In conversation with Sabine Schrempp, Revenue & Capacity Manager at KONCEPT HOTELS

Please introduce yourself briefly and tell us what makes your hotel or host role stand out.
My name is Sabine Schrempp and I am a Revenue & Capacity Manager at KONCEPT HOTELS with currently 5 hotels in Germany and one hotel in Switzerland. We are rethinking the hotel industry and have focused on digitization and sustainability. Both leisure and corporate will find a cozy room in the short or long stay area.

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Did you or how did you do revenue management before you switched to happyhotel?
Yes, even before happyhotel, we had revenue management in place. This was, of course, much more time-consuming without a system. Because we have 3 hotels in Cologne and the city experiences many trade fairs and events, people often lagged behind the pick-up truck with price control.

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What were the decision criteria for Happyhotel?
We didn't make the decision for happyhotel easy for ourselves last year and, of course, also checked the competition in the RMS sector and put all eligible systems through their paces. Happyhotel finally convinced us because with Happyhotel we have found a system but also, above all, a partner who, like us, is very innovative and thinks things in new ways. Speed of deployment, easy onboarding and ease of use were decisive factors. It was also important to us that segments & room categories can be yielded independently of each other. Rafael's pitch at SO last year was also a big factor! APART event and happyhotel's visions of the future.

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How does Happyhotel make everyday life easier for you?
In the morning, I first look at Happyhotel's automated reports with my first coffee and get an overview of where and how we currently stand. I then go into more detail and use the Pick Up Report to see which days are picking per month and, if applicable, per day and check the system's pricing decision. Manual intervention is less and less necessary here, as with the great support team from happyhotel, we were able to adapt the system exactly to our needs and can trust the system.

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Which feature do you like best?
Clearly, the pick up report. Since we are currently running on MEWS, I had always looked at all the presentation bookings without Happyhotel. I no longer have to make this effort, as happyhotel shows these figures at a glance. The analyses are also good help to understand the market and the houses better and can also make decisions and measures proactively and without much searching for figures

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What does the dynamic pricing process look like for you NOW?
Since then, Happyhotel has been used in all our businesses, and the daily rate is automatically paid. This allows us to focus more on the strategy around it and enjoy increasing ADR and RevPAR without having to manually adjust prices every day. Here, even small price changes of €1 — €5 per room make a big difference in the overall result.

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How has your average working day changed since the integration of happyhotel?
The integration saves me time in yielding and allows me to focus my attention on other topics of the day. This allows us to invest the additional time gained in processes, analyses, etc., which would otherwise be put on the back burner.

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What do you like best about Happyhotel? Which function feels like saving you the most time?
The analysis area to quickly and easily get an evaluation, even compared to the previous year or a specific date. Without Happyhotel and, depending on the data basis of the PMS, this would involve a very high level of effort and sometimes not possible.

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Have you already made any noticeable additional sales and if so, by what percentage have you been able to increase your turnover through happyhotel? (estimate)
It is currently difficult to answer this question, as the ongoing pandemic in recent years has led to a different booking pattern and some of our hotels have opened during this time. However, we feel that we can achieve very good ADR on days when demand is high and will maintain this focus in the future.

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What are your personal tips for future users of happyhotel?
With the free trial version, I can only recommend everyone to test the product and make up their own mind.

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What do you want for Happyhotel's future?
That we continue to have great and close cooperation and that you don't stop developing. I'm really looking forward to the launch of the trial version for group evaluations and when we get to test it.

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Digitalization in the hotel industry — what should a hotelier start with?
Digital guest trip to make everyday life easier for reservation & receptionists

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Name three things that you would share with other hoteliers.
Don't get stuck on old structures. Have the courage to break new ground in order to become attractive to employees in the industry again. There are so many ways to make everyday work easier and focus on the core competency of “being a host” and perfecting it every day.

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