Q4 2019 Game Plans Now Available

Please note that GMs received their Q4 Game Plans via the October 7 edition of the Weekly Update.

The Q4 Game Plans are now available on The Check-In. Game Plans are intended to aid hotels in their planning for the quarter by providing an overview of actions that will be requested of hotels by Marriott in the coming months.

The following topics and key actions are included in the Game Plans and are key focus areas for Q4:

• Marriott Bonvoy™
  Hotels should focus on continuing to building the Marriott Bonvoy Spirit. This includes:
  • Reviewing the Marriott Bonvoy for Associates Activation Guidebook.
  • Reviewing the October Marriott Bonvoy Connector email and registering for the October Connector Calls on Oct. 23 at 12 p.m. ET or Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. ET.
  • Ensuring Off-Peak and Peak Redemption Rates GM Certification, due Sep. 14, is marked complete in Land-It and associates are trained and prepared to handle member scenarios on stays.
  • Participating in the optional October Enrollment Focus to keep enrollments top of mind as the hotel works towards its enrollment goal.
  • Reviewing the Marriott Bonvoy Global Awards criteria, and submitting success stories Nov. 1 – Dec. 31 to be considered for awards distributed in Q1 2020.
  • Ensuring Marriott Bonvoy Signage & Collateral is displayed in accordance with the Marriott Bonvoy Collateral Guide.
• Chip and PIN
  Legacy Marriott Rewards hotels in the U.S. should complete pre-deployment activities and prepare to migrate to the new Chip and PIN solution with Marriott’s selected payment Gateway Provider, FreedomPay.
• Enhanced Reservation Solution (ERS)
  
  • Review the Hotel Rollout Schedule for start and conversion dates. 2019 Rollout hotels have already completed Prerequisite: Bed Type Conversion and have started Prerequisite: ERS Photography.
  • Additional FSPMS, Opera and LightSpeed PMS hotels will continue to roll out in 2020 with the first wave of the 2020 rollout starting in early Q1. Further information on deployment will be shared in mid Q4 with any hotels scheduled for early Q1 deployment.
• One Yield Standard Room Limit Enhancement
  Based on revenue management user and hotel leader feedback, a One Yield enhancement is coming in November that will allow hotels to limit standard room authorizations. More information about the new standard room limit setting will be available through the Weekly Update in the coming weeks
• Windows 10 Upgrade
  All Marriott-imaged computers and tablets were required to be running Windows 10 by Sep. 30 to continue accessing the Marriott network and remain current and compliant with Marriott security standards. Associates who have not upgraded to Windows 10 and remain on Office 2010 are unable to access email from Outlook and must access email through Office 365 online. All computers and tablets running Windows 7 will be blocked from the MI network in January 2020. Visit MGS for details.

Additional key actions to be reminded of include:

• Mobile Key
  • Hotels Live with Mobile Key: Review Best Practices and Sustainment Resources
  • Hotels Yet to Implement Mobile Key: Review Resources for Installation and Activation
• New Features in EMPOWER: Guest Experiences (GXP)
  • Enhancements: Review and activate the new features, including the ability to view guests with chat or proactive service recovery cases, automatically flag Ambassador and Cobalt members as notable and search for non-member guest profiles with enhanced flexibility. Additional enhancements will launch in waves by brand beginning in November, including real-time reservation data, the ability to create multiple escalation rules for Customer Care cases and improved profile matching. 
  • Update contact information in EPIC: Beginning in October, automatic emails will be sent to GMs when a Customer Care case has not been responded to after 36 hours. View the job aid for instructions. 
  • Monitor performance metrics: Review the GXP and Mobile performance report on MGS. All hotels should be monitoring the performance metric report to help drive success. View the job aid for GXP best practices.
  • Make Mobile a Priority: Respond to all Mobile Chats quickly and professionally. With Proactive Service Recovery and Proactive Chat, members can provide quick feedback in the Marriott Bonvoy™ App while at the hotel. Any negative responses automatically generate a case in GXP, and hotels must respond to the negative cases within 15 minutes and provide notes on the resolution. Associates can also initiate chat messages with members using Proactive Chat.
• QPower
  QPower is Global Quality’s newest addition to its suite of performance improvement tools. The system primarily uses GSS data from each hotel to determine which aspects of the guest experience are most likely to impact ITRec. As of Oct. 1, QPower identifies each hotel’s most impactful ITRec drivers – called “QPower Priorities” – forQ4.
• Associate Alert Device Deployment
  Per the Brand Standard, hotels should implement Associate Alert Devices by Jan. 1, 2021. Hotels will be contacted when their market is deploying. Additional information is available on MGS (Franchise) and will be shared via Weekly Update.

• Courtyard Forward, a program intended to drive Courtyard performance, was introduced. In Q4, we will continue to center on the key focus areas to empower the Courtyard team to deliver on the brand vision while propelling Courtyard into the future as a continued industry leader. Stay tuned for more information on the progress we’ve made to date and next steps for Courtyard Forward.