15 technology companies have come together to create transparency for hotel technology buyers around the world. The initiative, facilitated by Hotel Tech Report, rates hotel software vendor customer support processes on more than 30 key variables to help buyers make better partner decisions.

Each year hotel owners lose billions of dollars due to software downtime and unused features. By leveraging the new HTR Global Support Certification, hoteliers can confidently enter new technology partnerships with transparency into the support systems that are in place to mitigate such issues. Software inevitably goes down and great customer support is the best defense against steep losses.

Hoteliers who work with Hotel Tech Report Support Certified vendors also know that those partners have invested in training materials and content to ensure that their teams have everything they need to realize successful outcomes.

The certification creates accountability in the vendor community to maintain the highest levels of service for clients through an annual audit by analysts at Hotel Tech Report, the world's largest technology research platform and online community for the global hotel industry.

Leading firms such as Mews Systems, OTA Insight and IDeaS Revenue Solutions have been key supporters of this new industry standard which paves the path for better relationships between technology firms and their hotel clients.

"We initially came to Hotel Tech Report with a simple concept. Our hypothesis was that companies with great customer support would be happy to grant full transparency around their support KPIs with Hotel Tech Report and that companies with subpar support would never give that kind of access. The team at HTR has brought that concept to life and we're proud to give full transparency into how we engage, educate and support our customers on a global scale. Ultimately this support certification is an easy way for hoteliers to identify the companies who really treat their clients as partners - it's a gamechanger for the industry," says Richard Valtr, Founder of Mews Systems.

Decision makers at hotel groups often spend months researching software feature functionality and pricing - but rarely are they able to develop deep insights into how the relationship changes and the level of support their team will receive once the contract is signed.

"Hoteliers are constantly rated by parties like JD Power and AAA on the service they deliver to guests which ultimately helps guests find the best hotels. With this initiative, hoteliers can now benefit from the peace of mind that comes with knowing their future vendors have not only been pre-vetted for professional customer support prior to contract lock-in but they can also easily learn about which tools and processes are most important and which one's prospective vendors have invested in to help them succeed beyond deal close." ~Adam Hollander, Hotel Tech Report

Poor customer support is incredibly costly for both hotel software buyers and sellers. For buyers, poor customer support from technology vendors can lead to lost revenue, poor guest satisfaction and weak ROIs on technology spend.

"When a booking engine goes down hoteliers can lose thousands of dollars each minute. What if it takes 24-hours to reach their vendor's support team and fix the issue? Hoteliers rarely anticipate, let alone, calculate these kinds of costs when signing up with a new vendor because they're out of sight and out of mind. Once it happens to them they go into a panic and wish they knew ahead of time," says Hollander.

Another benefit of strong customer engagement processes is maximization of software feature functionality. A study conducted on 3.8M software users shows that $30B is wasted each year on unused software in the U.S. alone. Vendors that meet Hotel Tech Report's support certification have been pre-vetted for the tools and processes necessary to ensure that hotel teams will be properly trained on all feature functionality which ultimately helps them maximize their investments in software and achieve higher ROIs on their software spend.

"45% of software features across the SaaS sector never get used. This is a huge waste. While OTA Insight's usage stats show that the intuitive features in our tools are very well used, we strive for more than just delivering software that works properly; we're committed to ensuring that clients can maximize their investments by ensuring our products and functionality are simple, intuitive and add value. With a heavy focus on customer feedback and input, this informs our ongoing product development," says James Parsons of OTA Insight.

Founding members of the Support Certification rallied across the globe to bring this initiative to life. Each founding member granted Hotel Tech Report access to their internal systems for the team to rate service delivery with its proprietary support certification framework.

Founding Members of the Global Support Certification include:

The Global Support Certification is now live for hotel technology suppliers to apply for certification. This budget season, for the first time ever, hotel tech buyers can easily vet customer support for future vendors and access support certification details right from company profiles on Hotel Tech Report.

Learn more about the certification

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