Flag Choice Hotels

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Flag Choice Hotels Limited, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, provides ongoing sales and marketing support, including taking reservations for nearly 500 franchise accommodation properties throughout the South Pacific, as well as marketing these properties under one of the following brands: Comfort, Flag, Quality and Clarion. With access to a wide variety of accommodations and a direct link to a worldwide reservation system, Flag Choice soon realized the need to obtain a comprehensive and intimate view of their franchisee properties. While searching for an upgrade to their property billing system, Flag Choice uncovered the Pivotal solution that would enable them to track all communications and financial transactions pertaining to franchisee operations.

"The key to successful management - critical statistical and financial information about our franchisees and their clients - was held in several disconnected systems. We required the ability to capture, process and manipulate incoming and legacy data to make intelligent decisions about guest relations, marketing and portfolio positioning," said Angelo Tsagarakis, Commercial Manager for Flag Choice Hotels. "Also, we needed a better way of knowing whether our reporting accurately identified key areas for growth, and whether we were successfully responding to changing customer requirements and shifting market trends."

Developing a Customized Solution to Meet Business Needs

Flag Choice chose the Pivotal solution for its compatibility with the Microsoft platform, its ability to be easily customized to their business needs and the integration capabilities with their new financial package of choice — Great Plains Dynamics.

Initially, Pivotal was deployed to the telesales department by Australian integrator and Pivotal international partner, Kwiltek Business Solutions Pty. Ltd. The solution was then modified to collect information on corporate clients from the central reservation system. Within a very short timeframe, they were able to better capture client information in terms of who was spending what and where, enabling them to deploy their marketing resources accordingly. This improvement in efficiency led Flag Choice to consider further possibilities for its Pivotal deployment to include their operations in areas such as: the Franchisee Services Division, property recruitment and leads; HelpDesk support; and a Guest Loyalty Program.

Automated Billing Enables One-to-One Customer Service

The time-consuming reconciliation of the old franchise billing system has now been replaced with automated billing and financial reports. A direct feed from the Central Reservation System into Pivotal, allows Flag Choice to use booking information retained within the Pivotal database to generate financial transactions directed into Great Plains Dynamics. They are now able to generate accurate financial reports, as well as accurate guest information for each individual hotel or region. "The initial installation highlighted just how many areas could benefit from the Pivotal solution," revealed Tsagarakis, "Enhanced franchisee support became our next goal." If a franchisee needs operational assistance, Pivotal enables help desk experts to easily answer any question with detailed property information at their fingertips.

Improving Customer Loyalty

A real-time integration between the reservations system and Pivotal's solution makes managing the Flag Inn Club guest loyalty program, refreshingly easy. Flag Choice benefits by ensuring an increasing level of customer loyalty and retention by providing a truly one-to-one experience for its repeat customers. The Pivotal solution manipulates the reservation data (e.g., guest name, location, rate, method of payment, currency conversion and booking details) forwarding any associated financial information to the corporate ledger as well as storing the customer record. It then administers member profiles, points accumulation and redemption information, related financial implications and client communications for all loyalty program members.

Tracking Feedback Leads to Better Performance

Pivotal's solution captures, tracks and summarizes guest comments - an unforeseen bonus for Flag Choice's management. Now, they easily identify the origin of complaints, track travel agents or properties that receive the majority of comments, and monitor whether the franchisee's responses increase client retention. "The click of a mouse accesses any property's historical information including the complaints database, the number and location of agent referrals, the actual net revenues, and even the number and type of requests for support," says Tsagarakis. Customized feedback reports reveal whether changes in management, refurbishment of assets or sales and marketing assistance can improve franchisee performance.

Building Better Business Processes

The Pivotal implementation will continue providing opportunities for one-to-one marketing, cross-selling and up-selling, specialized corporate and leisure campaigns, and additional loyalty programs. Tsagarakis reveals that "Pivotal has given us the potential to build upon our entire business processes, from the front desk to the human resources department to our Web site." Flag Choice's future includes eRelationship PartnerHub, a solution that will allow franchisees to access their individual property data-files electronically as well as provide online information such as details on occupancies direct to Flag Choice. Tsagarakis adds, "The possibility of doing business-to-business commerce motivates our evolution and validates our choice of the Pivotal solution."

ROI List

• Improves effectiveness of marketing efforts through efficient direction of resources
• Improves franchise management effectiveness through information consolidation
• Provides superior service to franchisees by empowering help desk experts as well as sales staff with complete and accurate information
• Reduces administrative overhead due to more efficient management of individual property transactions within the central Pivotal database
• Increases efficiency through the elimination of duplicate data entry into multiple systems

"Pivotal makes it possible for us to ensure the success of our franchisees with a comprehensive, one-to-one view of each customer."

Angelo Tsagarakis, Commercial Manager, Flag Choice Hotels