By CHRISTOPHER OSTROWSKI
	NEW YORK — No longer content to utilize solely its property management system to try to anticipate and fulfill guest preferences, the New York Palace Hotel here has been utilizing a customer relationship management system that goes beyond that. The new system integrates guest information from all hotel systems into one comprehensive database. The result has been the establishment of a guest service level previously unseen at this luxury property, which is always attempting to give its customers more. "As a luxury property it is imperative that our guests, especially those returning to us, feel assured that their individual needs are being anticipated," asserted Isaac Gerstenzang, the director of e-marketing and CRM for the 55-story hotel, which includes 806 guestrooms and 86 suites. "There really is no need for a guest to communicate personal preferences, such as an aversion to a specific kind of pillow, more than once. CRM technology helps our staff to make sure that the perfect pillow is in place upon arrival." Following a search process, the CRM selected to help the New York Palace provide such service is known as GuestView and is provided by the IDT Group. Deployed about two-and-a-half years ago at the property. GuestView has been helping the New York Palace build upon and perfect its CRM system and, subsequently, guest service step by step, Gerstenzang said. He added it "essentially created an in-depth profiling system for us that pulls all of our data from various sources, including PMS, concierge and the website, and consolidated it into one place so we can pull from it in a user-friendly manner. It has proven to be an invaluable tool in the streamlining of operations and the anticipation of guest needs." GuestView specifically extracts guest data that's initially collected by the point-of-sale, sales and catering, concierge and property management systems and pairs it with the data it mines from the property's website and guest surveys. The byproduct of this process is a holistic view of the guests, including their history and preferences, in one, centralized, web-based location, Gerstenzang said. That information can then be viewed, via GuestView's daily reports, data quality analysis and performance metrics dashboard, among other information formats. GuestView can also highlight such property metrics as repeat guest rate; ADR; average length of stay; total room, food and beverage and amenity revenue; business mix by segment; stay time period; and lifetime guest value. "We also conduct an annual survey to measure guest satisfaction. The questions are very much in depth and we get a great completion rate of 25%. The information we receive from these responses is incorporated into that guest's profile," Gerstenzang explained. "In daily review of guest arrival reports, we are alerted to any previous complaints or requests from previous visits. This helps us prevent the recurrence of any mistakes		and helps guide us in any problem solving efforts. For example, if you are faced with a major delay in guestroom availability, and you can see that the guest used the spa on previous stays, then an offer of a complimentary spa treatment is almost guaranteed to put the guest at ease." Gerstenzang further noted that GuestView acts as a marketing tool as well. For example, through its Top Market reports, it can provide detailed information about the geographic distribution of the guest base by address, zip code, market statistical area and designated market area. This information can be ranked by such metrics as room nights and total revenue. The New York Palace, which is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, can allocate its marketing efforts based upon these geographic reports. "The technology helps us to take rudimentary information, such as guest zip codes, and use it for demographic profiling." Gerstenzang said. Being able to seamlessly and rapidly cater to guest's needs, keep ahead of their requests and market in a targeted manner, of course, wasn't always the way it was at the New York Palace, which was once known as the Helmsley Palace and owned by the infamous Leona Helmsley. Before GuestView came along, there were the disparate PAR Springer-Miller PMS, Micros POS and Gold Key Solutions concierge systems gathering their own data that needed to be more thoroughly examined in order to detect guest preferences, trends and complaints. "We were always able to pull reports from the PMS, but it was cumbersome," Gerstenzang noted. "IDT streamlined the process by creating a web-baaed profiling system. Now, each staff member can pull, and easily see what they're responsible for on the arrival report." Gerstenzang also mentioned that now, with the new CRM in place, there's a consistency about the quality of service at the hotel that wasn't there before. That consistency is derived from the fact that no matter which staff member is servicing a guest, he or she has the same information and tools to provide them with the proper service. The cost of having such a system is not known by Gerstenzang, who also noted that it's difficult to measure the revenue impact the CRM has had on the property. But he did report that guests seem to appreciate the increased service level under the new system. The best part of this initiative has been the positive response of our guests," Gerstenzang said. "With this latest evolution in CRM technology, the backbone and infrastructure of our guest relationships has grown much stronger."
	For more information please contact sales@theidtgroup.com or visit our website at www.theidtgroup.com.