Overview

The "CRM Update" is intended to be run every day to look for reservations that have been checked out for which points need to be awarded. (It is OK to run it more or less often than daily.) If no CRM account exists for a qualifying reservation, then one is created and linked to the Guest History record. When run daily, the system automatically finds all checked out reservations since "CRM Update" was last run, creates any CRM accounts necessary, and awards points according to the configured Award Rules. Users have the choice of running "CRM Update" on all properties (as configured under the Properties tab of CRM Configuration ) or selectively. When complete, the results of points awarded and guests added to CRM is displayed in the grid on the lower portion of the display. The first time "CRM Update" is run, none of the existing guests are in CRM. Existing guests are added and points are awarded. For more information, see CRMUpdate Configuration.

When a guest is added to CRM from guest history, CRM Update verifies it is not a duplicate in CRM as follows:

If the last name is the same, CRM Update compares the guest history credit card number to see if they match those in CRM.
If credit card numbers are not available, it compares phone numbers in guest history to see if they match those in CRM.
If phone numbers are not available, it compares the Address Line 1 (or Line 2 if Line 1 is blank).

If any of these fields match, a new CRM guest account is not be created. Instead, the guest history is linked to the existing CRM ID.

Guest History

Skip Add Guests - Do Not Add to CRM From Guest History: When checked, CRM only awards points for reservations for the selected date range but does not add the guest history record into the CRM. The checkbox is displayed when running CRM Update in read-only format. To change the setting, it must be done from the CRM Configuration CRM Update tab. If adding guests is skipped, the Results Summary displays "skipped" information in the grid.
Primary Contact Type: Users can select what type contact is uploaded into the Contact Type field. This is a user-definable field, and the default is set to Guest. To add additional Contact Type choices, go to Configuration, Contact Types tab and click the Add Contact Type.
Phone1 Type: Users can select what type of phone number is uploaded into the Phone1 field. This is a user-definable field, and the defaults are set to business, fax, home, and cell. To add additional Phone1 Type choices, go to Configuration, Phone Types tab and click the Add Phone Type. These choices are the same as those in Phone2 Type.
Phone2 Type: Users can select what type of phone number is uploaded into the Phone2 field. This is a user-definable field, and the defaults are set to business, fax, home, and cell. To add additional Phone2 Type choices, go to Configuration, Contact Types tab and click the Add Phone Type. These choices are the same as those in Phone1 Type.
E-Mail Type: Users can select what type of e-mail address is uploaded into the E-Mail Type field. This is a user-definable field, and the defaults are set to business and home. To add additional E-Mail Type choices, go to Configuration, E-Mail Types tab and click the Add E-Mail Type.
Include Guests with Entry Date >= (greater than or equal to): The system awards points to guest history that were entered into the system on or after the selected date. Some properties loading RDPWin for the first time have data dating back 10 or 20 years. Setting this date allows the property to define what is considered to be a current, valid entry.
No E-mail: For more information or to change the setting, see CRM Configuration CRM Update tab.
No Paper Mail: For information or to change the setting, see CRM Configuration CRM Update tab.
No Rewards: For more information or to change the setting, see CRM Configuration CRM Update tab.

Award Points

Rules are used to determine how many points are awarded to guests and when. CRMUpdate supports a "points per night" rule and a "points per reservation" rule. Any starting points to be added to a new system for current reward members must be added manually to each guest history record. For example, configure the Default Award rule as ExchangeRate=25 and Per=Night. This would award 25 points for each night stayed to every guest. To award points to guests for long-term loyalty, configure an Award rule as Criteria=DateRange, set the starting and ending dates (perhaps January to December from five years prior to the current system date), set the Exchange Rate to 500 points (or any desired amount), and Per=Reservation. This would award 500 points to any guest with a reservation between January and December of the selected year.

Skip Award Points - Do Not Award Points for Reservations: When checked, CRM only adds new guests into the CRM and bypasses the point awarding process entirely. The checkbox is displayed when running CRM Update in read-only format. To change the setting, it must be done from the CRM Configuration CRM Update tab. If awarding points is skipped, the Results Summary displays "skipped" information in the grid. For example, if 56 reservations were made for guests not previously in the system, the system updates the CRM for the 56 new guest history records. Any points skipped can never be regained.
Award Points Per Configured Rules: RDPWin looks at past reservations and configured rules and assign points based on those parameters. For more information on configuring rules, see Configuration/Rules. When this box is not checked, the Points / Room Charge Dollar option is enabled.
Points / Room Charge Dollar: As an alternative to defining points by configured rules, the user can enter a number into this field to define how many points are awarded per room charge dollar on record for each reservation being loaded into RDPWin Guest History. When the Award Points Per Configured Rules box is checked, this box is disabled.
Award Points for Departures From: The dates entered in the From and To fields award points for reservations that have checked out and departed within the date range. For example, when From equals 01/01/98 and To equals 02/28/98, the system awards points for reservations with departure dates on and between January 1st and February 28, 1998.

Process Properties

Select the properties from the drop-down list to designate which properties, some or all, to process.

Review

Review goes through the motions of adding new guests and awarding points, but only shows the results in a logfile of what CRMUpdate does if processed. The Results Summary (Review Mode) displays the actions and possible status of each. Double-click on any row to view the CRMReview Log. To exclude any of the actions, check the appropriate row checkbox and click Save or click Close to abandon any changes and return to the Result Summary. One content with the results, click, the Process button.

Exclude Reservations From Award Points: CRMUpdate allows the selection of reservations to be excluded when awarding points. From the CRMUpdate form, click the Review button. If CRMUpdate Configuration has not been set, a message displays. Double-click on the Award Points summary displayed in the grid. The details of all the points transactions display and there is an Exclude checkbox column as well. Check the box for any reservations that you DO NOT want to award points for and Save. Points ARE NOT awarded for the excluded reservations.

Process

Once the Guest History and Award Points parameters have been selected, click the Process button accomplish the award procedures. As a precautionary measure, the system requests confirmation of this action by prompting with "New guests will be added to CRM and points awarded for checked out reservations. OK to continue?". Click Yes to continue or No to cancel the processing. The process may be lengthy; depending on the size and activity of your property. The system checks the guest credit card number first, then phone number, then address to identify if a guest being added from Guest History is already in CRM.

Click these links for Frequently Asked Questions or Troubleshooting assistance.