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The Member-Guest-Customer 'Total Experience'

In the development of its new-product series, known as System 441, Abacus 21 aspired to develop a Hospitality software ensemble that encompassed the 'whole essence' of the Member-Guest-Customer Experience -- no matter what the nature of the activity.  This software strategy was designed to help track as many aspects of your Client's experience at your Property (or Properties) -- and pro-actively monitor and enhance your Client's satisfication with his 'experiences' at your facility.  The more-satisfied the Customer, the better for everyone.

The system 'empowerment' for this was achieved by accumulating 'everything possible' (yet practical) about the Customer -- who they were, who they were related to, what they bought, what they didn't buy, what they liked, what they didn't like, when they came before, what they bought before, what the 'did' before, etc. etc.

Abacus 21's intent was to provide systems that would non-intrusively 'collect' this information, remember & recall it properly, judiciously make it accessible to Management, and automatically have our ancillary systems (such as Membership, Concierge, Point-of-Sale, TeeTimes, Dining Reservations, Spa Reservations, Tennis Reservations, Banquet-Catering, Event-Party Reservations, Room Accommodations, various Check-In Systems, etc.) 'react' to the 're-appearance' of a previously-known Customer with 'vividly personalized' treatment -- whether that experience is served in an attended (for example, POS or Hostess-Concierge Station) or unattended (for example, Kiosk or Internet or Access Gate) manner.

Similarly, our systems are structured to provide Management with both panaramic and microscopic assessments of the demographic & chronologic complexion of its Customers' business-social activities.  These reporting and analysis methodogies are designed to be both 'detailed' and/or 'exception' based -- focusing attention on the appropriate depth of comprehensiveness.  This 'datamine' can form the basis of Marketing analysis and Sales campaigns.

Client File

As a key cornerstone for accomplishing this, Abacus 21 're-conceptualized' how we had our 'Membership' files set up -- and our conclusion prompted us to broaden our perspective and re-architect how we system-wise approached the whole subject (and all the ancillary applications that intertwined with it).  As a particular focus, we wanted to track the 'Customer Experience' (rather than strictly Member POS activity, for example).  The core component of all of our systems now is our Client file -- the place where our system 'remembers' everything about the Customer.

Conceptually, 'Customers' can be any Person -- and the identity of that Person is unique and unchanging (kind of like your Social Security No -- it goes with that individual Person forever, even after he dies -- no matter what his Age, Marital Status, Name change, Job, Place of Residence, what Associations he belongs to, where he might have gone on vacation, changes of Appearance, Likes/Dis-Likes, etc).

In a Club's case, its primary 'Customer' is for sure a 'Member'.  However, in a broader sense, a Business Entity's 'Customer' (even for a Club) is a 'Person'.... and that Person can (over the history of time) can take on (and have retained as part of their 'history') a number of characteristics.

The following desciptions outline the type-casting of Customers within the Abacus 21 Systems -- and defines which are explicitly handled within the Client file, and which are not:

Transients (or Walk-In's)

In our system terminology, someone who you have never seen before (or perhaps don't 'remember') but who has 'shown up' is called a 'Transient' or 'Walk-In'.  Transients or Walk-In's are not kept in the Client file.

This is a Customer who you transact with to some degree (ie, tell him to 'get lost'...  or, more likely, take a Reservation, perform a Service, do a POS transaction, allow him to browse, etc. -- but don't necessarily retain, and don't want to retain, any detailed amount of Demographic or Billing beyond what whatever might be 'stached' in the transactional record.

  • If this type of Customer buys anything, they are typically not allowed to charge to the Business's Accounts Receivable -- they pay Cash or Credit Card... and go on their way -- and the Business Entity doesn't care about tracking them (except perhaps in some global sense, like asking for your Zip Code -- to get general Sales demographics).
  • Abacus 21's systems store the (limited) information about Transient (Walk-In) Customers only in the respective Applicational systems' transactional and historical files -- which can indeed be subsequently searched-upon to retrieve the Customer's transactions (if there has been any definitive/consistent information entered).
  • Transient (Walk-In) Customer information in not stored in Abacus 21's Client files.

Prospects

If the Business Entity wants to formally track individuals who are being considered or marketed to for becoming future 'formal Customers' (ie, Members, HomeOwners, or other Customers who will have Accounts Receivable Charging privileges), then these types of Persons (or Groups) are classified as 'Prospects' within the Client files and are assigned Prospect-Contact #'s to specifically distinguish them.

  • Because Prospects are formally in the Client file, voluminous detailed demographic and transactional information is available.
  • Prospects are typically the focus of more specific and intense Marketing-Sales attention (than are Walk-In's or certainly Transients).  They are being 'wined and dined and groomed' to becoming formal Members or other A/R-related Clients.
  • Prospects can be type-cast into an unlimited number of User-defined categories. 
  • Once Prospects are cultivated to become official formal A/R Clients, they (and all of their static historical information) can automatically transferred to the 'Member'-type (A/R-ready) type of Client.

Members (and other A/R-related Clients)

When a Client's status is at the point where they are able to have Accounts Receivable charging privileges with the Business Entity, they are classified as 'Members' -- with an unlimited user-defined set of Member Types differentiating various kinds of this type of Client.

  • Because Members are formally in the Client file, voluminous detailed demographic and transactional information is available -- including whatever 'past' information might have been accumulated when they were either Walk-In's or Prospects.
  • In addition, Members have the general privilege of being able to 'charge' transactions to some form of Accounts Receivable -- and, as such, also have extensive billing, credit, payment etc. histories available.

Others

If the Business Entity chooses to collect and retain more information about the Customer, the Customer's information begins to be accumulated in our Client file -- classified by us as 'Other'.

  • Because 'Other' Customers are stored in our Client files, voluminous detailed demographic and transactional information is available.
  • 'Others' can be type-cast into an unlimited number of User-defined categories. 
  • 'Other' Clients do not have Accounts Receivable Transactions allowed.

General Comments

The general types of Customers (people or groups or businesses) in the Abacus 21 Client File are:

  • Prospects (Contacts or Prospective Members or Prospective Business Customers)
  • Members (Members, Groups, Reciprocal Clubs, and other A/R-related Business Customers)
  • Others (Walk-In's)

For those individuals or businesses in the Client file, information (both demographic or transactional, in whatever level of detail you have set the system to accumulate it) can be looked up and reacted to whenever necessary -- from any Abacus 21 Application that it is appropriate -- and that 'live' or 'backoffice' sub-system can react to it.

Individuals in the Client file can be related to one another -- family relationships, socially, associations, and billing linkages.
 
Transients are not stored in the Client file.  Their information (to whatever limited extent was entered) is stored only in the respective Reservation and Transactional records.

The varieties of characteristic attributes of those in the Client file include:

  • Prospects
  • Contacts
  • Prospective Members
  • Members
  • Family of Members
  • Associates of Members
  • Reciprocal Clubs
  • Guest-of-Members
  • Groups or Individual conducting Events or Functions
  • Hotel Guests
  • Internal Departments
  • Staff
  • Customers with A/R

During the 'lifespan' of an Individual (Person or Group or Busines) within the Abacus 21 System, that Individual Client might experience (and accumulate) a number of experience-attributes.  For example:

  • First is a Transient or Walk-In (not in the Client Files)
  • Becomes a Prospect
  • Becomes a Hotel Guest - in Hotel 'A'
  • Is a Hotel Guest - in Hotel 'B'
  • Is repeat Hotel Guest in Hotel 'A'
  • Appears as a Guest of a Member
  • Is a Guest of a Hotel Guest
  • Is a Guest of a Staff Person (or Department)
  • Becomes a Staff person
  • Is a Staff person who becomes a Member or stays in a Hotel
  • No longer is a Member, but stays in the Hotel
  • Etc. etc. etc.

The Abacus 21 Client Management System tracks the entire history of accumulated and changing characteristic attributes and demographic, transactional, and (in A/R cases) accounting history elements that are all linked back to the primary element: the Individual (Person, Group, Business).

Abacus 21 Features Available to Personalize the 'Complete Experience'

  • Extensive Client File Individual Demographics - including Photo images, Fingerprint, and Signature authorization if necessary.
  • Ability to create User-defined Note-Comment Types -- and enter unlimited (Rich-Text) Narrative -- with associated Links (to documents, spreadsheets, internet, files) or Images
  • Ability to 'route' respective Types of Notes-Comments to various Abacus 21 Reservation Systems, Check-In Systems, POS Systems, Timekeeping Systems, Accounting Systems.
  • User-defined Client-related Databases:  Add-On's, Series (Transactional), Clickers (Checkbox & Alpha)
  • Ability to track (and react to) Preferences, Likes/Dis-Likes
  • Ability to track (and react to) Privilege Conditions
  • Various Reminder-Tickler Sub-systems the Prompt and Track Follow-up
  • Report 'Alerts' that highlight when User-specified Statistics get 'out of range'
  • Electronic Messages between Management and Staff Groups or individual Employees
  • Manager Messages to specific Sales Outlets
  • Message alerts specific to particular Clients
  • Complete History of all Reservations
  • Complete History of all Check-In's
  • Complete History of all POS Transactions -- including detailed Sales Analysis by Individual
  • Complete History of all Accounting-related Transactions (for those types involving Accounts Receivable)
  • Complete Chronology of all changes in 'Status' or 'Type'
 
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