Every decision to move to a new hotel tech provider has formally or informally defined decision criteria. These are often categorised further as Technical, Commercial and Legal Decision Criteria.
Technical decision criteria (TDC)
Here we talk about criteria to understand the feasibility. Are their requirements covered by the potential solution? Do we deliver on their requirements? Are there work arounds to meet those needs through our current solution?
Does it comply with the existing infrastructure and, if so, how does integrate? How easy is to work with their current tech stack? Do we integrate with their PMS, RMS, Booking Engine and even CRS where we are not looking to replace it.
We aim to address this TDC through a demo however it’s possible that they will look for it to be validated in a Proof of Concept / Pilot or some sort of Technical Decision Making Process.
Business/Commercial Decision Criteria (BDC)
The most common BDC is Alignment to Budget, but nowadays hotels and chains are very much driven by Return on Investment, including the cost of change.
Further, there are different types of budgets like capital expense (CAPEX) or operation expense (OPEX). Some clients have huge OPEX reduction campaigns or have certain cash-flow requirements that drive the decision criteria.
Thoroughly understanding and aligning yourself to the clients needs will show great flexibility and influence the decision towards your offering.
It’s important to understand if they have budget allocated to make the change – this would cover set up fees, any increased cost and the resources dedicated to making a move to a new hotel tech supplier.
Question to ask:
- What are the technical criteria to make a decision?
- How do you calculate the ROI for this project to justify the investment?