Going Beyond ‘Service’ with Raja Rajarajan: Services are becoming increasingly consultative and insight driven

The publish Going Beyond ‘Service’ with Raja Rajarajan: Services are becoming increasingly consultative and insight driven appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily Media.

 

 

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TDM has began a sequence of interviews beneath the theme ‘Going Beyond’ that carry to the forefront ‘a behind-the-scenes look’ on the experience of Agilysys APAC workforce members throughout product engineering, providers, HR, and gross sales, highlighting how every perform performs a strategic function in delivering worth to hospitality purchasers.

This sequence of interviews explores how these groups contribute to key enterprise outcomes — enhancing the visitor expertise, driving RevPAG, enabling seamless, interoperable options, and so forth. — whereas offering a deeper understanding of the individuals, processes, and innovation that energy Agilysys’ impression throughout the hospitality sector.

In Part 3 of the ‘Going Beyond’ sequence TDM interviews Raja Rajarajan, Senior Director Services, APAC, Agilysys.

Raja Rajarajan explores how the providers workforce helps hospitality suppliers by easy implementation, ongoing optimisation, and long-term success with Agilysys options. He shares how service excellence drives operational outcomes, permits seamless integrations, and instantly contributes to enhancing the visitor expertise and supporting RevPAG development throughout the APAC area.

Travel Daily Media (TDM): As Senior Director of Services, how do you and your workforce assist purchasers throughout APAC maximise worth from Agilysys options, and what does a typical day in your function appear like?

Raja Rajarajan (RR): As the Senior Director of Services for Agilysys within the APAC area, based mostly in Sydney, my focus is on serving to purchasers not simply implement our options successfully, however maximise their long-term worth. My workforce and I work intently with lodges, resorts, and hospitality companies throughout the area, supporting them at each stage of their journey – from preliminary session by to onboarding, implementation, coaching, and ongoing optimisation.

Clients usually describe us as ‘innovative and responsive,’ and we take delight in that. It displays our deep dedication to creating a significant distinction of their each day operations and making certain that know-how by no means turns into a barrier to nice service.

No two days are the identical, and that’s one of many features I get pleasure from most. A typical morning may start with venture updates, addressing any escalations, and reviewing useful resource planning throughout the varied markets we serve. Collaboration with our product groups is a key a part of my function; bringing consumer suggestions instantly into the event cycle to constantly improve our options.

Managing groups throughout geographies and time zones could be advanced, however I see it as a singular alternative to drive innovation and impression. It challenges me to remain adaptable, talk clearly, and stay intently attuned to the native wants of every market. The range inside APAC sparks contemporary considering and helps hold us aligned with the fast evolution of the hospitality trade.

At the core of all the pieces we do is an easy, shared objective: to ship service excellence and assist our purchasers succeed.

TDM: Agilysys is thought for delivering seamless, end-to-end options. How does the providers workforce help hoteliers in reaching easy implementation and long-term interoperability throughout their tech stack?

RR: Our providers workforce isn’t simply centered on deployment – we’re with our purchasers all through your complete journey. Our objective is to make sure every implementation not solely runs easily but in addition aligns with the property’s long-term operational and business objectives.

We conduct detailed wants assessments to achieve a deep understanding of every property’s workflows, visitor interactions, and any third-party techniques in use. With this basis, we create a tailor-made deployment plan that minimises disruption, reduces downtime, and ensures seamless integration with current know-how. This considerate, proactive strategy is an enormous motive purchasers see us as responsive and reliable.

We work throughout a variety of hospitality environments, from impartial lodges to resort teams, new openings, and properties transitioning from legacy techniques. Whether it’s upgrading a single module or implementing a full end-to-end ecosystem, we collaborate intently with every consumer to customize the strategy.

Importantly, our help doesn’t cease at go-live. We stay actively engaged by common upgrades, efficiency opinions, system well being checks, and ongoing coaching. Our objective is to make sure Agilysys options proceed to evolve alongside our purchasers’ wants – becoming not only a software program platform, however an extension of their operation.

TDM: In your expertise working with a various vary of hospitality suppliers, what function does providers excellence play in bettering visitor experiences and supporting RevPAG-focused methods?

RR: In hospitality, know-how ought to by no means be a barrier – it must be an enabler. When techniques are carried out and optimised with precision, they unlock employees to deal with the visitor. This has a direct impression on satisfaction, loyalty, and in the end, income per visitor.

When front-of-house and back-of-house techniques are tightly built-in and fine-tuned for operational effectivity, properties are higher positioned to personalise experiences, upsell intelligently, and reply to visitor wants in actual time. That’s how RevPAG is unlocked – not simply by having the fitting instruments, however through the use of them to their fullest potential.

Notably, our help doesn’t finish at implementation. We view each relationship as a long-term partnership. Our providers workforce stays actively engaged, offering ongoing session, system opinions, and tailor-made recommendation. This permits us to reply as wants evolve and ensures that our purchasers can proceed to raise the visitor expertise over time.

TDM: Can you share a latest success story or frequent problem the place the providers workforce performed a key function in serving to a consumer enhance operations or drive income outcomes?

RR: One frequent problem we often see is fragmented visitor knowledge throughout a number of techniques. Many hospitality suppliers depend on separate platforms for property administration (PMS), point-of-sale (POS), stock, and loyalty – which ends up in siloed data and an incomplete view of the visitor journey. This not solely impacts employees effectivity but in addition limits personalisation and focused advertising and marketing alternatives.

We just lately labored with a multi-property resort group going through precisely this concern. Their entrance desk employees couldn’t entry visitor preferences or previous bookings from spa or eating shops, lacking important upselling moments and alternatives to personalise the expertise. Meanwhile, their advertising and marketing workforce lacked a consolidated view of visitor spend throughout departments, making focused campaigns ineffective. Staff spent far an excessive amount of time manually cross-referencing knowledge – time that would’ve been spent with visitors.

Our workforce stepped in with a strategic strategy, not simply to implement Agilysys’ built-in PMS and POS, however to unify their broader ecosystem and create a single supply of fact. We began with a full knowledge circulate evaluation, figuring out gaps and delays in how visitor data was captured and shared. Working intently with IT and operations, we developed a plan to import and sync legacy knowledge into the Agilysys platform.

This resulted in a completely unified visitor profile. Today, entrance desk brokers can immediately entry a visitor’s earlier spend, dietary preferences, or favorite actions, no matter the place that knowledge originated. Real-time updates from new bookings – like a last-minute spa appointment – are captured instantly and mirrored throughout the system.

Beyond the tech, we centered closely on cross-departmental coaching. It wasn’t nearly adoption, it was about workflow transformation. Front desk groups realized act on visitor insights to supply significant upsells. F&B employees had been skilled to recognise returning visitors and tailor service accordingly.

The transformation was vital. Manual processes had been diminished dramatically. Staff turned extra empowered, visitor engagement improved, and operational effectivity elevated. Over time, these enhancements translated into measurable features – stronger visitor satisfaction, extra ancillary income, and higher confidence in utilizing know-how to drive outcomes.

TDM: Looking forward, how is the function of providers evolving within the hospitality tech area, and how is Agilysys positioned to help hoteliers in assembly the expectations of at this time’s – and tomorrow’s – visitors?

RR: The function of providers is becoming increasingly consultative and insight driven. As visitor expectations develop extra advanced – from hyper-personalised experiences to mobile-first interactions and seamless service supply – hospitality suppliers want extra than simply software program. They want strategic companions who can anticipate change, share greatest practices, and unlock new alternatives.

At Agilysys, we’re investing in superior analytics, AI-powered help, and steady schooling to assist hoteliers keep forward of the curve. Our providers mannequin is designed to evolve with our purchasers – making certain they cannot solely adapt to shifting visitor expectations however constantly exceed them.

We recognise that many operators are understandably cautious about system change. That’s why we prioritise empathy and collaboration all through each engagement. Whether it’s a phased rollout, a migration from legacy platforms, or a full digital transformation, we stroll alongside our purchasers at each stage – serving to them construct the arrogance and functionality to future-proof their operations.

TDM: What does ‘Going Beyond’ imply to you?

RR: For me, Going Beyond is about committing to consumer success in ways in which lengthen far past contracts or service agreements. It’s about being proactive, anticipating wants earlier than they come up, and delivering outcomes that genuinely add worth.

It means staying engaged nicely after go-live – being there when challenges come up, responding with urgency, and celebrating wins as a workforce. It’s not nearly fixing points; it’s about creating moments of belief, readability, and collaboration all through the connection.

Ultimately, Going Beyond is a mindset. It’s about displaying up constantly, standing by our purchasers by change, and constructing partnerships rooted in long-term development. That’s what drives us – not simply delivering software program, however delivering confidence, continuity, and shared success.

SCHEDULE A CALL WITH AGILYSYS HERE

 

 

The publish Going Beyond ‘Service’ with Raja Rajarajan: Services are becoming increasingly consultative and insight driven appeared first on Travel Daily Media.

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