Fairmont Hotels & Resorts: Website Development and Enhanced CRM

To meet its worldwide expansion objectives, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts needed an innovative way of building awareness on a global scale. The luxury hotel management company turned to Accenture for eCommerce strategies to help it extend its brand over the Internet and capture a better understanding of its customers.

Formed in 1999 when Canadian Pacific Hotels acquired Fairmont Hotels, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is the largest luxury hotel management company in North America, with 37 properties across Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. However, while many of these properties have been in existence for a century or more, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a relatively young brand.

In order to meet its worldwide expansion objectives, Fairmont recognized the need to build its brand as a provider of unrivaled customer service in all markets. Working with Accenture to develop an innovative approach to eCommerce, Fairmont is now poised to build its brand worldwide and capture greater international recognition.

Today, Fairmont's website visitors from around the world can know what Fairmont's guests have long understood. That a Fairmont hotel is more than simply a place to stay, it's a place to experience.

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Fairmont's existing website provided general information and allowed guests to book rooms through a third-party vendor. But the Fairmont/Accenture team knew an enhanced site could do much more.

One of the first orders of business was bringing the website in-house, which would allow Fairmont to integrate the website with the hotel's central reservation and guest data warehousing systems. By doing so, the hotel could begin creating a more personalized, transaction based experience for its website visitors.

Next, the Fairmont/Accenture team focused on those features that would offer the most compelling experience for the Internet visitor—and the greatest value for the company. Direct Online Booking—the hotel's new Web based application allows guests to book rooms through Fairmont's central reservation system directly over the Internet.

The system recognizes the visitor when he or she logs on and preloads information stored in the guest's profile, such as President's Club (the guest loyalty program) status and preferences. Guests can view rooms, rates, availability and promotional packages offered at each of Fairmont's properties. And they can confirm, update or cancel their reservations in real time, regardless of their original booking source.

The hotel's eCommerce solution comprised two major components that were implemented simultaneously: developing a new website and strengthening guest data warehouse capabilities.

Fairmont's previous guest insight and data warehousing capabilities had served the company well in its Canadian market—where its brand and commitment to customer service were well known and respected.

However, as Fairmont expanded into the more competitive global market, it became clear that the company would also have to expand its ability to manage guest information across properties. Specifically, Fairmont and Accenture worked to develop guest data warehousing capabilities that would allow Fairmont to:

• Maintain guest profile information across properties.
• Target guest segments with personalized communications, incentives and discounts.
• Better manage its loyalty program.
• Acquire new guests and build loyalty.

To achieve these guest data warehousing goals, Accenture and Fairmont focused on two priority areas:

Individual Tracking—The goal of the guest data warehousing solution was, first and foremost, to strengthen the hotel's ability to track visitors globally across the hotel chain—not just at the individual property level. In this way, Fairmont could improve its customer service capabilities by better understanding their guests' preferences, booking channels and spend patterns.

Target Marketing—Fairmont needed to develop a lifecycle view of its guests—from the first time they explored the Fairmont site to the time they booked a reservation. Profiling individual behaviors in this way would allow Fairmont to establish targeted marketing campaigns tailored to the preferences of unique market segments.

Guest profiling has also allowed Fairmont to pursue cross-selling and up-selling opportunities with targeted audience groups. The new guest data warehouse is integrated with Fairmont's new website, as well as the hotel's central reservation and property management systems, and can gather guest information at all touch points.

Equally important, the guest data warehouse helps analyze this data to determine "guest value." As a result, Fairmont is now able to maximize its revenues by focusing its marketing and brand building efforts on higher value guest segments. It can also, for the first time, measure the effectiveness of segmented marketing initiatives. Fairmont is now able to maximize its revenues by focusing its marketing and brand-building efforts on higher-value guest segments.

Integrating the eCommerce Solution
In developing this eCommerce solution, the Fairmont/Accenture team delivered the technical solution elements, as well as assessed and redesigned the company's affected business processes (e.g., marketing and activity booking). And they implemented organization-wide changes, particularly in governance and skill development, that would be required to support the new capabilities. Specifically, the eCommerce solution involved integrating:

• New roles, skill sets and training programs that would teach Fairmont employees how to use the new systems.
• Comprehensive communications programs that would generate buy-in and feedback from Fairmont's affected workforce.
• Incentive and performance measurement programs that would encourage Fairmont's employees to use the new systems correctly.
• Program management skills that would allow Fairmont to sustain the project's success.

These programs formed the basis for managing and sustaining workforce improvements and employee buy-in that were critical to the overall success of the program.

Fairmont is now well on its way to achieving its corporate objectives of global expansion and revenue growth. With its eCommerce solution now in place, Fairmont is:

• Strengthening relationships with, and increasing the loyalty of, individual travelers via personalized offers.
  
• Attracting new guests (and revenue) via the Internet. Increasing sales through last-minute Web-based promotions.
  
• Migrating existing guests from low to high cross-chain use.
  
• Reducing marketing, call center, President's Club fulfillment, promotion and brochure costs.

These new capabilities are further distinguishing the company as a leading hotel operator—one that truly "knows" its guests and provides unparalleled luxury services that address their unique needs. Equally important, by integrating the company's guest data warehousing system with its new website functionality, Fairmont is building its brand globally through direct relationships with its guests.

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