What's new in Oaky? [Q3 2024]
Oaky
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From implementing crucial updates to the Front Desk Upsell module that enable you to manage your team’s commissions and points in one place, to embarking on two fundamental projects that are set to change data handling and posting rhythms in Oaky — explore everything our team was busy with in Q3.
1. Oaky's Data Warehouse is underway for better upselling insights
It’s no secret that data is the driving force behind successful upselling strategies. This is why improving Oaky’s data quality has been one of our key focuses over the past few quarters. Behind the scenes, we've been migrating our data to a centralized source of truth—a Data Warehouse. The Oaky Data Warehouse will serve as the backbone for all future reporting and analytics, ensuring our data is consistent and reliable.
Looking ahead to 2025, we’re refining Oaky’s reporting tools to provide you with not only better access to structured data but also benchmarking tools and actionable insights. These improvements will help you make smarter, more data-driven decisions to optimize your upselling strategies. Stay tuned for more updates as we complete the data migration process.
2. Manage your team's commissions and points in one place with our new Front Desk Upsell enhancement
As a front desk manager, you may feel overwhelmed juggling Excel sheets, whiteboards, and other tools just to track your team’s incentives balances—not to mention the hassle of adding points to reward for successful upsells and then deducting them when rewards are redeemed or adjustments are needed.
With the latest enhancement to Oaky’s Front Desk module, you can put an end to this nightmare.
Now, whether an upsell occurs via Oaky or outside the platform, you can effortlessly manage points and commissions using the FDU module as your central hub, taking advantage of:
Simplified management and full control over your team’s balances: Gain complete oversight of your team’s balances and ensure meticulous tracking of points and commissions earned. Adding 100 points for reaching monthly targets or deducting 200 points for gift card rewards is now easy and error-free.
Reduced friction and inefficiency: By consolidating everything in one place, you can guarantee that every point and commission is accounted for, even when upsells happen outside the platform.
Boosted team satisfaction: Use Oaky’s Front Desk module as your single source of truth. Get a clear overview of your agents’ results to reward them fairly, increasing their satisfaction and motivation to boost their results.
If you’re an FDU customer, this feature is now accessible under the Performance section. Simply select the agent’s name whose balance you want to adjust, and then click the "Manage Balance" button to make changes.
3. Resolve integration issues faster with updated error emails
Leveraging the two-way integration between Oaky and your PMS is undoubtedly the most effective way to maximize your upselling opportunities. While this connection is typically stable, errors can occasionally occur.
To keep you informed and in control, we’ve revamped our error notification emails to provide you with more detailed insights and context when an unexpected error happens. This will give you a clearer understanding of what went wrong, the potential impact, and the steps you can take for a quick resolution. These improvements will eliminate any guesswork, helping streamline your experience and maintain smooth operations.
4. Only for OHIP customers: Eliminate confusion by featuring CRS Confirmation Number in pre-arrival emails
You’ve asked, and we’ve listened! To improve your communication with guests and eliminate confusion, Oaky pre-arrival emails will now display the CRS Confirmation Number.
This update aligns the information with what guests are already familiar with, ensuring a seamless experience. Previously, the [RESERVATION_NUMBER] tag was shown as the Opera PMS Confirmation Number, which sometimes led to misunderstandings due to inconsistencies with the hotel confirmation letter. With this change, we’re boosting the clarity and credibility of your pre-arrival emails, ultimately driving higher conversion rates.
5. Coming soon: Enabling support for additional posting rhythms in Oaky
Oaky is on a mission to streamline and automate your upselling strategy. With this in mind, we’re embarking on a new project that will allow our system to support more posting rhythms and align with the logic of different PMSs we integrate with.
Posting rhythms are predefined rules that determine when certain charges for services or packages in a hotel (such as breakfast, late checkout, or bike rentals) are applied to a guest’s invoice.
These rhythms ensure that charges are applied based on specific timing criteria, such as on particular nights of a guest’s stay or excluding certain nights (e.g., not charging for breakfast on the arrival day). They help automate the billing process, ensuring accuracy and alignment between the services a guest uses and when those charges appear on their final bill.
By enabling more posting rhythms in Oaky, our customers will benefit from the following:
Reduced manual work: Expanded posting rhythms will allow your hotel team to apply the correct charges without the need to manually adjust sold packages or items.
More services sold via Oaky: With additional posting rhythms, you will be able to present a wider range of packages and services that can be synced seamlessly with your PMS.
Enhanced and faster onboarding: Improved mapping and syncing will cut onboarding time for new Oaky customers.
Final thoughts
As the festive season approaches, we want to help you make the most of your Oaky by showing you how to captivate your guests with holiday-themed deals and fresh content.
Join us for a special end-of-year webinar on November 14 to discover how to optimize your upselling strategy, engage your guests, and boost revenue this holiday season. Save your spot here:
Not using Oaky yet? Now is the perfect time to reimagine your upselling strategy for 2025. Book a demo to put your inventory and offerings to work with Oaky.
