HCC Hotels is a family-owned company with over 30 years of experience in urban destinations.
The group is composed of 4 hotels located in the heart of Barcelona on the city’s main avenues such as Paseo de Gracia, Rambla de Catalunya and Via Laietana offering 421 modern and spacious rooms and restaurants where you can taste the best market cuisine.
We spoke with Adelina Cantarell, who is Sales Director at HCC Hotels about her experience with Quicktext, the hospitality AI super app.
How did you decide to go with Quicktext?
At the time we were looking for an automated solution to answer visitors’ questions on our website. Our goal was to add value to our guest communication and increase direct bookings. We fully believe in our direct channel strategy through MIRAI… and one of their integrations was with Quicktext, so we got in touch with Benjamin (Benjamin Devisme, Quicktext co-founder, editor’s note).
What were your goals?
Our main goal was to provide answers to all customer questions that we couldn’t immediately address, especially considering the number of hotels we had and the need for the customer to get accurate information about which hotel they called and when. To be honest, I had no idea how to start my selection process…
How did you get help?
One of my first interactions was with Benjamin who gave me a very good impression. In this process, it is very important to have the advice of different specialists in data. In our case we did so with our HCC specialists in integrations and data. They were the ones who helped me make a good decision to hire Quicktext. It is very important that a hotel’s commercial department is always backed up nowadays by a data and integration department. The result is fantastic!
Among all the solutions we evaluated, it was Quicktext that gave us the most peace of mind from a technical standpoint.
Before making the final decision, we conducted a thorough review of all the integrations and the data it would provide us within our company. To ensure everything functioned correctly, we involved two technical colleagues who are not part of the sales department.
What about the implementation process?
Well, it was a step by step process with multiple challenges because it happened in the midst of the pandemic. There were only two of us and we were responsible for understanding how it worked and what we needed to respond to, as well as incorporating all the content into the platform. Sometimes, the explanations weren’t so clear to non experts, but over time we overcame the hurdles.
Words to the wise: many people think that all you need to do is insert some code on your web site…That’s a mistake, I have reorganized my team to do different and more valuable tasks to make the most out of the automated process from AI.
Does Quicktext meet your expectations?
Of course, if you look at the aspect of customer service and the responses it provides, such as check-in times, check-out times, among other details, this saves you time in having to respond to those basic inquiries. However, the most important thing for me is not to stop at that type of response. The crucial thing about this whole process is what’s behind it, which is a business matter, it’s about generating leads, following up, responding to customer requests, and conducting effective business follow-up. In the Quicktext dashboard, you can see who has made a request and follow up accordingly.
Based on that dashboard, we generated € 905 000 worth of booking requests representing close to 7 000 overnight stays from over 6 000 client conversations in 2023.
So, is it profitable for you?
Right. And this justifies maybe one more person dedicated to Quicktext to make sure to convert as many clients as we can. I believe AI does the heavy lifting and humans close deals…
Do you also have other channels connected to the AI?
Today’s customers use a variety of channels to communicate, creating a high volume of inquiries. To streamline management, we’ve integrated both Google My Business (GMB) and Facebook Messenger with Quicktext.
Do additional services like Q-SEO (dynamic content generation based on guest questions) help you boost your website rankings?
In general terms, every detail counts. If the inclusion of such a content in our FAQ increases the probability of indexing and improves our positioning, it is undoubtedly beneficial. Absolutely yes.
Where do you see AI in the future of hospitality?
AI could replace existing processes. However, it is not a universal solution.
In any case, AI could offer a complete, differentiated and curated experience to our clients.
It is crucial to understand that both the proper use and misuse of AI can have significant impacts. From my perspective, it represents a very positive advancement, especially in terms of digitization and optimization of business processes.
This implies the ability to establish new processes and consolidate data in one place, allowing us to offer more effective solutions based on the information we receive.
Very good point and now for the final question: on a scale of 1 to 10, what would be your satisfaction level with Quicktext?
For me, it’s a 9. I don’t say 10 because there is always room for improvement..
