Customer relationship management in hotels: examining critical success factors

Abstract

Customer relationship management (CRM) has become a key strategy for personalising the customer experience and improving customer satisfaction and retention, particularly in hotels. However, previous research shows that these hotels are not taking advantage of the full potential of CRM and that most of them struggle to succeed with its implementation. This study analyses the main success factors of CRM implementation based on a sample of 128 small- and medium-sized hotels in Spain. The results highlight the crucial role played by organisational factors (top management support, employee training and motivation along with organisational structure/processes) and provide relevant implications for research and practice. The findings reveal that investing in technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving positive results with CRM. To do this, hotel managers should exert effective leadership and motivate their employees to engage with the strategy.

Keywords:

• hotel sector
• customer relationship management
• success factors