Hotel CRM and loyalty: eight questions before choosing a system

Give CRM and loyalty vendors the same hotel scenarios. Ask them to demonstrate operations with test data and specify what the proposal covers in your environment.

1. How does the system recognise one guest across sources?

A guest books online, calls later and gives a different phone number at check-in. Ask how profiles are created and merged, who resolves uncertain matches, and what each property and the central team can see.

2. What event triggers earning?

A booking, a payment and a completed stay are different events. Clarify when points are credited and available, and what happens after a date change or partial cancellation. Repeat the same operation twice to see how duplicate credit is prevented and how staff can trace the rule applied.

3. How do redemption and refunds work?

Walk through reserving points, confirming payment and releasing the reserve after cancellation. What status does an employee see if the other system does not respond? Can they retry safely, and who investigates uncertain operations?

4. What does integration with your PMS and booking engine mean?

Name your actual products and versions. Request the data and operations exchanged, their direction, access owner and refresh frequency. Online redemption needs a separate demonstration of transaction confirmation; an overnight import report is insufficient. A vendor logo does not establish that your specific connection is ready.

5. How will restaurants, spa and other departments participate?

Choose the services in the first launch. For each, identify the source transaction, its link to the guest profile and the refund owner. Put the first launch boundary into acceptance criteria.

6. Who runs the programme after launch?

Separate platform support from rule changes, disputed credits, communications and reward costs. Define hotel and vendor responsibilities. For any recurring fee, ask for a breakdown of software rights, hosting, support, specialist work and updates.

7. Where will data live, and how can you leave?

Compare a shared service, a dedicated vendor instance and customer infrastructure. Assign responsibility for updates, backups, staff access and recovery. Request an export sample covering profiles, rules and transactions; discuss rights to custom work separately from hosting.

8. What counts as successful implementation?

Agree on test-data acceptance: staff find a member, see the applied rule, complete agreed operations, resolve a cancellation and obtain a useful report. Compare proposals over the same period, including setup, licence, integrations, migration, infrastructure, support and extra work. Clarify taxes, offer validity and each party's duties.

These questions define a testable outcome; they do not imply that any particular connector is already available. Discuss your hotel's needs and implementation scope with TravelTechExpert →