Small Data, Big Impact: Leveraging Limited Data in Hospitality
Written By:
Last Updated Date:
Today, with the rise of data quantity around us, you might feel distracted and somewhat confused. But it doesn’t have to be this way as much, because if you have a small hospitality business, you don’t need to focus on all the data around you; instead, choose to focus on what matters.
If you want a targeted action to solve the core problems you may face inside your business, you need to focus on things as simple as guest feedback, and how to choose the right staff that can manage guests’ problems with ease.
Small rooms require a smaller focus and more time to manage for good. But it’s not only that. In this series, we’ll open this page and go into some details that will help you shine and get ahead of others.
Key Takeaways
- If you have a small business, you don’t have to be overwhelmed. Focus on guest feedback, booking patterns, and staff performance for actionable insights.
- Track guest data, financial metrics, operational efficiency, and marketing performance to understand your complete business health.
- Use free tools like Google Analytics, surveys, and spreadsheets. You don’t need expensive software to collect valuable insights and improve guest experiences.
What is Small Data in Hospitality?
In the hospitality business, small data hospitality analytics is the kind of data that is easy to manage and maintain in a controlled way, but not with many modern and costly tools. Instead, with a tool that is cheap, affordable, and easier to track.
You may collect guests’ demographics and booking data so that you can know which times of year you get the most money due to high season, also you can track feedback and comments. This way, you could improve what’s missing. If you already have a website, you can track their behavior and engagement levels.
Also, by tracking your inventory levels and identifying times when you may get out of stock and look for a fix. In this way, you can make a great experience for guests while maintaining good operations.
The Essential Data Pillars for Small Hotels
Imagine that you can improve both And profit and the overall guest experiences. It’s not a dream. It can be true. What you need to focus on four things, and here are specific metrics you should look for:
Let’s go through each one in detail. At first comes guest data; you have a general idea of how to improve it. I know you may be curious; you can navigate our article discussing this topic. Check this article for more details.
What you need to do is understand guest needs and try to make a beautiful, personalized experience as much as you can. Look for booking patterns, stay preferences, and specifically what to improve.
When we talk about operations, it’s to measure operational efficiency. You can look for occupancy rate, room availability, housekeeping, and amenity usage.
Then, money. about financial data. This is how you measure the business’s financial health. Specifically look for average daily rate, revenue per available room, and gross operating profit per available room.
And now we need to measure marketing data, and it’s about the effectiveness of sales efforts. Look for website traffic, conversion rates, and performance of booking channels. You need to spend more effectively to increase online visibility and drive more targeted bookings.
How to Collect Data Without Expensive Tools?
It doesn’t always need to be hard when you deal with small-scale tasks; you don’t need expensive tools, unless you have much to do. When you’re getting started, it can be as simple as I’ll show you.
Collecting information directly from the customer is the easiest, whether by physical or online surveys is the key a tool like SurveyMonkey is so good for that. Also, starting some polls to know exactly what they would enjoy is a perfect idea. Know what they enjoyed and what needs improvement, and act on it.
Online, you can look for analytics tools like Google Analytics, look for where traffic comes from, simply put the important insights in a spreadsheet, and improve on it. And for the true impact to come build a conversation with your customer. This will help them enjoy their stay and have a great experience.
Turning Small Data Into Big Decisions
Imagine you checked for the four pillars we discussed before, and you got everything set. Now you can:
- Identify your goal.
- Analyze patterns.
- Act on the insights.
- Monitor and define what went good and improve what went badly.
This is a simple framework you can start with, and it’s worth trying because it lets you focus on real issues and improve them.
Wrapping up
Collecting data is not as hard as it sounds. It depends on the scale, and if you are just starting, it’s so simple that you don’t need to overthink anything. You can save as much money for your business while providing a good experience for your guests.
While this is an overview. In the next articles, we’ll get into more details on this to let you truly do the right work. We’ll go into details about the metrics and more into the tools you’ll use to make you feel more at home.
All you need is to start small. Think smarter. Build impact
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I’m a Data Enthusiast and Content Writer with a passion for helping people improve their lives through data analysis. I’m a self taught programmer and has a strong interest in artificial intelligence and natural language processing. I’m always learning and looking for new ways to use data to solve problems and improve businesses.
