Hyatt Closes Deals 2.5x Faster with Sertifi

"Not only is Sertifi a home run for managers; it’s a home run for all other areas of business that support it, like our technology, finance, and security teams."

STEVE ENSELEIN, SVP OF GLOBAL EVENTS

Opportunity

Hyatt’s sales and events teams work hard to provide quality service to guests – but their previous paper method of executing contracts and collecting payments presented unnecessary challenges. The team was emailing contracts to guests, who then had to print, sign, and scan or fax the contract back to the hotel. On average, it took two days for Hyatt to receive signed contracts.

To further complicate matters, Hyatt would send credit card authorization forms to guests separately from the contract to abide by PCI regulations. Guests had to print the form, photo copy their credit cards onto the form, and fax the form back. Completed forms had to be retrieved from a fax machine that was held in a locked room, and access to this room required a member of security with clearance. Finally, sales and events team members would manually enter the guest’s credit card information into OPERA, Hyatt’s Property Management System, and post to the master account.

Sertifi Solution

It was clear to Hyatt they needed a solution to integrate their contract and payment collection process in a PCI compliant manner, accelerate the time to close business, and provide more convenience for guests and staff.

“As soon as we implemented the tool, we saw that we were getting contracts back in hours instead of days," said Steve Enselein, Hyatt's SVP of global events.

Today, Hyatt’s sales and events teams are collecting signed contracts and payments simultaneously with Sertifi’s easy-to-use online portal, which is custom branded to Hyatt properties. Guests instantly receive an email that lets them conveniently sign a contract and submit payment details. Thanks to Sertifi’s integration with Merchant Link, Hyatt’s payment gateway, and OPERA, payments are directly processed and posted, and employees are notified of progress. The entire process is simple, seamless, and secure.

Results

With Sertifi, Hyatt staff is no longer spending 30% of their time chasing paperwork. Now they're dedicating more time to what matters most: creating a great event experience. They're also closing business in less than a day. Plus, with Sertifi’s integration with CyberSource, Hyatt can collect payments in more than 190 countries and territories.

In addition to taking 80% of the work out of the overall contract and payment process, Sertifi has also modernized Hyatt’s methods of maintaining PCI compliance. "Our security team was incredibly impressed with the level of PCI compliance and security of guest data," said Enselein. No more chasing down security personnel to retrieve faxes from behind locked doors.