Q& A: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Takes Loyalty Full Circle. Considering the many lives a single hotel guest can appear to have, it makes sense that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants relaunched its loyalty program under the name Karma. Designed to recognize all hotel interactions, Kimpton Karma is much like the concept of the endless knot. The more guests engage with the hotel, the higher they progress through its tiers, unlocking access to a medley of perks. And so the cycle repeats, much like Kimpton's own efforts to remain fresh. Kimpton Hotel Vintage lavishes guests with exceptional. Amenities; Special Offers. Enhance Your Stay; AAA; Global Business Program; Small Groups; Photos; Eat + Drink. Tulio; Private Dining; Meetings. With warm, attentive service, Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel brings luxury & supreme comfort to guests of our downtown Boston. Global Business Program. Your Perk Portfolio Starts Here, With 10% Off. 90 Tremont Street Boston, MA. Monaco Chicago Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago 4-star hotel This property has agreed to be part of our Preferred Property Program. Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago. Kimpton Hotel Palomar San Diego, San Diego. Bathrooms are likewise opulent. Following are edited excerpts. COLLOQUY: In. Touch was an award- winning loyalty program. Why mess with success? Lang: We're constantly evolving our offerings to meet (guest) needs. From the beginning, Bill Kimpton hosted his sales meetings in the lobby of his first hotel and started pouring complimentary wine for customers while his dog, Chianti, ran around the lobby. Those were the foundations of what soon became our nightly hosted Wine Hours and our brand- wide, pet- friendly policy. Our loyalty story also began in an organic way when Shirley King, then head concierge at the Hotel Palomar in San Francisco, started keeping track of her regulars' likes and dislikes on hand- written index cards, which later sparked the creation of Kimpton's first loyalty program, In. Touch. With Kimpton Karma Rewards we didn't take a thing away from what In. Touch offered. We simply added to it. For example, Kimpton has nearly 7. Now our members have the ability to earn Kimpton Karma, and move up within their tiers, when they dine in our restaurants. We also enjoy social media engagement with our members and guests, even when they aren't staying with us. Now we might reward that. Can you step us through the process? Lang: I was brought on board to implement a new customer relationship management system and improve loyalty. As a Kimpton property, we expected a unique, creative, high-touch hotel. Free wifi if you sign up for their rewards program, and a minibar in the room. Rewards program info for Kimpton InTouch Guest Rewards and Loyalty Program. Direct access to Kimpton Hotels CEO Via the Inner Circle VIP Line. Once we decided which CRM platform to go with, we realized that this was an opportunity to also redesign and relaunch the loyalty program. It made sense to do both at the same time. We sat down and analyzed mountains of data, and undertook extensive quantitative and qualitative research to find out what our loyal members loved and wanted. Listening to the customer was critical in this process. The reason that it took us 2. We also wanted to make sure that the tools and technology were able to uniquely recognize each guest in a one- to- one manner. Our guests aren't lumped into segments or clusters. They are unique and the technology we built treats them accordingly. Kimpton Karma offers two additional tiers than did In. Touch. What in your loyalty insights indicated the need for this design? Lang: Kimpton (operates) 6. U. S. We realized that though we're rapidly growing, we're not in every city. Our loyal members told us: . Getting to Inner Circle (the highest tier level) isn't easy. It was time. How did you alert Kimpton's 1. Get an Inside Look at Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia. Experience a virtual tour of Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia in the heart of the birthplace of America. Global Business Program. Your Perk Portfolio Starts Here. Be sure and join the Kimpton In Touch Program! Kimpton Hotel Allegro Kimpton Hotel Allegro 4-star hotel This property has agreed to be part of our Preferred Property Program. Kimpton Hotels reserves the right to. The happy hour is a great touch! Kimpton InTouch Inner Circle Program Change. You can access Kimpton’s hotel directory here and read more about the InTouch program here. Kimpton Hotels is definitely worth having a. Tweets by LoyaltyLobby. In. Touch members of the changes in a way that was efficient and effective? Lang: We know that changes to a loyalty program can be sensitive so it was important that we reassured our most loyal members that the changes were all for the good; that there would be no devaluation. In addition to the traditional email teaser campaigns, my member communications manager was proactive in answering questions on frequent flyer message boards, and we repeatedly communicated through social media. We wanted to make sure that this did not come as a surprise to anyone but rather was something that everyone looked forward to. What did the actual conversion process - the day of the change - entail? Lang: A lot of lost sleep! Since we were also launching a new website on the same day, there was a large cross- functional team effort with several of my peers and their teams. Launch planning started months in advance, and the actual conversion process happened up to 4. Data needed to be migrated and tested, links needed to work, emails needed to be launched and so many things needed to simply work. If one little element broke, it would set off a cascade of events. We divided the teams into a technology- focused group, the ones who actually pressed the . Though we were all very tired, we were exhilarated and relieved to have had such a smooth launch. Launching a new CRM program and website all on the same day is not for the faint of heart! What particular takeaways would you offer another loyalty operator planning to change its program? Lang: Listen to your customer. Advocate for your customer. It may not always be easy to do the unexpected, and there may be internal pressures to either cost cut or find other savings. However, if you ask your customers what they want, and then imagine yourself in their shoes, you will get to the right solution. In addition, there are creative ways to not add cost. Researching and examining the data, as well as looking for the story behind the data, will tell you what you need to do. Think deeply about what will create emotional loyalty from your members. Finally, think deeply about what you as a brand can own as distinctly yours and develop a loyalty program around that premise. We knew that we couldn't compete with the big loyalty programs in terms of footprint or the miles/points space, so we focused our program on where we do win; the guest experience. Is there anything you would have done differently, or had done sooner? Lang: I would have hired more business analysts and project managers! It sounded simple enough when we discussed Karma as a concept. Once we started building both our CRM and the program we realized it would be much more complex than we originally thought. The proper project managers and business analysts up front may have helped us realize that earlier. Kimpton Karma emphasizes experiential perks, such as in- room spa credits. What has been the most popular reward for your members? Lang: Free Wi- Fi remains our most popular benefit, with 3. However, Raid the Bar has also proven hugely successful and profitable. We offer a $1. 0 credit to use either in the mini- bar or our hotel bars, and we see significant incremental revenue when members use the perk in the bar. We have an 8. 5% redemption rate on Raid the Bar. For weary business travelers who have come to expect little, they feel different when they come back to our lobbies. One loyal road warrior told me: . We're not going to stop here. As our brand grows, the loyalty program has to grow with it, and in the coming year we'll be very focused on digital innovation as well as partnerships. I've always been a strong advocate of technology as a differentiator, and now we have a great foundation to build upon.
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