Building a Cloud-Based Property Management Platform, Ric Leutwyler, President of SkyTouch (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: In a 30-second elevator pitch, what would be the target audience where you really shine?

Ric Leutwyler: Our target audience is the hotels that are in the limited to full-service range. They are looking for an economical approach, which they get from cloud solutions. They’re looking for the functionality that they need today but are also looking for the commitment that the functionality will evolve and keep up with the industry. That’s our sweet spot. If somebody is looking for an old and basic solution, then we’re not a good fit, because we’re very focused  on evolving that platform.

Sramana Mitra: Where is that psychographic found? Is it more in the luxury, mid-market, or chains?

Ric Leutwyler: I think it goes across them. For independent hotels, it’s a matter of whether they are in a position to make a change. We’re talking to hundreds and have already sold to many of those independent hotels. They want the capabilities and level of sophistication in technology that they would only get by paying a brand.

When you get into the branded hotels, it’s a matter of where they are in their process of making a transition. For a group like Choice, to make a change, they had over 5,000 hotels to move from one platform to another. That’s not something you take lightly.

We’ve literally talked to every top-tier group there is. We talk to hundreds of customers or prospects across smaller groups of hotels. Every one of them is focused on moving into the cloud. They are interested in that because of the flexibility, the economics of it, and the ability to evolve and develop ecosystems that can interact better with each other because they’re all in the cloud. The segmentation from my standpoint is really more about the feature set you have that someone needs versus are they looking for cloud or not. They all are looking for cloud – every single one of them.

Sramana Mitra: How do you charge for your solution?

Ric Leutwyler: The most out-of-the-box pricing is $5 per room per month. There is some level of upfront fees associated with on-site or remote training and the duration of that training. Interfaces you have like your key system, phone system, and entertainment system are also some other factors that add up to the fees. The basic fee is $5 per room per month.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Building a Cloud-Based Property Management Platform, Ric Leutwyler, President of SkyTouch
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