3 preventable hotel scenarios with identity resolution
“Do you even know me?”
Probably one of the scariest things a guest could ask a hotelier.
And it happens more than you think.
A guest walks into a hotel, meets the desk clerk but can’t check in. Why? Because after the guest gives the clerk their name, as many as three, four, or even five guest profiles populate for this guest. Same name. Same address. Same phone number. So, when the clerk asks, “Which one of these is you?”, the guest is left saying, “All of them! Do you even know me?”
This is what we call a case of identity resolution. This hotelier has duplicate profiles in their system — causing confusion and leaving the guest feeling neglected and unappreciated.
But when your tech stack includes identity resolution, you can safely, accurately, and efficiently resolve duplicate profiles in your database to protect your guests’ data, preserve your hotel’s reputation, and ensure you can greet the right guests by their name.
Your guests deserve recognition, and you deserve technology that can meet that standard. Identity resolution can help prevent scenarios that could impact your brand’s reputation, profitability, and overall credibility.
What is identity resolution?
Before we discuss how identity resolution can help your hotel, let’s first discuss what identity resolution is. To put it simply, identity resolution merges and deduplicates guest profile information so that each guest has one complete, accurate profile. It scrapes the scum of your profiles so you can see the true identity of each guest.
Think of every piece of guest profile data your hotel collects across devices and channels — that data is either labeled personally identifiable information (PII) or as digital identifiers. Identity resolution technology will use that PII to precisely match and unify customer data or use predictive algorithms and patterns to link data points. Revinate’s Advanced Profile Synthesis operates with both artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms to sort, cleanse, and deduplicate PII and digital identifiers to give hoteliers a 360-degree profile.
You can read a detailed description of identity resolution here, but the point is that hoteliers who don’t invest in identity resolution technology are essentially operating blind. You can’t greet a returning guest if your technology struggles to parse through profiles. On the Hotel Moment podcast, Jeff Jonas, Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist of Senzing, described what happens when hoteliers use identity resolution to their advantage, saying,
“…determining when two parties, two people, or two companies, are really the same even though they were described differently. When they made their reservation, they used this information. When they signed up in the loyalty club program, they used that information. And you don’t have three customers. It’s really one. And then, when you do that, your opportunity to also figure out who’s related to whom — households, families that share email addresses, even though they don’t share the same address. And that becomes really powerful as well for understanding value and risk.”
Identifying missed revenue opportunities
Let’s dive into that point from Jeff, “…you don’t have three customers. It’s really one.” You don’t have three chances to realize your revenue goals. You have one.
Let us explain.
Sending email campaigns to the right recipient
With identity resolution, you’ll experience higher email open rates.
Think about it. If you send an email campaign to a guest with a duplicated, outdated profile, they won’t get that email because their real, up-to-date email address is hiding in another profile.
With identity resolution, not only will email campaigns land in the inbox of the right recipient, but those offers are more likely to resonate. Accurate profiles mean accurate personalization that you can use to craft an email to a guest who went from being single to married with two kids.
Identifying loyal bookers
Don’t think that the voice channel isn’t affected by identity resolution, because it is.
Reservation agents rely on historical guest data when interacting with a repeat booker. It’s how Northview Hotel Group drove $40 million in direct revenue by using call data and data from abandoned bookings to reengage with guests.
And revenue opportunities actually increase when reservation agents can use accurate profiles to identify loyal bookers and upsell them personalized offers because of historical data captured in the guest profile.
Recognizing and delighting guests on property
Maximizing the guest’s share of wallet is ongoing throughout the guest journey, which is why on-property offers can be so lucrative. With an accurate guest profile, hotel staff can use that information to upsell guests at the front desk or throughout their stay based on profile information.
Identity resolution takes out the guesswork when you’re trying to determine if this is the same guest who took advantage of poolside drinks and a facial during their previous stay. Go ahead and upsell that guest with the same offer — they’ll enjoy drinks and a facial, and you’ll enjoy the extra revenue.
Avoiding weak data security and data breaches
Siloed and duplicated data promotes weak data security and opens the door to security breaches.
Why? Because hotel staff that notice siloed and duplicated data will work to resolve it, and in the process they could be opening up profiles and transferring sensitive, private guest data across systems.
According to Jeff, “When you conflate records you’re creating a data breach.” Hotel staff are often unintentional perpetrators of data mismanagement in an effort to resolve duplicate records.
With 44% of hotel executives voicing data security concerns, identity resolution technology plays a more important role than ever in maintaining your hotel’s commitment to safeguarding guests’ private information.
Identity resolution eliminates data security risks by taking siloed and duplicated data out of the equation while ensuring up-to-date guest profiles. This decreases the likelihood that staff will have to go hunting for missing profile data or try to merge profiles they “think” are the same. Identity resolution tools like the one from Revinate Marketing, include standards on individual privacy information and adhere to privacy guidelines and GDPR.
The cost of poor brand decisions
“If you think you have 20% more customers than you really have, then you make a whole bunch of downstream decisions poorly.”
With all of those duplicate profiles swimming around your database, it’ll probably look a lot bigger than you thought, according to Jeff.
So, when you go to make any operational or marketing decision, you’re ultimately making decisions from a place of inaccuracy — costing you time and money.
Jeff details how this scenario might play out, saying, “A great example from casinos is if you have what’s called a “whale.” which is somebody that’s maybe dropping a million dollars a visit, maybe more. When you do that, if you don’t recognize that whale as the whale and you are sending them a, ‘If you show up on Thursday, we’ll give you two dollars off the buffet.’ They’re just like, ‘Hey, you do not know who I am.’ I mean, you’re taking away from your brand.”
In this scenario, that marketing decision to send that guest an offer if they show up at the casino costs this brand their reputation. It goes back to hoteliers’ worst nightmare to hear a guest ask, “Do you even know me?”
This is the kind of event that is the direct result of messy, duplicated data and is an event that’s easily preventable with identity resolution technology. Instead of sending this guest an offer as if it was their first time, identity resolution enables you to establish recognition from the beginning and capitalize on guest spending while also maintaining your hotel’s brand reputation and guest experience.
Make intelligent decisions with identity resolution
Your hotel is faced with hundreds of decisions every day. If you choose to make those decisions based on clean data, you can expect to operate with decision intelligence. Identity resolution is a technology that promotes the kind of clean data you need to create an exceptional guest experience and prevent scenarios that could cost you revenue and data security and potentially jeopardize your brand’s reputation.
Listen to the full episode on the Hotel Moment podcast with Jeff Jonas, “The difference decision intelligence makes,” to find out more about the positive impact of identity resolution technology.
About Revinate
Revinate empowers hoteliers to directly connect with their guests.
Our Guest Data Platform and communication solutions unlock revenue for hoteliers and put them in control of the full guest experience — initial research, booking, check-in, throughout the stay, and even after check out — all via the communication channels that guests prefer, whether it's voice, text, email, or web.
More than 12,000 hotels globally bank on Revinate to drive direct revenue and deliver delightful guest experiences.
Ask us how we do it. Visit our website to get a demo.
Sanjana Chappalli
VP of Brand Marketing and Communications
Revinate, Inc.
