"Our loyalty programme is about preferences, not miles and points": Kimpton Hotels

CRM Special: By EFT Correspondent in San Francisco

"Miles and points are a negative motivation - works for some businesses but
not for Kimpton".

Steve Pinetti, SVP sales and marketing, Kimpton Hotels shared this as he
categorically stated that the company's brand goal is not to be the best known
hotel brand but just the best loved.
   
"We want people to stay with us because they love our hotels and restaurants
and want to be there and look forward to coming back and more importantly look
forwards to telling others about our hotels. 60 percent of our first time
guests come to us through a personal recommendation - thats a staggering
number. 75 percent of those first time guests say they leave feeling like the
have a relation ship with the hotel they just visited," said Pinetti, one of
the speakers during the CRM in Travel USA 2007 conference being held in San
Francisco.
   
On personalisation being an effective way of increasing online sales and the
practical challenges in designing and implementing a more personalised
approach, Pinetti said its very effective and the most difficult to do.
   
"Our loyalty programme is about preferences, not miles and points. Once you
choose to build your relationships with your guests one at a time you better
know you are in for a long never ending effort. Its really a very difficult
approach to guest loyalty however when done well creates the strongest type of
bond between our guest our staff and our businesses," he says.
   
Providing an insight into the profile of the customer, he added, "Our kind of
customer wants to be recognised, communicated with and made to feel special. We
know that 25 percent of those traveling see their relationship with their hotel
as very important even more so than the airline and car rental company they
use. The hotel is the most personalised part of the travel experience thus the
most important - so our guests tell us."