Hotel Tech Insider

SPEAKER_02:
Getting great software or new solution in place is one thing, and there is a lot of technical things that needs to happen when you prepare and you do all the integrations. But actually making sure that the people who actually are supposed to use the new software, the new tools, are on board is absolutely key.

SPEAKER_00:
From Hotel Tech Report, it's Hotel Tech Insider, a show about the future of hotels and the technology that powers them.

SPEAKER_01:
Today we are speaking with Tess Therese Cedercreutz the Chief Commercial Officer at Scandic Hotels. She oversees revenue, marketing, distribution, guest experience, CRM, the loyalty program, design, and more for Scandic, which operates 270 hotels throughout Europe and employs about 18,000 team members. In our conversation, we talk about how Scandic's massive project of implementing a new cloud-based PMS at each of their hotels and how Tess's team set the stage for a smooth implementation with plenty of training and support resources. In addition, you'll hear how Scandic listens to the voice of their guests and hear Tess's advice for hoteliers seeking to balance high-tech software with the core principles of hospitality. Well, I like to kick off the conversation by learning more about your background. So I would love for you to introduce yourself, tell our listeners your current role, and then how you've gotten there.

SPEAKER_02:
Yes, I'm Tess or Therese actually, Sera Kreutz. I've been in my current role at Scandic Hotels for a year now. And my current role is Chief Commercial Officer. And in that role, I actually have quite a broad area of responsibility in a way that it's actually ranges from brand marketing, Revenue management, distribution, so working with the third parties and the OTAs, the Booking.com, the Expedias, for example, all the way to the whole kind of guest experience or Scandic experience where it's everything from CRM, working with customer data, working with digital development of services and our own web, for example, and mobile check in, check out to actual hotel design. And then also more over the loyalty program that we're running with Scandic and also what we call kind of hotel operations. So, you know, software and services that we roll out on the hotels, you know, what's the best practices and the way of working. So it's quite broad. And I actually ended up in this job from the Scandic board. So I was actually on the board of directors of Scandic for almost two years. And got the call from, of course, knew Scandic, knew the ambition we had at Scandic, the kind of future, the strategy, but also had gotten to know the CEO and, you know, large part of the leadership team. So the CEO actually called me and said, well, why wouldn't you consider coming and working operationally instead? And I thought that that was actually an opportunity. I didn't want to miss knowing all the exciting things happening at Scandic at this point. So I think that I've said that I've not regretted, you know, stepping down from the board and actually taking on this operational role one minute. Second of all, I think this is now the time to work at Scandic because a lot of exciting things are happening. So that's kind of my background.

SPEAKER_01:
Have you been in the hotel industry for some time?

SPEAKER_02:
No, I have not. Actually, I have no prior experience before the board of the hotel industry. Although I have to say that I've been working in software and the kind of technology field for many, many, many years. Then I actually moved into the more creative fields. I was the managing director of a creative agency working quite a lot and then continued working as a management consultant as well for many, many years. There in that role, I had worked with another hotel company more on kind of brand strategy and also kind of more operational advertising things for a few years, but as an external, of course, to not working in the company per se, but as a consultant. So I said that I came in with very little. So I would say that, uh, last year, my first year has been a very steep learning curve, but a lot of fun. And I think that I'm the type of person that I like to put myself kind of in the deep end and out of my comfort zone. And I have certainly done that here.

SPEAKER_01:
So you mentioned there's a lot of exciting things happening at Scandic right now. Can you tell me about some of those updates?

SPEAKER_02:
Well, first and foremost, I think that what we're doing in the digital space and also in kind of providing our team members with smart tools for them to work more efficiently, to be able to serve our guests and create a much better guest experience. That's definitely an area where now investing a lot of time and effort. At the same time, I would say that internal operational efficiency has always been extremely important at Scandic. And I think that's one of our key competitive advantages as well, that we're running very efficient operations and all the kind of efforts we're putting with new platforms and solutions in place is kind of just driving that ambition forward and becoming even more efficient and providing better tools for our team members. We have 18,000 people working at Scandic in different roles. And most of those, of course, in the hotels, we have 270 hotels in six different markets, being the Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Poland. So interacting day-to-day with our guests, and of course, they need to have the best tools available to be able to do their job.

SPEAKER_01:
So I would love to dive into your tech stack a bit. Can you tell me what would you consider the most crucial technology vendor right now?

SPEAKER_02:
Currently we have embarked actually all of last year on a very ambitious kind of project together with Oracle. We have been working at Scandic with Oracle for many, many, many years, but now we together with Oracle move in to the cloud-based Oracle for hospitality kind of platform. which, in my understanding, were one of the first hotel chain to actually implement all central functions. And that has been a very interesting project involving a lot of different colleagues, my colleagues at Scandic, and we're currently actually rolling out that on all of our hotels. And we're kind of almost halfway and we're actually expecting to be finished in second quarter this year. So that is something which I think is a fundamental step forward for Scandic and will give us tremendous opportunities going forward, both commercially, but also in having much more efficient operations. And most important, probably being able to provide an even better customer experience for all our guests.

SPEAKER_01:
What were some of the driving factors in choosing Oracle? Were you looking at other competitors?

SPEAKER_02:
Well, I think that for us, of course, you know, we're always looking when we make a decision, we're looking around and we're trying to kind of get a good understanding of what's available. But I think with choosing a vendor, you know, it's always, of course, easy to choose someone you have been working with for a long time because there is kind of a relationship there and trust. and also an understanding on both sides of what do we need, for example. You know, so I think that Oracle had a very good understanding of what's the ambition at Scandic and what does Scandic need now to be able to take that next kind of big leap forward. And there, I would say that it was quite an easy choice to go with Oracle Cloud for Hospitality because there was a joint view of why this would be a really good solution for Scandic. And I think also on Oracle's side, why Scandic would be a really good first kind of customer to roll it out with all of the different kind of central functions that's available in that solution. And I would say that we have done together with Oracle quite a lot of product development even this year, you know, jointly when we have kind of embarked on this project together. And I think that having those kinds of long-term relationships between the two companies for many, many years has just made it very, on all levels, you know, because of course this is something where our board has been involved, you know, that there is that kind of fundamental trust there.

SPEAKER_01:
And that's exciting to hear that you're sort of working together to drive the product forward. Can you tell me a bit about how that relationship works?

SPEAKER_02:
Well, I would say that when we started out this project, there was like a mutual commitment on both sides that we will have a lot of people invested in this from both sides. And I think that we created together an extremely good project organization working kind of daily together. We also provided. you know, together designed a kind of path of escalation if needed. And also kind of touch points, certainly with kind of top management on both sides, you know, where I have been at, for example, able to talk with Alex Alt being the GM or the CEO for Oracle Hospitality at Oracle. You know, and just kind of, you know, together having a touchdown, is everything going okay? You know, is there anything we should address together, you know, to speed up something or get approval for something? So I think that we designed the kind of organization and how we work together with quite a lot of emphasis on that. And I think that has been a very big part of why it has been a success.

SPEAKER_01:
And of course, a big part of Oracle Cloud for Hospitality is that it is cloud-based. Can you explain the benefits of a cloud-based versus an on-premise system?

SPEAKER_02:
Well, I think the cloud basis, of course, gives flexibility. And being cloud-based, of course, we can then going forward, always make sure that we have the latest and the greatest version. And I think the whole kind of huge impact and benefit of a cloud-based system is, of course, the kind of real-time access to all the data and everything. You know, and it's the future. And also, of course, being able to integrate all sorts of other kinds of solutions and systems we want to work with, you know, seamlessly into this, you know, cloud-based system, I think is absolutely fantastic. So I think mostly it's flexibility, but it's of course also security and having less downtime and all of those kinds of things. So I think that, you know, there's many aspects to why this was a really good decision to go with.

SPEAKER_01:
Do you find any other efficiencies with having the cloud-based platform or anything that's maybe easier for your team to manage?

SPEAKER_02:
Well, I think that specifically for us having 270 hotels, which, you know, in another context might feel that it's not a lot, but to have that kind of common ways of working, standardizing kind of our ways of working by using the same system in the same way, having access widely of getting access to the same type of data and whatever. I think, and also for us to get access real time to business data and whatever. securely and data we can trust. I think that is absolutely key for us. We talk quite a lot about one Scandic and that for us means standardized one way of working, for example. So that will be now something that, that, you know, for the first time, I think we can actually say that we actually have standardized the way of working on the different hotels.

SPEAKER_01:
You said the implementation will be done next quarter?

SPEAKER_02:
Yes, it will be done. And I have to say that one thing, which of course, always when you start rolling out and it changes people's everyday working, because you might be working in an old system, but when you know the system really well, and you have all sorts of shortcuts that you have kind of, you know, hacked. on the way just to make the system work a little bit better, you feel that it works really well. And now, of course, we're bringing something very different with a totally new user experience and user interface. So what we have done, which we did together, of course, with Oracle, is that we put a lot of emphasis on planning the rollout. with training, um, you know, prior, a lot of information training. So we could kind of do the expectation management, you know, for all the general managers for the hotel and also the staff, for example, front desk, which would be, you know, getting hands on with the new system. So when we actually started the rollout, of course we had a lot of pilots, you know, to proof of concept, you know, and then we went back. and chose first one hotel. And then when that was working, you know, we rolled out on a few more hotels in different markets. And then when we knew that, you know, it is actually working because it's a very complex system integrating into a lot of different functions that we work with. And we're receiving guests every single day. So I would say that, you know, there was no room for error because if the system would have been down, that would have been tremendous impact on us because we would not have been able to kind of check in our guests or serve our guests with bookings and everything. But everything ran very smoothly and I think that we had prepared every single hotel when their turn came to actually get hands on with the new system. We had both from our side, but also from the Oracle side, staff on premise to help out, you know, for the first couple of days, you know, so they would be comfortable with the new system. and so forth. And we have gotten extremely good feedback about the whole kind of training prior to rollout and then the support during rollout. And then of course, you know, going forward, there is a support kind of as well, but not on premise support. And I think that's why we have kind of been able to ramp up the kind of speed of launching new hotels now because it's been working really well. And I would, as an advice, you know, I would like to say that getting great software or new solution in place is one thing. And there is a lot of technical things that needs to happen when you prepare and you do all the integrations, but actually making sure that the people who actually are supposed to use the new software, the new tools, are on board is absolutely key. We put a lot of effort on that one to prepare and to make really good training materials. So I would say that what happened, which was, for example, my kind of wish was that there is a positive kind of expectation and the hotels are actually waiting when it's my turn. And that actually happened. So they were actually saying that, okay, you know, if you want to push us up the queue, you know, we're ready, we're ready. So that was great feedback.

SPEAKER_01:
To switch gears slightly, since we've talked quite a bit about Oracle, I'm curious to hear about any other really key software vendors that you're working with, maybe on the marketing, distribution, revenue management side. Any other specific vendors you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_02:
We're working with ideas on the revenue management side. And I would say that we have been working with them as well, I think for 20 years. And that is also a very extremely important relationship for us where we can actually together with them basically innovate for the future and make kind of, you know, revenue management system, their system even better.

SPEAKER_01:
Is there anything that you would say is at the top of your wish list for a new type of tech you are looking forward to rolling out?

SPEAKER_02:
New tech, I think that solutions where, you know, you can have mobile check-in, check-out with integrated mobile keys and all of those kinds of things. I think that's an area where, you know, there is different solutions on the market for mobile keys and there's different solutions for mobile check-in and check-out. But like a universal kind of solution, which would cater in a really extremely good way for both, for example, in the same solution, it's not, you know, off the shelf type, it's not available, you know, then you need to kind of tailor your own and piece something together a little different vendors. So there is, of course, one thing, and we're working in this space already, but I would say that currently still, of course, looking around for the kind of ultimate solution.

SPEAKER_01:
And how do you think about the balance between in-person hospitality and the personal connection that guests have with your staff versus making some things more tech oriented? Is there a particular balance you're trying to strike there?

SPEAKER_02:
I would say there in many different other industries as well, I think first of all, as a brand, you want to create unique experience, something which is unique as an experience for you. And I think there technology is available for everyone. So it's more tapping into the convenience for our guests with, for example, mobile check-in or check-out. So that is more, that's not creating anything unique. That's just being on par and getting a right to play almost in the category, because that's what the guests expect. They don't want to wait in queues. But where I think we can really make a difference and do something uniquely Scandic is of course in the personal interaction where the guests are actually meeting our staff. and actually interacting with our staff because that's unique because they're kind of, you know, working for us. They're not working anywhere else and they're working, you know, and we're sharing the Scandic culture and the Scandic values. So I think that's extremely important that you get that. And also, you know, for personalization and actually as a guest, you want to be seen and recognized. And I think that's kind of where we are actually putting emphasis on creating something unique.

SPEAKER_01:
And how are you keeping track of how guests feel about these changes? Are you seeing sentiment on surveys or reviews or something like that?

SPEAKER_02:
We're constantly doing guest surveys. So I would say that of course we're looking into, you know, research that is available both for our market, but also globally in what do guests expect and what is the kind of, you know, what starts to become like the basic, the fundamentals. you know, already that should be in place, for example. But then, you know, concerning our own guests, we're constantly kind of serving and having dialogues with them on, you know, what is their expectation? What do they like? What don't they like? What works? What doesn't work? So we could constantly kind of enable, you know, that we develop in the right direction that our guests are expecting us. So I would say that it's a little bit of a combination. And we have, of course, a unit, which is kind of basically in charge of gathering all the customer insights from many different angles. And then we do, you know, whatever we develop new, we always validate them with our loyal guests, but also people who are not yet our guests or our loyal members, for example. You know, just to understand, is this something that they value?

SPEAKER_01:
Switching gears again, I am curious to hear about one or two high-level business objectives that you and Scandic are focused on and how technology is helping you get there.

SPEAKER_02:
Well I would say that we're of course focused on loyalty first of all and that means of course guest satisfaction. So I would say that we've done a lot in this field but we're going to continue having it as you know one of the most important topics on our agenda. to basically be able to kind of create those great hotel experiences for the many people as we have also in our vision. And at the same time, all the time, kind of build that kind of loyalty with our guests so that they would always feel that they, you know, Scandic is their number one choice. So their technology will help us in very many different ways. And also I think that, you know, working with customer data, data as we know, in all industries, in all companies, extremely important, you know, not just collecting, but actually being able to use the data and to be able to kind of have actionable insights based on the data to actually understand what to do or what to change or what to do more of. being relevant in the right time for the right customer in the right way, you know, and being personal and being able to give that personalization is absolutely key. So knowing your customers.

SPEAKER_01:
And how would you say you get to know your customer? Do you have any best practices on learning their preferences or habits?

SPEAKER_02:
I would say by collecting data in all touch points throughout the customer journey to actually build, you know, the understanding of their behavior and choices and preferences so that next time when they come around, we actually can predict already a little bit, you know, what they would like by giving them a lot of different options to kind of tailor their own and also kind of enriching that data with a lot of kind of, you know, data from the surveys and stuff like that, you know, to build that kind of, you know, I think every industry talks about the customer 360. And that's like, of course, the ultimate goal, you know, to have that customer 360 view, you know, I think every company in one way or another kind of build and try to kind of whether they're then using Microsoft Dynamics or is it Salesforce or whatnot to kind of build that view and not just build a view, but actually start kind of, you know, working and interacting with the customer based on that understanding.

SPEAKER_01:
What would you say are one or two skills that any hotelier should try to perfect in order to be successful in the dynamic environment today?

SPEAKER_02:
Two things. First of all, I think that understanding the bigger context and the big picture is extremely important because there is a lot of, if you're just kind of focused too much on your own segment or your own industry, not forgetting kind of the world around you, you know, and how that potentially provides opportunities or challenges or risks or whatever. I think that big picture view is extremely, whether you work as a general manager for a hotel, or in any other kind of role, I think in the hospitality, you need to kind of always remember to kind of raise your, and take that helicopter view from time to time because it's quite operational day to day. So that's one thing. Another thing I think is that we should never forget the guest and that what does actually hospitality mean? It means You know, the interaction and the experience we actually provide to the guest. So, you know, not focusing too much on inside out, but actually remembering that whatever we do, what is the impact for the guest? And is this good for the guest? You know, to take that point of view and try to kind of always step into the shoe of the guest, I think is another extremely important thing. So I would say those two.

SPEAKER_01:
Do you have any recommendations on how to inspire your team to make time for that reflection or that big picture look?

SPEAKER_02:
Yeah, I think everybody could take it on their own agenda for self-development or whatever to make sure that they from time to time kind of try to raise their view a little bit and take that kind of a little bit try to put the big picture perspective. But I think also it's and what we do at Scandic specifically, we make sure that we help our employees to get that big picture view that we kind of remind them when we have conferences or we have internal events, you know, we talk about the future, we talk about the world around us and we do not just talk about the inside out view and we talk a lot about the customer. Just to kind of help, easy way for everyone to kind of get that kind of outside view. And then of course, I would think, you know, internal kind of channels of communication and things like that, you know, there is always information available where you could go. So it's not just kind of, you know, that everybody needs to go and try to find information, but you can provide that information internally, I think, you know, very easy way.

SPEAKER_01:
We are down to our final question, which is always a good one. Curious to hear, what is one thing you believe about technology in the hotel space that your peers or competitors might disagree with?

SPEAKER_02:
Oh, that's a good question. I would say that I believe that technology is only an enabler. I think there's a lot of talk about technology driving transformation and technology. Of course, yes, you can have that point of view as well, but I think technology is an enabler. It's what you do with it that makes the difference. And I think that that's kind of the point of view that, you know, just having access to technology and not understanding what to do with it or how to use it, for example, with AI or something like that. It doesn't actually give you anything. So I would say that just talking about that, you know, if we would have technology or, you know, when we have more technology, the world will open up for us. I don't believe in that. It's just an enabler if you know how to use it.

SPEAKER_01:
Well, thank you so much, Tess, for your time. It was great chatting with you. Thank you so much. Bye, Edwin.

SPEAKER_00:
That's all for today's episode. Thanks for listening to Hotel Tech Insider produced by Hoteltechreport.com. Our goal with this podcast is to show you how the best in the business are leveraging technology to grow their properties and outperform the comp set by using innovative digital tools and strategies. I encourage all of our listeners to go try at least one of these strategies or tools that you learned from today's episode. Successful digital transformation is all about consistent small experiments over a long period of time. So don't wait until tomorrow to try something new. Do you know a hotelier who would be great to feature on this show? Or do you think that your story would bring a lot of value to our audience? Reach out to me directly on LinkedIn by searching for Jordan Hollander. For more episodes like this, follow Hotel Tech Insider on all major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.