payments.

The most effective general guidelines for process improvement in all areas can be derived . These are:

1. Effective communication and information sharing

2. reduces errors and improves service

3. Planning, traceability, accountability

4. increases predictability and improves reactions in unforeseen situations

5. Standardization and flexibility

6. facilitates training and guarantees good service

7. Automation

8. improves concentration, reduces the risk of errors and speeds up repetitive tasks

💡Each hotel has individual needs and requirements. Guidelines should always be adapted to them.

Overview helps small and medium-sized hotels integrate technological solutions - to modernize and adapt to the new digital world, while preserving their identity.

Most hotel software is cumbersome and receptionists perform mechanical, time-consuming tasks, making it difficult to fulfill their daily duties. These problems make working in the sector increasingly unattractive and deepen the staffing crisis.

Overview believes that hospitality should be about building human connections, not the complex administrative processes that dominate, especially in smaller hotels. Technology can be an enabler of human relationships by putting administration and best practices in a framework, outlining a stress-free space in which genuine attention to guests and colleagues can be cultivated.

Visit their website to learn about the technology and how it transforms their clients' work environments: Overview