Marketing to Previous Guests to generate repeat business for the hotel is discussed below. Here are just a few examples of marketing strategies and how to utilize the CSS Repeat Guest History to get people to return to your hotel, and Prospect data to reach prospects and convince them to book their first reservation.

The Repeat Guest History data currently tracked by the CSS System is a valuable resource for the Sales & Marketing Department. It provides Query options for a good number of data fields: Last Date Here (From - To), Market/Group Code, Postal Codes, Market IDs, Plan Codes, Room Types, Special Requests, Source of Business, Promo Codes, Location Codes, VIPs, as well as data in User Definable Fields.

This data can be extracted in a variety of combinations and the resulting data can be sorted by Guest Name, Market ID, Postal Code, Room Type, Source of Business or Promo Code for printing in six different formats including: Revenue, Stay or Master Information. This data extraction is designed for market analysis to see where your business is coming from.

Mailings are simplified by the CSS System with the Mail Merge option. Any of the data listed above, from Market IDs to the data in the User Defined Fields, can be exported in an ASCII delimited format. This is a standard format used by many Windows, DOS and UNIX applications. You can then merge any of this data in a word processor and truly personalize letters to guests.

This is also the case for Prospect data. Prospects are defined as callers requesting a brochure be sent to them.  You are able to differentiate guests with past stay history from prospect calls, to clarify the specific information to be forwarded, and produce follow up reports or mailings to both Guests and Prospects combined or separately.

Another use for the exported CSS Data is to import it into any database or sales tracking program capable of an ASCII import, and there are many. In addition to all of the typical data fields that can be used by any business: company, address, phone, contact name, you can set up User Definable Fields to view, and track, your specific data. Use the CSS Front Office System to extract Group Contacts, Corporate Accounts, Travel Wholesalers, Tour or Motorcoach Operators, etc. Some of the sales tracking database programs have a Word Processor built in with merge capabilities to personalize letters, or do mass mailings. They also provide an excellent Track and Trace mechanism, for timely follow up of key accounts.

A good marketing strategy will always take advantage of the data available to effectively target a specific market. The CSS Front Office System tracks a considerable amount of data, with significantly more flexibility then many other systems.