It’s no secret that the hospitality industry is a demanding one. With relentless competition and ever-evolving customer expectations, maintaining a competitive edge is a constant challenge. To adapt to the landscape, businesses must find innovative ways to optimize their operations and make their staff available to provide top-notch guest service.
One solution that is rapidly gaining traction is the implementation of Digital Workers, technology designed to automate repetitive tasks, such as data reconciliations. The result? Qualified staff are liberated from routine duties and empowered to focus on strategic work that truly adds value to their companies. The entire team is able to function more efficiently, ushering in a new era of productivity and employee and guest satisfaction.
These benefits aren’t theoretical- they are tangible results that are already being enjoyed by forward-thinking businesses like Davidson Hospitality Group. Thanks to Centelli's Digital Worker, Davidson saw first-hand the transformative power of automation for hospitality.
The Problem: Manual Reconciliations and Other Time-Consuming Tasks
Davidson Hospitality, like many in the industry, faced the perennial issue of time-consuming manual reconciliations- a process where two sets of records are compared to ensure accuracy. This crucial but repetitive task can consume considerable time, particularly in the hospitality industry with its large volume of transactions.
At Davidson, a team of ten accountants found themselves dedicating a staggering 80-85% of their time to this task. Not only was this leading to burnout, it also meant that their skills were not being utilized for more strategic, value-adding activities. The knock-on effect was considerable, with reconciliations often postponed until month-end, meaning business information was often outdated by the time it was rolled out.
The Centelli Solution: Implementing a Digital Worker
Centelli offered an innovative solution to streamline Davidson's reconciliation process by introducing their Digital Worker. Davidson had some older systems, accessed via Remote Desktop, in play that presented potential complications. However, because Digital Workers scroll, type and use a mouse just like a human, they didn’t become an issue. The Worker was also trained to decipher inconsistent record naming conventions and to continuously learn from the data it processed. Even more impressively, the Worker was designed to scale with the business, so it is ready to handle an increasing volume of reconciliations as Davidson grows.
The Benefits of Digital Worker Implementation: Davidson Hospitality as a Case Study
Embracing the capabilities of Centelli's Digital Worker has yielded impressive benefits for Davidson Hospitality. For one, the accountants are now free to focus on business growth and strategy. The team's newfound freedom from reconciliations had a trickle-up effect, giving them more capacity to support managers as well. Additionally, overall work satisfaction has improved, as employees no longer feel overwhelmed by the need to input data rapidly. Finally, the scalability that the Digital Worker was built with meant that what started with 5 banks has now extended to 80 banks, with minimal additional training required.
The Wider Benefits of Digital Workers in the Hospitality Industry
The scope of Centelli’s Digital Workers’ potential extends far beyond Davidson Hospitality’s experience. The benefits that this technology can bring to the hospitality industry are manifold. Digital Workers can be deployed to handle all kinds of tasks in the hospitality sector, including:
Contact Center Operations: managing routine emails that require new reservations, amendments, or cancellations
Payment Collection: automating the collection of payments for pre-paid bookings to ensure timely and efficient revenue management
Insight and Reporting: preparing the regular reports necessary for smooth and efficient operations, providing crucial insights for decision-making
Financial Operations: automating vendor setup and retiral, supplier reconciliation, and revenue postings
Project Management: efficiently handling data migration, rate code setup, and user permission management to ensure seamless project execution
Conclusion
The impact of Centelli's Digital Worker on Davidson Hospitality's reconciliation process serves as a compelling example of the potential benefits of automation in the hospitality industry. As this dynamic sector continues to adapt to new challenges, embracing innovative solutions like Digital Workers will be key to staying competitive, enhancing efficiency, and ultimately improving the guest experience.
If you're ready to explore how Digital Workers could revolutionize your hospitality business, don't hesitate to contact Centelli. Their team is eager to work with you to create an efficient, automated future for your operation!
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