Updating a resort’s property-management system was the topic of a recent Timeshare Board Members Association Conversations Series webinar.
Pictured from left Bob Ackerman, Polina Gregory, and Candice Leonard
Panelists Bob Ackerman, vice president sales/partner, Rental Network Software Corp.; Polina Gregory, senior vice president – marketing & technology, Lemonjuice Capital Solutions and TimeShareSoft Rhea; and Candice Leonard, executive administrator, Aspen Timeshares joined Shep Altshuler, TBMA president, for this discussion. Following are edited highlights:
Updating resort technology
Ackerman: The last year has proven the importance of having good controls in place, with all of the resorts shutting down for a period of time and reservations having to be changed on a daily basis. Collection issues were a problem too, as well as questions like, “If I’m not using my week, do I have to pay for my week?”
The whole idea of having one system that everybody can work from and stay more tightly woven together was a big help. It’s definitely more important than ever, because in times like this when things are changing so fast, it’s difficult if you’re trying to continue with pen and paper, spreadsheets, and documents, instead of in a system shared by everybody at the resort level.
Keeping systems updated
Gregory: Technology-wise, chances are you’re either losing money or leaving money on the table if your systems are not updated. But, other risks exist. One is security. Up-to-date software will be the most compliant and will keep your data secure. Between the owner data and the credit-card data that you have, if you keep things in pen and paper, it’s much less secure. If you have a very out of-date software that hasn’t kept up with the required security measures, you’ll also be a lot less secure.
Another risk is not keeping up with the marketplace. As we move into a more technological world, to keep up with your revenue stream, you need technology that can keep up with the rest of the market, with inventory managed all in one place. You need your rentals pushed from the same bucket of inventory to increase your revenue stream and optimize the time of your staff. If you’re working off a pen-and-paper or outdated system, your staff is likely spending a lot of time on things that can be automated with more up-to-date software.
End-user perspective
Leonard: One risk we saw was that we were only getting owner rentals at a discounted rate. People coming to our area weren’t able to rent from us because we had no way of getting online rentals. Our website was just informational. We were doing a lot of the office work for other companies by not being online ourselves and getting those bookings directly.
Another of our concerns was how do we capture the millennials? About two hours from us is a huge university, and we wanted to capture those kids on Thursday and Friday night who were skiing, boating, and hiking. We needed to bring in that cash flow outside of our owner base, so we didn’t have to continue raising our maintenance fees.
Collaboration and advance planning
Gregory: In transitioning from an outdated system to a modern property-management software system, many variables can impact the quality and timing. Specifically, the biggest challenge facing most resorts is the quality of their data and the data storage format.
Assuming you have really great data that’s easily converted, you could theoretically be live in six to eight weeks—but having data that need work can delay you a bit.
Another variable is staff training. If you’re starting to shop for software, look at your data. Make sure all your fields are separated and everything is organized accurately. Taking the time to organize your data will make your transition much faster.
If you’re considering transferring to software, start talking to us as quickly as possible, because we can help define what is actually needed when organizing your data. Sometimes we can even help with that process. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible.
Ackerman: You want a realistic timetable that takes into account reservations, account balances for maintenance fees, and other factors. When looking at software packages, evaluate your needs, the benefits that each product has, how much time is required for implementation. Once that’s completed and you get through the training process, you can have an effective start date. Meanwhile, you can still run the system and check back to how you did it the old way, see how the marriage is coming together, and move forward from there.
Leonard: Write down a goal list, what you want to accomplish. Seeing the transfer from paper to technology is amazing.
Benefits of new technology
Gregory: By having everyone work from the same set of data, you need not worry that someone wrote down something on a sticky note at the front desk and then forgot to upload it in whatever logbook you have.
Your guest reservations will be pulled from the same set of inventory, so if you book an owner reservation, you can’t overlap a guest by accident. That limits overbooking, and also opens up a larger amount of inventory to push out for distribution to really increase your revenue. Such a system also makes billing reports easy to pull, and housekeeping and maintenance functions easy to track.
The power of accessibility
Leonard: Today we’re in an age of remote working. With property-management system software in place, the resort team has access to information from anywhere 24/7. The other day I was able to access my software from the beach in Hawaii and keep up on my work. The ability to be in different locations, and still get our work done, was a major benefit for us this year.
Gregory: You might not be able to come to the office for many reasons. For example, a coastal resort may be inaccessible during a hurricane. The ability to access your data securely from anywhere is a major advantage.
Ackerman: If you have a tornado in your area, and the internet is down, drive an hour away, get in a hotel with internet access, get online, get connected to your timeshare program, and you haven’t missed a beat. You’re less reliant on the equipment in your office.
Managing customer data
Ackerman: Data systems that hold owner names, addresses, telephone numbers, email, weeks owned, and other information are critical to communicating efficiently.
The amount of communication that was necessary last year probably stepped up 10 times over previous years. Depending on whether resorts were open or shut down for a short time and then back open again, you probably had to send new information every week to arriving owners. So, the e-mail communication portion of a customer-management system (CMS) or customer-relationship system (CRM) was really important.
Usually, we’ll find that you have a list of owners from when you sold to them originally, and another list of owners making reservations, and accounting always has its own list for maintenance billings. You really want to combine that all together in one good customer-management system.
Gregory: Getting fully accurate data may take some time. Whenever you speak to an owner, or send out a bill or an invoice, ask: “Is this information correct? Please update your phone number and e-mail address. Is anything different that we need to know?” That will really help you to simplify the communication with your owners and guests.
When a guest comes in, we recommend doing the same thing, because a lot of guests, especially those who book online, will have an encrypted e-mail address. So, when they walk in the door, give them something to fill out so you can get a valid e-mail address to maintain communication.
Ackerman: An owner portal is important for owners to keep their contact information up to date themselves. It can also let an owner make a reservation. But you should always ask them, every time you have a touch point with them, if any of their information has changed. Doing that through the owner portal is really is a big help. So much of the technology today cuts down on the amount of communication with the front desk, which saves time.
Encryption and data security
Ackerman: The process for storing data and credit-card information has come a long way. Beginning in the late 1990s, credit-card information began to be encrypted. In the 2000s, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance rules came out, and in 2010 it became mandatory that we didn’t store credit-card numbers in the application. They ae stored with the credit-card processors.
We now use a method called tokenization, which transfers little bits of information that can connect us to that credit card and still allow us to process it. So, if you get the credit card for the maintenance fee back in January, and in June the owner checks in and asks you to charge his beach rental toys to his credit card on file, you can do that.
Typically, between the database and the front end of the program, in our case, encryption is used for a lot of the database fields. Classic data centers are built for just this type of application; they give you protection along with the software that does the encryption, as well as the security of daily, weekly, and monthly backups. It’s a very safe environment.”
Getting started
Ackerman: While a property-management system can be a big change to the way the resort operates day-to-day, having a place where owner, reservation, maintenance, and housekeeping information all can be managed has a huge upside.
Designate somebody as the system administrator. You need a “point guard” to coordinate between the software company and all of the staff at the resort level.
Training typically takes place over a couple of weeks, and you’re better off doing a couple of hours a day, just taking little bites of the apple, instead of trying to train all day. It makes for a nice transition so that everybody can determine how close you’re getting to the finish line and be able to pick a start date. And, training can be done online as well.
Leonard: Remember, you’re implementing a new process for your office. There will be a transition but you’ll save time. You’ll gain effectiveness. You’re going to eliminate some of the risks, the double bookings, and extra paperwork. There will be tradeoffs, and some things will make you nervous. But it’s OK; just keep asking questions.
It’s totally worth it. It’s made a positive impact on our finances. It’s made a difference in our bookings. It’s made a difference for our owners, and they can see that difference at our resort. I would say, jump in, do it, you’ve got to it. If we didn’t do it, we would be going out of business.”
For more information contact:
Bob Ackerman, vice president sales/partner, Rental Network Software Corp
Polina Gregory, senior vice president – marketing & technology, Lemonjuice Capital Solutions and TimeShareSoft
Shep Altshuler, president, Timeshare Board Members Association