Always ready: Minor Hotels sustains adaptability with SiteMinder Multi-Property

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

Minor Hotels has made being adaptable part of its DNA. The sometimes more, sometimes less approach of the 530-strong hotel group makes it ready for change at any moment, and the company expects the same of its technology partners. SiteMinder’s latest response has been Multi-Property.

Why it matters: In 2019, Thailand-headquartered Minor Hotels ranked as one of the 25 largest hotel companies in the world. It’s an achievement earned over many years of focus and being adept at navigating uncharted territories. And, this approach has served Minor well in recent months, aided by the chain’s long-standing partnership with SiteMinder which is built on an adaptable, flexible approach that puts hotel users first.

Minor and SiteMinder have worked together since 2013 but the launch of SiteMinder Multi-Property has helped the hotel chain centralise functions at a crucial time.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Kannaphon (Big) Phienlumleart, Director of Distribution explains what are the key factors they look for when it comes to technology. “What we look for in platforms is flexibility, which allows us to ‘do central’ when we need, ‘do individual’ when we need, do reports individually but centrally, do the setup ourselves sometimes, and then other times let our hotels do it. That flexibility means, no matter the time or place, we can react. That represents who we are as a company.”

One single distribution: SiteMinder Multi-Property removes complexity for revenue teams and boosts efficiency, by enabling hotel groups and chains to manage and distribute their rates centrally.
Working together: The team at Minor hotels expect to see more collaboration between marketing, distribution and revenue management through the implementation of the technology as well as benefits for hotel owners. Tighter knit teams will bring additional value, while, as Marcos points out, owners will see immediate gains from rates and promotions pushed out centrally, more regularly and in an accurate and timely manner.

Innovators Mentioned

Minor Hotels

SiteMinder

Kannaphon Phienlumleart

Senior Director of Distribution

Minor Hotels

"We have been working with Siteminder for the last 9 years and we have seen the evolution of their product and all the changes. For us, this meant to work with a partner that could adapt to our needs which meet with our core value “all about driving performance” and that could offer us connectivity, technology and a great customer service and Sitemidner has met this. We really value their humane approach and their capacity to adapt."

Kannaphon Phienlumleart

Senior Director of Distribution

👍 Senior Director of Distribution Kannaphon Phienlumleart said that “Without the technology that we’re working with today, I don’t think we would be able to maintain the profit margins we are aiming for. We are a commercial and P&L-driven operation, 100%. So, cost is the first thing that we will always look at and if a tool is not helping us to drive that bottom line for us and our owners, then we will not work with it.”:

"We have been working with Siteminder for the last 9 years and we have seen the evolution of their product and all the changes. For us, this meant to work with a partner that could adapt to our needs which meet with our core value “all about driving performance” and that could offer us connectivity, technology and a great customer service and Sitemidner has met this. We really value their humane approach and their capacity to adapt."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Kannaphon Phienlumleart evaluated SiteMinder's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that SiteMinder was the best fit solution:

Senior Director of Distribution Kannaphon Phienlumleart said, about their decision: "“Anywhere we can minimise cost and improve our capacity, to deliver to our hotels at the lowest cost possible, is an incredible win for us. Right now, knowing that the whole environment has changed and we have reduced staff, this is a great time for us to do a lot of things that we couldn’t do before. It’s almost like SiteMinder’s new functionality fell perfectly on time. While the market is shifting, it will help us to keep on going.”"

📈 The results: Marcos Cadena from Minor Hotels, says the technology enables the chain to set up policy and control mechanisms centrally from Thailand, providing it with “a single way of auditing the properties”. He adds that this is a huge time-saver for the company, estimating that the group would have to dedicate the time of 10 more people—which would mean a hit to the bottom line—if it weren’t for the technology.

Slick user experience, making it easy to train new team members and bring them on board.
The perfect fit for the mostly decentralised company, which is turning to SiteMinder Multi-Property on a daily basis. “Daily tasks are carried out by our individual hotels but it’s good from the corporate perspective to be able to launch promotions for every hotel at the same time. It means we can centralise some functions from the corporate office if we want to. And, this only adds to our ability to adapt.”
Speed-to-market with new properties in the portfolio saves Minor from having to hire more people and all the related costs.