4 major mistakes hospitality technology companies consistently make

Our industry is at a pivotal moment as the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies. As those adoption rates are steadily climbing, more and more companies are seeking to scale their software and hardware product offerings in our industry. In order for them to be successful and grow their businesses efficiently, they need to clearly understand the hospitality market to avoid major mistakes that can kill their entire businesses.

We all know how hard it is to source tech oriented talent from within the hospitality industry so, inevitably, technology companies tend to hire from the outside. Most employees at these companies don’t have the hospitality background so it takes them a while to understand the ins and outs of our industry and that creates many challenges, which also slows down technology adoption as a result. In fact, that also pertains to many founders of these companies, especially startups. While these players are actively seeking to understand our industry in order to become more successful, not a lot of options are available for them to be educated on the topic.

Having consulted many hospitality technology companies, I have put together a list of top 4 mistakes that tech companies tend to make in our industry, all of which can be easily avoided with the right knowledge.

Mistake #1. Underestimating the complexity of our industry, which leads to not understanding your end user and not differentiating between different user types. 

Many companies “just build” to see what happens. 

But did you know that there are at least 17 different types of end user personas in our industry, and they all have different needs when it comes to technology products? 

To address this mistake, I have put together a FREE guide with a comprehensive list of end user personas that can be identified in our industry, within each target segment.

This is the most comprehensive layout of technology end user personas in hospitality. This guide will help companies understand how to navigate in the complex environment of end users of hospitality technology and identify the right types of user personas before finalizing their product.

Mistake #2. Building new functionality and even entire products without validating the idea in the market and analyzing its market potential.

Way too many times technology products are built because an executive of the company had a brilliant idea but not because the market actually needed the product (I have actually done that myself on multiple occasions). This often results in significant losses of time and money. These losses can be avoided if all major product ideas go through a proper market validation process and an “opportunity assessment” exercise.

In addition, did you know that your go-to-market strategy needs to be carved, at least on the high level, before you even start building your product, not after? It’s an absolute must. 

I’ve also seen many, many companies make the mistake of building product requirements without conversations with their existing or potential clients. But clients are actually willing to share. They’re happy to share. That makes them feel important, valuable and engaged. So don’t be afraid to ask.

Mistake #3. Talking to the wrong decision maker or using the wrong language. 

In order for your sales and marketing strategies to be effective, you need to identify the right buyer personas (key decision makers and influencers) in the target segment you are pursuing. 

For that – you need to understand the composition of the industry, main players and stakeholders. 

The type of decision maker you need to approach depends on many factors. And once you identify them, what’s also important is to understand their mindset so then you can understand how to approach and sell to them. In my new online learning course, I have an entire lecture dedicated just to that. 

After watching that lecture, you will know more about selling to the hospitality industry than 90% of other companies in the market. Needless to say, this will make you much more competitive. If you apply these strategies and this knowledge in your practice, it will absolutely make your company more successful and your products more scalable. 

Mistake #4. Ignoring integration dependencies.

This can actually kill your entire business if underestimated.

You need to clearly understand the hospitality technology ecosystem and identify where your product is positioned in it and whether you have any integration dependencies because this will dictate your entire product and sales strategy and your development timeline as well.

So in order for you to build the right strategy for your product – you need to first answer the main question: is your technology solution dependent on any stream of data that you don’t generate internally? If the answer is yes – then you have an integration dependency. And that opens up a whole can of worms, which I talk about in one of the lectures. 

If you’d like to learn how to avoid these mistakes and become more successful in your role – consider signing up for the course.

About the author:

Ira Vouk is the author of “Hospitality 2.0”, a software founder and an educator. She has built and brought to market multiple successful software solutions and has been consulting hospitality technology companies for many years. In her new online learning course, Ira leverages her past experience as both a hotelier and a technologist to translate decades of market developments into an easy-to-understand blueprint for those who want a crash course on how to optimally navigate in the hospitality market and be successful in our industry as a technology vendor. 

This immersive course is great for: investors, founders, executives and other employees of technology companies in travel and hospitality, including product managers, engineers, sales, marketing, and customer service teams. It is designed and built in partnership with Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management of SDSU and Hospitality 2.0 Consulting. The certification at the end of the course is endorsed by San Diego State University.

For more information, visit the course website. Enterprise packages, enterprise licensing and personalized instructions are also available. Please contact Ira Vouk directly with those requests.