Hilton onq System and Customer Relationship Management

The Hilton OnQ System

The foundation of the Hilton OnQ system was based on the awareness of the intertwining connection between information technology and Hilton’s brand as well as the requirement of accomplishing its brand promise. Introduced in the year 2002, OnQ was a comprehensive, integrated infrastructure designed to support the property-level operations of hotels in the Hilton family, and which performed as part of Hilton’s CRM strategy – “Customers Really Matter”.

The function process of OnQ consists of seven stages, ranging based each customer touch point in the completion of a stay:

1. Guest Profile Manager – the position was set with the responsibility of managing and aggregating the customer information collected, in order to guarantee that customers and their personal preference can be recognized in each customer touch point of every brand;
2. Online Profile – information about customer identity and preference is collected and integrated, so that preparations in reception and properties can be well made before guests’ arrivals;
3. Pre-Arrival – guests are communicated with before their arrivals, which helps make them feel attentiveness and welcome;
4. Arrival – customers will be served and recognized the way they choose upon their arrival;
5. In-Stay – conditions and facilities will be arranged based on the guest’s accommodation history and personal preference recorded in the OnQ system;
6. Departure – the check-out process can be expedite according to customers’ needs;
7. Post-Stay – a Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking survey will be randomly conducted, serving as a measurement of customer satisfaction degree and guidance of improvement direction.

  By the foundation and use of the OnQ system, customer information is better aggregated and integrated, so that their needs can be reacted ahead of time through pre-assignments, with the benefits of enhancing customer experience and improving efficiency.

The Customers Really Matter Initiative

Hilton’s customer relation management strategy (interpreted as “Customers Really Matter” by Hilton) was promoted in 2002, which was a business decision based on the effectiveness evaluation of Hilton’s brand integration. Along with the increase in Hilton’s sub-brands, a more scientific guest-value-evaluation-system was supposed to be founded. A more efficient welcoming and seeing off service, as well as service recovery and complaint tracking systems are needed to realize a mutual growth in revenue and customer loyalty.

1. Recognition and Personalization – comprehensive arrival reports are produced by OnQ CRM to reflect guests’ personal preferences, special requests and records of services received in past touch points. Customers are acknowledged and recognized in advance, and the accommodation conditions and services are tailored to respond to guests’ specific needs.
2. Service Recovery and Customer Analytics – as the less visible components of the CRM strategy, service recovery measures were implemented to regain customer trust after a mistake or problem. Furthermore, customer analytics were enabled by OnQ technology infrastructure, which ensured that Hilton could measure results and quickly act when needed.