In today’s hospitality landscape, hotels face a common challenge: effectively engaging guests and transforming one-time visitors into loyal customers. For Club Quarters Hotels (CQ Hotels), a 17 boutique hotels chain known for its central urban locations in the United States and the United Kingdom, this challenge was intensified by the high cost of OTA leads conversion for hotels.
Club Quarters Hotels turned to Wiacom to solve these challenges. Through a dynamic blend of Marketing and IT solutions, Wiacom helped CQ Hotels improve guest engagement, streamline data integration, and elevate the guest experience across their properties. Let’s dive into how Wiacom’s expertise brought about a digital transformation at CQ Hotels.
The Marketing Challenge: Converting Guests into Loyal Customers
The rising costs associated with OTA-driven bookings present a significant obstacle for hotels. While OTA leads for hotels are instrumental in increasing visibility, they can cut deeply into hotel profits. For CQ Hotels, a major goal was to capture more value from these guests by converting them into direct, loyal customers. With a powerful loyalty program already in place, CQ Hotels needed a way to capture zero-party data and engage guests during and after their stay.
On top of this, these guests often don’t sign up for the loyalty program, despite their willingness to engage with the brand. The solution lay in acquiring marketing consent from these guests and capturing data to enhance future interactions.
Wiacom’s Marketing Solution: Transforming Guest Data into Loyalty Program Leads
Wiacom tackled this by creating a custom WiFi portal for hotels designed to engage guests right as they connected. With a consent rate exceeding 94%, Wiacom successfully turned weekly thousands of just-guests into high-value leads for CQ Hotels’ loyalty program. This approach transformed the guest WiFi experience from a simple convenience to a powerful tool for building brand loyalty.
All collected data is seamlessly integrated into CQ Hotels’ Customer Data Platform (CDP) via an API developed in collaboration with a 3rd party CDP, allowing CQ Hotels to tailor engagement efforts and deliver more personalized experiences. Additionally, the data can be pushed to the hotel’s Property Management System (PMS), Opera, for an enhanced in-stay experience.
Enhancing the Guest Experience: A Premium, Customized WiFi Portal
Understanding CQ Hotels’ premium positioning, Wiacom designed a captive portal for hotels aligned with CQ’s brand guidelines, creating a welcoming digital experience. The portal’s personalized look and feel not only improved engagement but also strengthened CQ Hotels’ brand identity. This seamless, branded experience has become a vital touchpoint for CQ Hotels, enhancing guest perception and contributing to high data consent rates.
IT Challenges: Meeting the Demands of a Modern, Connected Guest Experience
On the IT front, CQ Hotels needed a solution that could integrate seamlessly with their existing systems, including Aruba and Ruckus WiFi infrastructure, and adapt to the unique requirements of each property. Additionally, CQ Hotels wanted an additional integration to enhance the in-room entertainment experience.
They also required a responsive support system to address guest issues promptly, ensuring that guests receive the quality connectivity they expect from a premium hotel.
Wiacom’s IT Solution: Integration and Versatile Support
Wiacom’s IT solutions for CQ Hotels are built on a foundation of adaptability and rapid response. Here’s how they tackled each aspect of the IT challenge:
- Seamless Integration: Wiacom integrated the WiFi portal for hotels with Aruba and Ruckus controllers, enabling a reliable, user-friendly connection experience across all 4,200 rooms in CQ Hotels’ portfolio.
- Flexibility to Meet Custom Requests: Wiacom customized the captive portal for hotels to accommodate specific requests from CQ Hotels’ IT team, delivering a solution tailored to the brand’s standards.
- Rapid, Dependable Support: Wiacom’s commitment to rapid response and problem-solving ensured that any guest connectivity issues were addressed swiftly, minimizing disruption and upholding CQ Hotels’ commitment to a high-quality experience.
A Proven Partnership for the Future of Hospitality
With a versatile team capable of tackling both marketing and IT challenges, Wiacom emerged as a comprehensive partner for CQ Hotels. By converting OTA guests into loyal customers and enhancing the in-room experience, Wiacom has proven to be a valuable partner not just for today, but for the future of hospitality.
For hotels aiming to enhance their digital guest experience and build a more loyal customer base, Wiacom’s comprehensive solutions stand as a benchmark in the industry. Wiacom’s partnership with Club Quarters Hotels illustrates the transformative potential of a well-executed digital strategy and highlights how technology can be leveraged to create enduring customer relationships.
For more information email us at info@wiacom.ai or call +44 07404721834
