Vitamin or Painkiller? Why Hotels Ignore Technology They Know is Good

Three weeks ago I asked my LinkedIn network a question. If a hotelier can see the potential value of a technology, why might they still not use it? I suggested four reasons: time, operational pressures, uncertainty about the return, or nobody owning the process.

I've been thinking about it ever since, and I believe there's a simpler answer sitting underneath all four. It's also an uncomfortable one, because it applies to something I've built myself.

Why good ideas still don't get used

You may have heard the comparison before, and I think it fits. Think of a vitamin and a painkiller. A vitamin is good for you. You know you should take it, and when you forget, nothing happens. A painkiller is different. When it hurts, you go and find one, whatever else is going on.

Now look at those four reasons again. No time, too much pressure, unsure of the return, nobody in charge. Those are exactly what happens to a vitamin. Nobody finds the time, the budget or an owner for something they can live without. If the pain is bad enough, they find all three.

Anyone who has run a hotel knows how the day goes. The phone rings, a guest has a problem, a member of the team is off sick, and the plan for the morning disappears. In that world, a good idea has to compete with things that are actively on fire. A nice idea that would make next quarter a little better never wins that contest. Every new system also asks something of a team: training, a new habit, someone to look after it. The return may only show up months later. A painkiller asks for the same effort, but the relief starts straight away, and that changes the sum.

I don't think hoteliers are slow to adopt technology. I think a lot of technology, mine included, is a nice to have.

My own idea is a vitamin

BHpeople is the Guest Intelligence platform I've been developing for the past few years. It helps hotels recognise their guests and give them customised, surprising stays by getting to know more about them. I genuinely believe in it.

But if I'm honest, a hotel that doesn't use it loses nothing it can see on a Monday morning. The guests still arrive and the rooms still sell. The hotel is simply a little less memorable than it could have been. Today, that makes it a vitamin. My bet is it won't stay one.

It's a hard thing to write about my own work. But I'd rather say it plainly than keep building a lovely answer to a question nobody is asking.

What a painkiller looks like

LevyCheck is the tool I'm building to work out and check the newly introduced Edinburgh visitor levy for hotels, guest houses and B&Bs, and will follow in Glasgow, Stirling, Aberdeen and West Dunbartonshire next year. It's a new rule, and it lands on small teams with very little spare time. I spent years in hospitality, and I know that the introduction of this will eat into precious time that would otherwise be spent looking after guests.

I don't think anyone needs persuading that it's a problem. They just want it sorted, and sorted correctly. That makes it a painkiller. But the only way to find out is to put it in front of real hotels. If it's a painkiller, they'll tell me quickly. If it isn't, I'd rather find out now than after I've spent months polishing it.

How to tell which one you've got

Here are three questions I'm now asking about any idea, mine included.

• Does it solve something that keeps someone awake at night, or something they'd like to have?

• Is there a deadline, a penalty or a real cost if it isn't dealt with?

• Are people already spending time, money or goodwill trying to fix it?

If the answer to all three is no, I'd be careful. It may still be a good idea. It's probably a vitamin. Be honest with yourself when you answer, because it's easy to see pain where you want it to be.

Vitamins can win, but only in time

There's a fair argument against all this. Plenty of vitamins turn into painkillers. Think of Wi-Fi in hotel rooms. There was a time when it was a pleasant extra. Now a hotel without it would be marked down by its guests, and nobody thinks of it as a treat. I believe personalisation will go the same way. If surprising guests and giving them customised experiences became commonplace, not doing it would put a hotel at a real disadvantage, and the pain would arrive. I just don't know when. Until it does, anything that stops a real pain will get the attention first.

If you build or sell a vitamin, the lesson isn't to give up. It's to be honest about where you are, and to look for the pain sitting next to it. A hotel that won't buy an intelligence tool, might still buy something that takes a tedious task off the front desk. The first can earn you the second, and the second can open the door to the first.

So what's hurting you?

If you're looking for a gap, start with the problem, not the solution. Not “what would be nice to have”, but “what is genuinely hurting right now”.

So I'd like to ask hotel owners, general managers and the teams who run things day to day: what eats the most time, or causes the most worry, in your business at the moment? Not what you'd like. What hurts. It could be something in the front office, in housekeeping, in reservations, or in the paperwork nobody enjoys.

Leave a comment, or email me at martin@beyondhospitality.co.uk. I'll read every reply carefully, and I'd genuinely welcome your thoughts.