00:00:00:00 - 00:00:04:17
Ricarda Muller
Sure to have had some tonics before, but okay, we rented it.
00:00:04:19 - 00:00:07:23
Rob Napoli
How do you ensure seamless integrations with third party tools?
00:00:08:04 - 00:00:19:02
Ricarda Muller
I mean, you need to have a team which is understanding what are we doing and what is the other side doing. And not just an I.T. guy who's got and programing. He really needs to understand the needs of the hotel.
00:00:19:05 - 00:00:21:09
Rob Napoli
And so how does it does that differentiate itself?
00:00:21:10 - 00:00:34:11
Ricarda Muller
I do believe that a big part is our team. I really believe that you sell a product as well. Being behind it all, our clients belong somehow to us. And I always say it's a big family.
00:00:34:13 - 00:00:40:07
Rob Napoli
We haven't really scratched the surface of these tools, the AI, but how do we turn that on an activated?
00:00:40:12 - 00:00:48:24
Ricarda Muller
We work with it already in the background, but we as well add new partner systems which have AI driven platforms.
00:00:49:03 - 00:00:53:10
Rob Napoli
That's, that's there's so much still to come which is going to be exciting to see.
00:00:53:12 - 00:01:04:24
Ricarda Muller
We have been surprised how much the industry changed again.
00:01:05:01 - 00:01:28:16
Rob Napoli
Awesome Ricarda, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. It's another episode of hospitable. Today. My guest is the CEO and leading of the partner management team of email said Elsa is a PMS system that we actually have had the pleasure to work with you on, on some cool projects. But, to kick things off for kind of maybe just, Been in Ibelsa for a little while.
00:01:28:16 - 00:01:35:13
Rob Napoli
So talk to me about your journey and how how you've kind of gotten there and you know a little bit about your roles and responsibilities at the company.
00:01:35:15 - 00:01:56:02
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. Thank you for having me. First of all, it's a pleasure to be here. Yeah. I'm with you better for the last 15 years, and, I just started or it just started, like, as a mini job to make some translations to Portuguese and English and, Yeah, somehow I came into the role where I am now.
00:01:56:04 - 00:02:19:11
Ricarda Muller
It was not an easy way. As you can imagine, cloud systems. 15 years ago, people asked us on the, on the first, like, what? Why should we work with the cloud system? This has changed quite a lot. In the last, I would say eight, nine years and through Covid, it's. Yeah. It changed. Yeah. Everything.
00:02:19:13 - 00:02:43:08
Ricarda Muller
I mean, Covid really showed that lots of hotels can't work anymore without cloud systems. And, yeah, it's it's been and still is big fan. Of talking with hotels, showing them what is the right way and yeah, it's it's really good. And as I'm as well responsible for the partnerships, that's why we are here, right?
00:02:43:08 - 00:02:49:17
Ricarda Muller
I mean, I find it really a long time to integrate lightspeed and, finally it's done.
00:02:49:19 - 00:03:13:07
Rob Napoli
Yeah, it is finally. And, we're excited about it. Now, we've got, some things kicking off and a lot, of lot of good momentum. So we're excited. And, you know, I loved you know, you talked about, you know, how you fell into it. I said, you know starting off doing some some translations and then, you know, over time take it over to become, you know, the CEO and heading up operations as well as, the partner team.
00:03:13:07 - 00:03:30:13
Rob Napoli
And, I was I love when I saw your LinkedIn, your tagline, I was there find a way to make one. You feel, you know, getting to know you a little bit. I feel like that's a pretty, pretty apt, life motto for you. How did that just come naturally to you? You know, or is that just, like, you're just energy all the time?
00:03:30:15 - 00:03:51:05
Ricarda Muller
I would say it's very naturally. Lots of people are happy when I finally set ups. And, yes, I'm laughing a lot. I enjoy life, and to be honest, I'm a workaholic, and I really do love working. And, Yeah, yeah, it's it helps if you if you love what you do and, if you are behind the product.
00:03:51:07 - 00:04:06:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's it's quite fun because I, I get the feedback a lot too. It's like, Rob, do you ever take a breath like, come on, I know, and it's funny enough when I'm out with friends or, you know, colleagues or whatever, if I don't talk first about a period, everyone's kind of like, Rob, are you okay?
00:04:06:20 - 00:04:11:14
Rob Napoli
Yes. I just know that you're taking time to listen. I'm working on this thing called, and I'm just kidding, you know?
00:04:11:14 - 00:04:12:17
Ricarda Muller
That's exactly.
00:04:12:19 - 00:04:26:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, but. But I love it. You know, I think, you know, sometimes people think workaholic is very negative term, and it can't be perceived that way. And it can be at times. But I always say there's kind of two types of people. There's people who work to live, meaning they have a job so they can do the things outside of.
00:04:26:18 - 00:04:34:15
Rob Napoli
There's people who who work for passion, they love what they do, and it kind of embodies into their of their life. And I follow that camp with you.
00:04:34:15 - 00:04:36:07
Ricarda Muller
So yeah, no, it is it's true.
00:04:36:07 - 00:04:40:09
Rob Napoli
I totally get it. That's why I love that headline. I wanted to to bring it up.
00:04:40:11 - 00:04:43:15
Ricarda Muller
Now I really like it. Love it.
00:04:43:17 - 00:05:06:18
Rob Napoli
So let's jump in. You know, about, cloud based PMS. It's funny enough, in the States, you know, PMS is there's still a lot of on prem. We still have those old systems, rock and roll, and obviously everything's moving cloud based. But what really differentiates in your opinion, Ebell said, in this competitive landscape of, you know, PMS, there's so many systems now and is super competitive.
00:05:06:18 - 00:05:11:11
Rob Napoli
So how does it does, differentiate itself?
00:05:11:13 - 00:05:35:22
Ricarda Muller
I, I do believe that a big part is our team. I really believe exactly what we just spoke about. It's lots of personality. I really believe that you sell a product as well, being behind it and, I think as well in the German on the dark markets of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, that's where we are mainly its strongest market.
00:05:35:22 - 00:05:57:13
Ricarda Muller
We are, it is important in our times that you are still taking your time, having the time of speaking with interested hoteliers and, as well, the same when they are finally your clients or your customers. So they see we are there for them. We are speaking on the same level. We are not putting ourselves higher or below.
00:05:57:13 - 00:06:16:20
Ricarda Muller
It's it's it's a team, you know, all all our clients belong somehow to us. And I always say it's a big family. And, I think they see that we really work and feel like this and, I always say on the trade fairs when, when our clients are coming, I met you already. You are a client.
00:06:16:20 - 00:06:43:14
Ricarda Muller
I, of course, forgot the name with a few thousand customers. It's it's not that easy to to know all of them, but, Yeah, I think that is a big game changer that we are. That we are persons and we are not just paid to get new clients. We are. We are selling what we live and love. And, yeah, we have a good sister on the NTA and yeah, I think that makes a big change.
00:06:43:16 - 00:07:03:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And people buy from people, right. You know, this podcast is going well for a reason. It's it's how do we make continue to make hospitality human through technology. Right. Technology is there to help us. But it's still humans and hospitality at its core. It's yeah it's hospitable. Yeah. It's it's that that feeling. Yeah.
00:07:03:06 - 00:07:04:05
Rob Napoli
That you get.
00:07:04:07 - 00:07:04:11
Ricarda Muller
It.
00:07:04:11 - 00:07:27:00
Rob Napoli
Is you meet somebody, you talk to somebody and work with that system. Yeah. And people still buy from people. So I think that's a great differentiator. And it really makes a difference. And and the approach of how you take things to market. Yeah. And you know the type of support when things aren't going well. Yeah. Right. I think it's easy to be positive and things and have success with things are going well.
00:07:27:00 - 00:07:40:18
Rob Napoli
But it's it's when things arise, when challenges and how do you handle that with the right energy and attitude that make a big difference and sounds like it does from a from a business standpoint, that's part of the culture. The DNA at it all set.
00:07:40:20 - 00:08:12:09
Ricarda Muller
It is. I mean, of course, the system behind it has to be as a way of working. And I mean, that is something I'm I'm really proud about it. It's it's not normal for a for a cloud based system that you do not have any failures. And, we didn't had in the last eight years any downtime. Which, which is something which of course people speak about and yeah, there are other companies, other systems which have regularly actually more than once per week downtimes.
00:08:12:09 - 00:08:33:22
Ricarda Muller
And I mean, that's that's the absolute end on the reception, right? If you want to have a check in or a check out or someone has to pay the invoice and you, you are blind because you don't see anything. And and I think the constant development we are doing helps as well. That's that that's the you speak about us.
00:08:33:24 - 00:08:51:10
Ricarda Muller
There's the people behind AI by itself, but as well about the system that we are not there for 15 years and it is still the same like 15 years ago, but that we do have every months a little update. We try at least four times per year to have a big update to really change things. And
00:08:51:12 - 00:09:05:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah, that's that's awesome. Yeah. I think yeah. And I think also like you talk about like little updates and changes, but also making changes from feedback from hoteliers. Right. So that you're making changes not to make changes sake but changes that improve.
00:09:06:01 - 00:09:07:03
Ricarda Muller
Of course.
00:09:07:05 - 00:09:10:13
Rob Napoli
Product improve the quality of life for the user. Exactly. Yeah.
00:09:10:15 - 00:09:37:08
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. That's and that is a main core I think as we are we do not have any big or no investments. We are really still. Yeah, we are Ibbotson. It's our own investment which is inside the company. We really decide what we develop, what we do more, you know, what is the way we go. And we do this along of the specific needs from our clients.
00:09:37:08 - 00:09:59:21
Ricarda Muller
So we speak with them through our support teams. We meet them on fairs. I call every new client after, not me, but my team and I. We call after three four months every new client and ask, how is it? What is your feeling, what you think we should do better? And, along those fit or along this feedback, we implement new features.
00:09:59:21 - 00:10:16:22
Ricarda Muller
And I think that is what shows the clients as well. Okay. We are not talking to someone, who just wants to make money with it. We're talking to someone who's really interested of making our life and work easier. And, yeah, it's a main key as well.
00:10:16:24 - 00:10:40:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And and super important, I think is kind of this is my next question. You know, one of the cool things about IBSA is that it offers a modular approach, right. So what is what is the advantage of having kind of a modular approach to bring, to hotels of different sizes from your, you know, kind of boutique, independent through, you know, your, your chain type style that is that modular approach, allow you to scale with them and offer that flexibility.
00:10:40:19 - 00:10:41:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah.
00:10:41:16 - 00:11:11:22
Ricarda Muller
Actually, it just means that the hotels can choose the features they really want to use. And I bet it's so if you have a smaller hotel where you maybe just have the overnight and breakfast, you, you do not need all the extra add ons we offer. But the large hotels normally use all the setup from the beginning, so they choose, the modular, for the, for the mobile side so that everyone in the hotel has the information as well on a mobile phone or on a tablet.
00:11:11:24 - 00:11:46:18
Ricarda Muller
They have the banquettes event tool. But there are as well, hotels which start small and they are growing. So they, they start with a small hotel with ten, 20 rooms, and suddenly they buy the hotel next door or the hotel across the street and, and suddenly they have 18, 90, 150 rooms. So they, they need to customize the features for the hotel and that is that it's actually perfect as they can just grow with us and, yeah, or decide to stay small, which, which keeps the budget, of course lower.
00:11:46:20 - 00:11:54:07
Ricarda Muller
But on the end of the day, it's, it's just tailor made for, for their own needs. And, yeah, the types everyone.
00:11:54:09 - 00:12:22:05
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And I think you see a lot of places out there that are kind of either all in one or try to be, you know, all in one or, you know, market targeted to a specific group or they try to go upstream or downstream, you see us. But when you have that kind of margin approach from the beginning, you're able to kind of flow with the needs of the customer at a much faster pace, where, yeah, I'm sure you have much higher LTV where customers aren't leaving you and they're they're staying and growing within within the portfolio.
00:12:22:08 - 00:12:48:00
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. I mean, I really do not believe and and those all in one systems I mean you you from the light speed side, you know how much it costs us to, to develop, to be in the front, to be one of the best. And imagine you'd do this with, with ten other systems inside you can't. And even your support teams are not able to give the right support because no one will understand the full complexity, complexity, complexity.
00:12:48:00 - 00:13:11:01
Ricarda Muller
Right? What of all their big blown up systems? And I really think that it's important that we do have focus partner where we know, that our API is the code that we are working good together and that you can say we are the hotel software and just work with the POS. Let's for example, with say, you know, Lightspeed, we know they do a good job.
00:13:11:01 - 00:13:24:17
Ricarda Muller
If you have questions, they will be there for you. We to speak with their teams in case it is necessary. And we do help you to to work in a good flow. And, I really believe that this is the way to go and, yeah.
00:13:24:19 - 00:13:51:01
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. You know, the hotel uses so much technology and it's it's hard to kind of manage. That's kind of where, you know, the power of news comes in, right? Yeah. This integration. Yeah. For the past two PMS, you know, powered by omnibus, you know, that's where we can really make a difference. And that that leads me to my next kind of question is, you know, as you've been built is about has been building and you all have been doing this, how do you ensure seamless integrations with third party tools?
00:13:51:03 - 00:14:06:16
Rob Napoli
You know, like POS, like accounting, like channel managers, obviously, you know, leveraging party like Omni boost, to help with these things. But how have you developed that strategy to allow for connectivity? And was that how's that kind of approach handled from the also side?
00:14:06:18 - 00:14:28:24
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, I think to ensure that I think the right word is smooth integration. Now with, with third party systems, which is it's you guys. It's it's online booking systems. It's revenue systems. You need good APIs, standards and protocols. I mean, we you need to have a team which is understanding what are we doing and what is the other side doing.
00:14:28:24 - 00:15:00:03
Ricarda Muller
And to not just an I.T guy who's good in programing, he really needs to understand the needs of the hotel. So we do have those APIs, standards and protocols. And this allows on the end to automatically, yeah, flow between the systems and it's reducing manual work and errors for the, for the hotel site. And, yeah, it is of course important that both sides work regular on it, speak with each other to maintain and and to update the interfaces.
00:15:00:05 - 00:15:01:06
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, yeah.
00:15:01:08 - 00:15:20:21
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And like you said, it's it's quite impossible the all in one. Right? You can't do everything because if you do everything you, you compromise somewhere else. And having trusted partners like Omniverse allows for connectivity and unification and a very strong partnership way. Right. And I think that's the cool thing is that it's done as a partner.
00:15:21:00 - 00:15:34:01
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And it is driving those things forward to ensure that, yeah, the whole customer journey, as long as they're onboarding and using different tools, as has that same level of support, care, confidence that things are going to work.
00:15:34:01 - 00:15:34:21
Ricarda Muller
Well, totally.
00:15:34:21 - 00:15:35:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And on time.
00:15:36:01 - 00:16:05:16
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. It's I, I really believe in it. You know, that when you have good interfaces and, and good partners, the, the hotel side will always be happy and satisfied. And and that is what we spoke about before. I mean, we met the first time today, but I know quite lots of people from your team already and, and, and this is so important because if you have a personal way of communicating and not just knowing each other from emails, it it helps everyone.
00:16:05:16 - 00:16:35:02
Ricarda Muller
And, it is it is so important as the whole tides. If you go back three years, for example, not three, but maybe six years, we spoke from a hotel software from a POS system. We had to channel manager and that was it. By now, with the integration of new systems, which which came automatically the last years through AI, through revenue, the the the ways are different of working the the autos don't have stuff anymore.
00:16:35:02 - 00:16:53:18
Ricarda Muller
And I think that's not just a situation we have in Europe. I mean, I just traveled last year as well to the States, and I saw it's exactly the same. Yeah, they didn't offer breakfast anymore because they didn't had stuff to serve the breakfast and the housekeeping was, put down for, I think, twice or three times per week.
00:16:53:20 - 00:17:21:00
Ricarda Muller
So it is certificate. And for this you need systems which integrate smoothly and work together to really help the stuff inside the hotels to lower their work. What is the right word? The, the work, the work they have to do, you know, and all the times they had to write list. Yeah. Low to actually the workload. They had to write lists and they had to work from A to B to C and the systems didn't speak.
00:17:21:00 - 00:17:42:23
Ricarda Muller
And you had to take the, the invoices from the POS and put it manually into the invoice from the hotel itself. Yeah. And those times are totally over. And it's sometimes shocking to see how many hotels are afraid of of of the new ways of working. Yeah I might, they really prefer to work 20 hours per day. No, no, no technology.
00:17:42:23 - 00:18:01:03
Ricarda Muller
It's like a, a Red cross. And I think this is our job to show them you don't have to be afraid. It's it's working. And and you will have more time for your guests. You will have more time for your family and for your private life if you. Yeah, if you believe in the right systems and choose the right systems, of course.
00:18:01:05 - 00:18:20:22
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. It's about choosing the right, right systems, but also adopting them. Writing. Yeah, it's easy when you've done something one way for 20 years to be like, wow, I've done it, and it works. Yeah. And when does that switch happen? Right. Yeah. And I think it's a really great conversation to lead into the next question, which is about all these market trends we think about.
00:18:20:22 - 00:18:37:21
Rob Napoli
You know, we hear a lot about AI, dynamic pricing and mobile first guest journeys. So how has what he does is you what are you working on? What are you excited for? As far as these trends, that and are you kind of working on something to to really stay ahead of these trends and add new features that are you focused on?
00:18:37:23 - 00:18:40:10
Rob Napoli
Yeah. Kind of feature state?
00:18:40:12 - 00:19:10:11
Ricarda Muller
I really believe that it will change in the next two years, even more than it has changed already. AI is it's a huge topic. It's we work with it already in the background, but we as well add new partner systems which have a AI driven platform. So if it's a telephone AI, which really locks into our system and, I mean, that's there we are again, on and on short on stuff shortage.
00:19:10:13 - 00:19:38:22
Ricarda Muller
So shortage. They can't answer the phones. They do not have the people because they try to clean the rooms. They try to to serve the breakfast. And the phone rings and they just let it ring. Even so, if they lose the client, which is maybe willing to book a room. So if you have an AI connected to the hotel software, which we do have, the AI speaks in a way that you hardly see that there is an AI behind and locks into our system.
00:19:38:22 - 00:20:01:17
Ricarda Muller
And the guest is asking, I would like to have a room from whatever 10th of July to 12th. What what what you have what what what, what can you offer me? And the AI takes all the information out of the PM's system and gives it back on the phone and even adds to reservation the solid. It sinks, but huge things for the hotels on the other side.
00:20:01:17 - 00:20:29:13
Ricarda Muller
And And yeah, the same with the dynamic pricing. It Germany was really bad on it. The big chain said it's in the last two years, but the small to medium size hotels were really always saying, oh no, now we do it on ourselves. They can't do it anymore on their service because the market is so aggressive and it's changing so fast that you actually would need a full time job to do this to, to, yeah, to at the rates to make adjustments.
00:20:29:13 - 00:20:49:04
Ricarda Muller
And so this dynamic pricing, a dynamic pricing, it's, it's really a must have nearly for all the old. And yeah, we are working with really great partners as well on this. And yeah it will go on. I really believe that it's coming. Lots of, you know, lots of other things in the future.
00:20:49:06 - 00:21:08:13
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. And it's going to it's going to be interesting how it plays out, because also when you think about it, is we having really scratched the surface of these tools? I yeah, I know we're working on some stuff as well, from my standpoint in the background and so many people are. But how do we turn that on and activate it outside of its practical uses today?
00:21:08:13 - 00:21:25:17
Rob Napoli
Like, an AI phone chat, right? Yeah. Or a third party chat on the website. And how does that become really process efficient and tied in? Is you really trained to to do these things and that's, that's, that's there's so much still to come, which is exciting to see.
00:21:25:17 - 00:21:48:09
Ricarda Muller
I think we can't even imagining what is coming. I mean, we sometimes think, come on, no one thought on those things we have right now already 15 years ago it was no one spoke about those needs. And, yeah, yeah. I guess at 15 years we would speak again. Rob and, we were very surprised how much the industry changed again.
00:21:48:11 - 00:21:58:21
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. You know, every conference I go to, it's always I this and I and when you hear people talk about it, it's like it's so surface level. We still haven't even gotten to. Yeah we're going to drill that.
00:21:58:21 - 00:21:59:17
Ricarda Muller
And I totally.
00:21:59:17 - 00:22:19:22
Rob Napoli
Agree to see how how it plays out this into a podcast. Yeah. However who was who is the one speaking and and you know, they said that the most, the most immature that I will ever be is the way it is today. So whatever, whether you start today, start tomorrow, you start next week. That that will it's only going to mature from there.
00:22:20:01 - 00:22:35:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And the faster you get on board to start learning how to leverage tools like AI ChatGPT, TR, you know, basic AI tools, you're gonna start understanding what this could do. And yeah, we just I mean, it's this is the this is the most immature it's ever been. And will be. And every day just gets better and better.
00:22:35:04 - 00:23:05:24
Rob Napoli
And it's just going to continue to be something that's part of what we do, just like the internet was. I like, oh, the internet, and then then it became so integral. It everything that we do. Yeah. Keeping us connected so that as the next thing like that and you got to figure out how to leverage it and, and make use of it to also make things that are redundant, efficient, so that the people working can have more time to do the things they love to, to provide for the guests, to provide that great experience.
00:23:05:24 - 00:23:09:13
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, it is exactly that, Tim. Totally agree.
00:23:09:13 - 00:23:10:06
Rob Napoli
With it.
00:23:10:08 - 00:23:10:16
Ricarda Muller
Yeah.
00:23:10:16 - 00:23:27:24
Rob Napoli
So what are you most excited about? You know, what do you think about busses roadmap for the rest of 25 going to 26. What are you most excited about that your team is working on are doing are launching are getting involved with from an initiative standpoint? Yeah. You are just like, I can't wait.
00:23:28:01 - 00:23:50:19
Ricarda Muller
I actually we have a new AI system. I, I, I don't want to talk too much about it or where we integrate to, which is, I think that will be a game changer for lots of all types. We do have different topics we are still discussing. I, I it will not come this year, but a big yeah, a big part is or we see it more and more through Covid.
00:23:50:19 - 00:24:15:17
Ricarda Muller
I mean, lots of hotels and hotels had to close. So other hotels are buying up those properties. And so we see that more. The property, for example, is an issue. So we are planning and I'm pretty sure that we will start developing on this and yeah, I know some things from our it and but they told me, shut up because I asked this question last week.
00:24:15:17 - 00:24:31:23
Ricarda Muller
I did a podcast myself, a German one, and I said, so what can I spit out? What can I say? What we are doing? And I said, you don't say anything. So, okay, I keep it. I try to be quiet, which is difficult for me. But yeah, there are some really cool things coming up.
00:24:31:23 - 00:24:57:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah, absolutely. I feel the same way. Like my teams always say, grab this, you know? Yeah, don't say too much, you know, because, you know, it's easy to get excited and new when you're talking to people and you just want to. It's easy to get excited. So I get it. And thanks for sharing. Really sounds like some some fun stuff coming up and some really exciting very does are going to be rolling out that can really impact the user experience for your, for your customers as well as the guests and their guest journey experience.
00:24:57:24 - 00:24:58:03
Rob Napoli
Right.
00:24:58:06 - 00:25:07:09
Ricarda Muller
So I really I believe in it and I believe in our IT. So yeah, I, I'm pretty sure there will come some nice gimmicks.
00:25:07:09 - 00:25:34:16
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love it. We're kind of and this is a lot of fun to, to chop it up, chop it up with you and I, we, you know, we talked pre pre show and getting, getting comfortable and you know this is scary. But we just crashed at it and it was amazing. But I do have one kind of final question that I like to ask this is you know we work in hospitality and we know that travel is some of the like the strongest memories, that we have.
00:25:34:16 - 00:25:44:23
Rob Napoli
So tell me about like, what is your best travel experience and why was it so exciting? Was it experience? Was it because of the you know what?
00:25:45:00 - 00:26:08:22
Ricarda Muller
Oh, no. You know, I'm traveling quite a lot as I love traveling. And I had already so many amazing experience. And, I actually always believe the nicest thing is wherever I am to meet new people and to see, how different we are. And on the end, we all eat and die one day. And so I really believe, I still love people.
00:26:08:22 - 00:26:50:00
Ricarda Muller
I mean, there are lots of people outside to say I hate humans. I, I prefer dogs, I love dogs too, but I do see the good in humanity. So wherever I go, I really try to to dive inside and yeah, get everything I can from from those people. And actually, I would love to go back to Sri Lanka because, I went there many years ago and, I think that was what touches touched me most, seeing the difference between really rich and very poor and, and meeting so many amazingly nice people and, and yeah, I don't know, I, I really can't put the finger on it or all that, but I.
00:26:50:02 - 00:26:51:03
Rob Napoli
Know that that feeling. I love.
00:26:51:03 - 00:26:51:14
Ricarda Muller
People.
00:26:51:17 - 00:27:10:04
Rob Napoli
Somewhere. You want to go back? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm with you like I, you know, always people always joke like I'm. I always have. When I got out of the city. Well, I must go look up experiences I'm always looking for, for local pubs. Like very local pubs. Yeah. I always usually try to find an Irish pub gin tonic.
00:27:10:06 - 00:27:13:12
Ricarda Muller
If they have gin tonic, I go as well to the Irish.
00:27:13:14 - 00:27:34:14
Rob Napoli
But. But when I go, as I always like to chat and I always like to ask for a recommendation somewhere. And when I was in Barcelona for two weeks when I was studying over in Milan and I asked, I was in Barcelona and there's all these places to get pie out to our shops. And I asked, I was at a local bar and I was like, yo, I want to get good pair, but I want it to be like local spot.
00:27:34:14 - 00:27:47:14
Rob Napoli
And the guy was like, all right, you're going to go down, it's on this corner. It's going to look like a hole in the wall. It's not going to be fancy. It's going to look kind of dirty. But I promise you go in there, tell him that you want to buy it. And I went in and I was like, hey, I was recommended to come here for pie.
00:27:47:14 - 00:28:12:17
Rob Napoli
I had a beer. And the lady, like you said, that I got you and didn't even take an order, brought me a beer, and I didn't even ask what kind of pie. I just like their special. And it was. It was one of the best. It was the best I have ever eaten. And it's like those type of things where where you kind of get those amazing experiences because you go and ask the local people and you interact with that culture, and there's so many cool things to do, or sometimes just, you know, we live through food and it's a great experience that I'm with you on that.
00:28:12:17 - 00:28:17:13
Rob Napoli
And and I always love meeting people. And so I always find ways to to go do that.
00:28:17:16 - 00:28:24:20
Ricarda Muller
So next time you come to Germany or Portugal, you call me, okay? Okay. And we go together.
00:28:24:22 - 00:28:36:04
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. That will make that happen. Ricard, I appreciate you so much for the time, for listeners out there, how can they get in touch with you if they want to learn more about about, or follow up with you, how can they get in touch with you? What's the best way?
00:28:36:06 - 00:28:45:16
Ricarda Muller
Very easy. Just go to our website. I bet A.com and, you will find me and our team, and you can contact me directly through our website.
00:28:45:18 - 00:28:59:06
Rob Napoli
Yeah, perfect. I'll make sure to have that link. So I to do as pop up in the show notes. Go to the website and you can find it there. Record, I appreciate you once again for joining this episode. For all of us out there listening. Thank you so much. Until next time, stay well.
Ricarda Muller
Sure to have had some tonics before, but okay, we rented it.
00:00:04:19 - 00:00:07:23
Rob Napoli
How do you ensure seamless integrations with third party tools?
00:00:08:04 - 00:00:19:02
Ricarda Muller
I mean, you need to have a team which is understanding what are we doing and what is the other side doing. And not just an I.T. guy who's got and programing. He really needs to understand the needs of the hotel.
00:00:19:05 - 00:00:21:09
Rob Napoli
And so how does it does that differentiate itself?
00:00:21:10 - 00:00:34:11
Ricarda Muller
I do believe that a big part is our team. I really believe that you sell a product as well. Being behind it all, our clients belong somehow to us. And I always say it's a big family.
00:00:34:13 - 00:00:40:07
Rob Napoli
We haven't really scratched the surface of these tools, the AI, but how do we turn that on an activated?
00:00:40:12 - 00:00:48:24
Ricarda Muller
We work with it already in the background, but we as well add new partner systems which have AI driven platforms.
00:00:49:03 - 00:00:53:10
Rob Napoli
That's, that's there's so much still to come which is going to be exciting to see.
00:00:53:12 - 00:01:04:24
Ricarda Muller
We have been surprised how much the industry changed again.
00:01:05:01 - 00:01:28:16
Rob Napoli
Awesome Ricarda, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. It's another episode of hospitable. Today. My guest is the CEO and leading of the partner management team of email said Elsa is a PMS system that we actually have had the pleasure to work with you on, on some cool projects. But, to kick things off for kind of maybe just, Been in Ibelsa for a little while.
00:01:28:16 - 00:01:35:13
Rob Napoli
So talk to me about your journey and how how you've kind of gotten there and you know a little bit about your roles and responsibilities at the company.
00:01:35:15 - 00:01:56:02
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. Thank you for having me. First of all, it's a pleasure to be here. Yeah. I'm with you better for the last 15 years, and, I just started or it just started, like, as a mini job to make some translations to Portuguese and English and, Yeah, somehow I came into the role where I am now.
00:01:56:04 - 00:02:19:11
Ricarda Muller
It was not an easy way. As you can imagine, cloud systems. 15 years ago, people asked us on the, on the first, like, what? Why should we work with the cloud system? This has changed quite a lot. In the last, I would say eight, nine years and through Covid, it's. Yeah. It changed. Yeah. Everything.
00:02:19:13 - 00:02:43:08
Ricarda Muller
I mean, Covid really showed that lots of hotels can't work anymore without cloud systems. And, yeah, it's it's been and still is big fan. Of talking with hotels, showing them what is the right way and yeah, it's it's really good. And as I'm as well responsible for the partnerships, that's why we are here, right?
00:02:43:08 - 00:02:49:17
Ricarda Muller
I mean, I find it really a long time to integrate lightspeed and, finally it's done.
00:02:49:19 - 00:03:13:07
Rob Napoli
Yeah, it is finally. And, we're excited about it. Now, we've got, some things kicking off and a lot, of lot of good momentum. So we're excited. And, you know, I loved you know, you talked about, you know, how you fell into it. I said, you know starting off doing some some translations and then, you know, over time take it over to become, you know, the CEO and heading up operations as well as, the partner team.
00:03:13:07 - 00:03:30:13
Rob Napoli
And, I was I love when I saw your LinkedIn, your tagline, I was there find a way to make one. You feel, you know, getting to know you a little bit. I feel like that's a pretty, pretty apt, life motto for you. How did that just come naturally to you? You know, or is that just, like, you're just energy all the time?
00:03:30:15 - 00:03:51:05
Ricarda Muller
I would say it's very naturally. Lots of people are happy when I finally set ups. And, yes, I'm laughing a lot. I enjoy life, and to be honest, I'm a workaholic, and I really do love working. And, Yeah, yeah, it's it helps if you if you love what you do and, if you are behind the product.
00:03:51:07 - 00:04:06:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's it's quite fun because I, I get the feedback a lot too. It's like, Rob, do you ever take a breath like, come on, I know, and it's funny enough when I'm out with friends or, you know, colleagues or whatever, if I don't talk first about a period, everyone's kind of like, Rob, are you okay?
00:04:06:20 - 00:04:11:14
Rob Napoli
Yes. I just know that you're taking time to listen. I'm working on this thing called, and I'm just kidding, you know?
00:04:11:14 - 00:04:12:17
Ricarda Muller
That's exactly.
00:04:12:19 - 00:04:26:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, but. But I love it. You know, I think, you know, sometimes people think workaholic is very negative term, and it can't be perceived that way. And it can be at times. But I always say there's kind of two types of people. There's people who work to live, meaning they have a job so they can do the things outside of.
00:04:26:18 - 00:04:34:15
Rob Napoli
There's people who who work for passion, they love what they do, and it kind of embodies into their of their life. And I follow that camp with you.
00:04:34:15 - 00:04:36:07
Ricarda Muller
So yeah, no, it is it's true.
00:04:36:07 - 00:04:40:09
Rob Napoli
I totally get it. That's why I love that headline. I wanted to to bring it up.
00:04:40:11 - 00:04:43:15
Ricarda Muller
Now I really like it. Love it.
00:04:43:17 - 00:05:06:18
Rob Napoli
So let's jump in. You know, about, cloud based PMS. It's funny enough, in the States, you know, PMS is there's still a lot of on prem. We still have those old systems, rock and roll, and obviously everything's moving cloud based. But what really differentiates in your opinion, Ebell said, in this competitive landscape of, you know, PMS, there's so many systems now and is super competitive.
00:05:06:18 - 00:05:11:11
Rob Napoli
So how does it does, differentiate itself?
00:05:11:13 - 00:05:35:22
Ricarda Muller
I, I do believe that a big part is our team. I really believe exactly what we just spoke about. It's lots of personality. I really believe that you sell a product as well, being behind it and, I think as well in the German on the dark markets of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, that's where we are mainly its strongest market.
00:05:35:22 - 00:05:57:13
Ricarda Muller
We are, it is important in our times that you are still taking your time, having the time of speaking with interested hoteliers and, as well, the same when they are finally your clients or your customers. So they see we are there for them. We are speaking on the same level. We are not putting ourselves higher or below.
00:05:57:13 - 00:06:16:20
Ricarda Muller
It's it's it's a team, you know, all all our clients belong somehow to us. And I always say it's a big family. And, I think they see that we really work and feel like this and, I always say on the trade fairs when, when our clients are coming, I met you already. You are a client.
00:06:16:20 - 00:06:43:14
Ricarda Muller
I, of course, forgot the name with a few thousand customers. It's it's not that easy to to know all of them, but, Yeah, I think that is a big game changer that we are. That we are persons and we are not just paid to get new clients. We are. We are selling what we live and love. And, yeah, we have a good sister on the NTA and yeah, I think that makes a big change.
00:06:43:16 - 00:07:03:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And people buy from people, right. You know, this podcast is going well for a reason. It's it's how do we make continue to make hospitality human through technology. Right. Technology is there to help us. But it's still humans and hospitality at its core. It's yeah it's hospitable. Yeah. It's it's that that feeling. Yeah.
00:07:03:06 - 00:07:04:05
Rob Napoli
That you get.
00:07:04:07 - 00:07:04:11
Ricarda Muller
It.
00:07:04:11 - 00:07:27:00
Rob Napoli
Is you meet somebody, you talk to somebody and work with that system. Yeah. And people still buy from people. So I think that's a great differentiator. And it really makes a difference. And and the approach of how you take things to market. Yeah. And you know the type of support when things aren't going well. Yeah. Right. I think it's easy to be positive and things and have success with things are going well.
00:07:27:00 - 00:07:40:18
Rob Napoli
But it's it's when things arise, when challenges and how do you handle that with the right energy and attitude that make a big difference and sounds like it does from a from a business standpoint, that's part of the culture. The DNA at it all set.
00:07:40:20 - 00:08:12:09
Ricarda Muller
It is. I mean, of course, the system behind it has to be as a way of working. And I mean, that is something I'm I'm really proud about it. It's it's not normal for a for a cloud based system that you do not have any failures. And, we didn't had in the last eight years any downtime. Which, which is something which of course people speak about and yeah, there are other companies, other systems which have regularly actually more than once per week downtimes.
00:08:12:09 - 00:08:33:22
Ricarda Muller
And I mean, that's that's the absolute end on the reception, right? If you want to have a check in or a check out or someone has to pay the invoice and you, you are blind because you don't see anything. And and I think the constant development we are doing helps as well. That's that that's the you speak about us.
00:08:33:24 - 00:08:51:10
Ricarda Muller
There's the people behind AI by itself, but as well about the system that we are not there for 15 years and it is still the same like 15 years ago, but that we do have every months a little update. We try at least four times per year to have a big update to really change things. And
00:08:51:12 - 00:09:05:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah, that's that's awesome. Yeah. I think yeah. And I think also like you talk about like little updates and changes, but also making changes from feedback from hoteliers. Right. So that you're making changes not to make changes sake but changes that improve.
00:09:06:01 - 00:09:07:03
Ricarda Muller
Of course.
00:09:07:05 - 00:09:10:13
Rob Napoli
Product improve the quality of life for the user. Exactly. Yeah.
00:09:10:15 - 00:09:37:08
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. That's and that is a main core I think as we are we do not have any big or no investments. We are really still. Yeah, we are Ibbotson. It's our own investment which is inside the company. We really decide what we develop, what we do more, you know, what is the way we go. And we do this along of the specific needs from our clients.
00:09:37:08 - 00:09:59:21
Ricarda Muller
So we speak with them through our support teams. We meet them on fairs. I call every new client after, not me, but my team and I. We call after three four months every new client and ask, how is it? What is your feeling, what you think we should do better? And, along those fit or along this feedback, we implement new features.
00:09:59:21 - 00:10:16:22
Ricarda Muller
And I think that is what shows the clients as well. Okay. We are not talking to someone, who just wants to make money with it. We're talking to someone who's really interested of making our life and work easier. And, yeah, it's a main key as well.
00:10:16:24 - 00:10:40:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And and super important, I think is kind of this is my next question. You know, one of the cool things about IBSA is that it offers a modular approach, right. So what is what is the advantage of having kind of a modular approach to bring, to hotels of different sizes from your, you know, kind of boutique, independent through, you know, your, your chain type style that is that modular approach, allow you to scale with them and offer that flexibility.
00:10:40:19 - 00:10:41:14
Rob Napoli
Yeah.
00:10:41:16 - 00:11:11:22
Ricarda Muller
Actually, it just means that the hotels can choose the features they really want to use. And I bet it's so if you have a smaller hotel where you maybe just have the overnight and breakfast, you, you do not need all the extra add ons we offer. But the large hotels normally use all the setup from the beginning, so they choose, the modular, for the, for the mobile side so that everyone in the hotel has the information as well on a mobile phone or on a tablet.
00:11:11:24 - 00:11:46:18
Ricarda Muller
They have the banquettes event tool. But there are as well, hotels which start small and they are growing. So they, they start with a small hotel with ten, 20 rooms, and suddenly they buy the hotel next door or the hotel across the street and, and suddenly they have 18, 90, 150 rooms. So they, they need to customize the features for the hotel and that is that it's actually perfect as they can just grow with us and, yeah, or decide to stay small, which, which keeps the budget, of course lower.
00:11:46:20 - 00:11:54:07
Ricarda Muller
But on the end of the day, it's, it's just tailor made for, for their own needs. And, yeah, the types everyone.
00:11:54:09 - 00:12:22:05
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And I think you see a lot of places out there that are kind of either all in one or try to be, you know, all in one or, you know, market targeted to a specific group or they try to go upstream or downstream, you see us. But when you have that kind of margin approach from the beginning, you're able to kind of flow with the needs of the customer at a much faster pace, where, yeah, I'm sure you have much higher LTV where customers aren't leaving you and they're they're staying and growing within within the portfolio.
00:12:22:08 - 00:12:48:00
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. I mean, I really do not believe and and those all in one systems I mean you you from the light speed side, you know how much it costs us to, to develop, to be in the front, to be one of the best. And imagine you'd do this with, with ten other systems inside you can't. And even your support teams are not able to give the right support because no one will understand the full complexity, complexity, complexity.
00:12:48:00 - 00:13:11:01
Ricarda Muller
Right? What of all their big blown up systems? And I really think that it's important that we do have focus partner where we know, that our API is the code that we are working good together and that you can say we are the hotel software and just work with the POS. Let's for example, with say, you know, Lightspeed, we know they do a good job.
00:13:11:01 - 00:13:24:17
Ricarda Muller
If you have questions, they will be there for you. We to speak with their teams in case it is necessary. And we do help you to to work in a good flow. And, I really believe that this is the way to go and, yeah.
00:13:24:19 - 00:13:51:01
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. You know, the hotel uses so much technology and it's it's hard to kind of manage. That's kind of where, you know, the power of news comes in, right? Yeah. This integration. Yeah. For the past two PMS, you know, powered by omnibus, you know, that's where we can really make a difference. And that that leads me to my next kind of question is, you know, as you've been built is about has been building and you all have been doing this, how do you ensure seamless integrations with third party tools?
00:13:51:03 - 00:14:06:16
Rob Napoli
You know, like POS, like accounting, like channel managers, obviously, you know, leveraging party like Omni boost, to help with these things. But how have you developed that strategy to allow for connectivity? And was that how's that kind of approach handled from the also side?
00:14:06:18 - 00:14:28:24
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, I think to ensure that I think the right word is smooth integration. Now with, with third party systems, which is it's you guys. It's it's online booking systems. It's revenue systems. You need good APIs, standards and protocols. I mean, we you need to have a team which is understanding what are we doing and what is the other side doing.
00:14:28:24 - 00:15:00:03
Ricarda Muller
And to not just an I.T guy who's good in programing, he really needs to understand the needs of the hotel. So we do have those APIs, standards and protocols. And this allows on the end to automatically, yeah, flow between the systems and it's reducing manual work and errors for the, for the hotel site. And, yeah, it is of course important that both sides work regular on it, speak with each other to maintain and and to update the interfaces.
00:15:00:05 - 00:15:01:06
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, yeah.
00:15:01:08 - 00:15:20:21
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And like you said, it's it's quite impossible the all in one. Right? You can't do everything because if you do everything you, you compromise somewhere else. And having trusted partners like Omniverse allows for connectivity and unification and a very strong partnership way. Right. And I think that's the cool thing is that it's done as a partner.
00:15:21:00 - 00:15:34:01
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And it is driving those things forward to ensure that, yeah, the whole customer journey, as long as they're onboarding and using different tools, as has that same level of support, care, confidence that things are going to work.
00:15:34:01 - 00:15:34:21
Ricarda Muller
Well, totally.
00:15:34:21 - 00:15:35:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And on time.
00:15:36:01 - 00:16:05:16
Ricarda Muller
Yeah. It's I, I really believe in it. You know, that when you have good interfaces and, and good partners, the, the hotel side will always be happy and satisfied. And and that is what we spoke about before. I mean, we met the first time today, but I know quite lots of people from your team already and, and, and this is so important because if you have a personal way of communicating and not just knowing each other from emails, it it helps everyone.
00:16:05:16 - 00:16:35:02
Ricarda Muller
And, it is it is so important as the whole tides. If you go back three years, for example, not three, but maybe six years, we spoke from a hotel software from a POS system. We had to channel manager and that was it. By now, with the integration of new systems, which which came automatically the last years through AI, through revenue, the the the ways are different of working the the autos don't have stuff anymore.
00:16:35:02 - 00:16:53:18
Ricarda Muller
And I think that's not just a situation we have in Europe. I mean, I just traveled last year as well to the States, and I saw it's exactly the same. Yeah, they didn't offer breakfast anymore because they didn't had stuff to serve the breakfast and the housekeeping was, put down for, I think, twice or three times per week.
00:16:53:20 - 00:17:21:00
Ricarda Muller
So it is certificate. And for this you need systems which integrate smoothly and work together to really help the stuff inside the hotels to lower their work. What is the right word? The, the work, the work they have to do, you know, and all the times they had to write list. Yeah. Low to actually the workload. They had to write lists and they had to work from A to B to C and the systems didn't speak.
00:17:21:00 - 00:17:42:23
Ricarda Muller
And you had to take the, the invoices from the POS and put it manually into the invoice from the hotel itself. Yeah. And those times are totally over. And it's sometimes shocking to see how many hotels are afraid of of of the new ways of working. Yeah I might, they really prefer to work 20 hours per day. No, no, no technology.
00:17:42:23 - 00:18:01:03
Ricarda Muller
It's like a, a Red cross. And I think this is our job to show them you don't have to be afraid. It's it's working. And and you will have more time for your guests. You will have more time for your family and for your private life if you. Yeah, if you believe in the right systems and choose the right systems, of course.
00:18:01:05 - 00:18:20:22
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. It's about choosing the right, right systems, but also adopting them. Writing. Yeah, it's easy when you've done something one way for 20 years to be like, wow, I've done it, and it works. Yeah. And when does that switch happen? Right. Yeah. And I think it's a really great conversation to lead into the next question, which is about all these market trends we think about.
00:18:20:22 - 00:18:37:21
Rob Napoli
You know, we hear a lot about AI, dynamic pricing and mobile first guest journeys. So how has what he does is you what are you working on? What are you excited for? As far as these trends, that and are you kind of working on something to to really stay ahead of these trends and add new features that are you focused on?
00:18:37:23 - 00:18:40:10
Rob Napoli
Yeah. Kind of feature state?
00:18:40:12 - 00:19:10:11
Ricarda Muller
I really believe that it will change in the next two years, even more than it has changed already. AI is it's a huge topic. It's we work with it already in the background, but we as well add new partner systems which have a AI driven platform. So if it's a telephone AI, which really locks into our system and, I mean, that's there we are again, on and on short on stuff shortage.
00:19:10:13 - 00:19:38:22
Ricarda Muller
So shortage. They can't answer the phones. They do not have the people because they try to clean the rooms. They try to to serve the breakfast. And the phone rings and they just let it ring. Even so, if they lose the client, which is maybe willing to book a room. So if you have an AI connected to the hotel software, which we do have, the AI speaks in a way that you hardly see that there is an AI behind and locks into our system.
00:19:38:22 - 00:20:01:17
Ricarda Muller
And the guest is asking, I would like to have a room from whatever 10th of July to 12th. What what what you have what what what, what can you offer me? And the AI takes all the information out of the PM's system and gives it back on the phone and even adds to reservation the solid. It sinks, but huge things for the hotels on the other side.
00:20:01:17 - 00:20:29:13
Ricarda Muller
And And yeah, the same with the dynamic pricing. It Germany was really bad on it. The big chain said it's in the last two years, but the small to medium size hotels were really always saying, oh no, now we do it on ourselves. They can't do it anymore on their service because the market is so aggressive and it's changing so fast that you actually would need a full time job to do this to, to, yeah, to at the rates to make adjustments.
00:20:29:13 - 00:20:49:04
Ricarda Muller
And so this dynamic pricing, a dynamic pricing, it's, it's really a must have nearly for all the old. And yeah, we are working with really great partners as well on this. And yeah it will go on. I really believe that it's coming. Lots of, you know, lots of other things in the future.
00:20:49:06 - 00:21:08:13
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. And it's going to it's going to be interesting how it plays out, because also when you think about it, is we having really scratched the surface of these tools? I yeah, I know we're working on some stuff as well, from my standpoint in the background and so many people are. But how do we turn that on and activate it outside of its practical uses today?
00:21:08:13 - 00:21:25:17
Rob Napoli
Like, an AI phone chat, right? Yeah. Or a third party chat on the website. And how does that become really process efficient and tied in? Is you really trained to to do these things and that's, that's, that's there's so much still to come, which is exciting to see.
00:21:25:17 - 00:21:48:09
Ricarda Muller
I think we can't even imagining what is coming. I mean, we sometimes think, come on, no one thought on those things we have right now already 15 years ago it was no one spoke about those needs. And, yeah, yeah. I guess at 15 years we would speak again. Rob and, we were very surprised how much the industry changed again.
00:21:48:11 - 00:21:58:21
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. You know, every conference I go to, it's always I this and I and when you hear people talk about it, it's like it's so surface level. We still haven't even gotten to. Yeah we're going to drill that.
00:21:58:21 - 00:21:59:17
Ricarda Muller
And I totally.
00:21:59:17 - 00:22:19:22
Rob Napoli
Agree to see how how it plays out this into a podcast. Yeah. However who was who is the one speaking and and you know, they said that the most, the most immature that I will ever be is the way it is today. So whatever, whether you start today, start tomorrow, you start next week. That that will it's only going to mature from there.
00:22:20:01 - 00:22:35:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And the faster you get on board to start learning how to leverage tools like AI ChatGPT, TR, you know, basic AI tools, you're gonna start understanding what this could do. And yeah, we just I mean, it's this is the this is the most immature it's ever been. And will be. And every day just gets better and better.
00:22:35:04 - 00:23:05:24
Rob Napoli
And it's just going to continue to be something that's part of what we do, just like the internet was. I like, oh, the internet, and then then it became so integral. It everything that we do. Yeah. Keeping us connected so that as the next thing like that and you got to figure out how to leverage it and, and make use of it to also make things that are redundant, efficient, so that the people working can have more time to do the things they love to, to provide for the guests, to provide that great experience.
00:23:05:24 - 00:23:09:13
Ricarda Muller
Yeah, it is exactly that, Tim. Totally agree.
00:23:09:13 - 00:23:10:06
Rob Napoli
With it.
00:23:10:08 - 00:23:10:16
Ricarda Muller
Yeah.
00:23:10:16 - 00:23:27:24
Rob Napoli
So what are you most excited about? You know, what do you think about busses roadmap for the rest of 25 going to 26. What are you most excited about that your team is working on are doing are launching are getting involved with from an initiative standpoint? Yeah. You are just like, I can't wait.
00:23:28:01 - 00:23:50:19
Ricarda Muller
I actually we have a new AI system. I, I, I don't want to talk too much about it or where we integrate to, which is, I think that will be a game changer for lots of all types. We do have different topics we are still discussing. I, I it will not come this year, but a big yeah, a big part is or we see it more and more through Covid.
00:23:50:19 - 00:24:15:17
Ricarda Muller
I mean, lots of hotels and hotels had to close. So other hotels are buying up those properties. And so we see that more. The property, for example, is an issue. So we are planning and I'm pretty sure that we will start developing on this and yeah, I know some things from our it and but they told me, shut up because I asked this question last week.
00:24:15:17 - 00:24:31:23
Ricarda Muller
I did a podcast myself, a German one, and I said, so what can I spit out? What can I say? What we are doing? And I said, you don't say anything. So, okay, I keep it. I try to be quiet, which is difficult for me. But yeah, there are some really cool things coming up.
00:24:31:23 - 00:24:57:24
Rob Napoli
Yeah, absolutely. I feel the same way. Like my teams always say, grab this, you know? Yeah, don't say too much, you know, because, you know, it's easy to get excited and new when you're talking to people and you just want to. It's easy to get excited. So I get it. And thanks for sharing. Really sounds like some some fun stuff coming up and some really exciting very does are going to be rolling out that can really impact the user experience for your, for your customers as well as the guests and their guest journey experience.
00:24:57:24 - 00:24:58:03
Rob Napoli
Right.
00:24:58:06 - 00:25:07:09
Ricarda Muller
So I really I believe in it and I believe in our IT. So yeah, I, I'm pretty sure there will come some nice gimmicks.
00:25:07:09 - 00:25:34:16
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love it. We're kind of and this is a lot of fun to, to chop it up, chop it up with you and I, we, you know, we talked pre pre show and getting, getting comfortable and you know this is scary. But we just crashed at it and it was amazing. But I do have one kind of final question that I like to ask this is you know we work in hospitality and we know that travel is some of the like the strongest memories, that we have.
00:25:34:16 - 00:25:44:23
Rob Napoli
So tell me about like, what is your best travel experience and why was it so exciting? Was it experience? Was it because of the you know what?
00:25:45:00 - 00:26:08:22
Ricarda Muller
Oh, no. You know, I'm traveling quite a lot as I love traveling. And I had already so many amazing experience. And, I actually always believe the nicest thing is wherever I am to meet new people and to see, how different we are. And on the end, we all eat and die one day. And so I really believe, I still love people.
00:26:08:22 - 00:26:50:00
Ricarda Muller
I mean, there are lots of people outside to say I hate humans. I, I prefer dogs, I love dogs too, but I do see the good in humanity. So wherever I go, I really try to to dive inside and yeah, get everything I can from from those people. And actually, I would love to go back to Sri Lanka because, I went there many years ago and, I think that was what touches touched me most, seeing the difference between really rich and very poor and, and meeting so many amazingly nice people and, and yeah, I don't know, I, I really can't put the finger on it or all that, but I.
00:26:50:02 - 00:26:51:03
Rob Napoli
Know that that feeling. I love.
00:26:51:03 - 00:26:51:14
Ricarda Muller
People.
00:26:51:17 - 00:27:10:04
Rob Napoli
Somewhere. You want to go back? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm with you like I, you know, always people always joke like I'm. I always have. When I got out of the city. Well, I must go look up experiences I'm always looking for, for local pubs. Like very local pubs. Yeah. I always usually try to find an Irish pub gin tonic.
00:27:10:06 - 00:27:13:12
Ricarda Muller
If they have gin tonic, I go as well to the Irish.
00:27:13:14 - 00:27:34:14
Rob Napoli
But. But when I go, as I always like to chat and I always like to ask for a recommendation somewhere. And when I was in Barcelona for two weeks when I was studying over in Milan and I asked, I was in Barcelona and there's all these places to get pie out to our shops. And I asked, I was at a local bar and I was like, yo, I want to get good pair, but I want it to be like local spot.
00:27:34:14 - 00:27:47:14
Rob Napoli
And the guy was like, all right, you're going to go down, it's on this corner. It's going to look like a hole in the wall. It's not going to be fancy. It's going to look kind of dirty. But I promise you go in there, tell him that you want to buy it. And I went in and I was like, hey, I was recommended to come here for pie.
00:27:47:14 - 00:28:12:17
Rob Napoli
I had a beer. And the lady, like you said, that I got you and didn't even take an order, brought me a beer, and I didn't even ask what kind of pie. I just like their special. And it was. It was one of the best. It was the best I have ever eaten. And it's like those type of things where where you kind of get those amazing experiences because you go and ask the local people and you interact with that culture, and there's so many cool things to do, or sometimes just, you know, we live through food and it's a great experience that I'm with you on that.
00:28:12:17 - 00:28:17:13
Rob Napoli
And and I always love meeting people. And so I always find ways to to go do that.
00:28:17:16 - 00:28:24:20
Ricarda Muller
So next time you come to Germany or Portugal, you call me, okay? Okay. And we go together.
00:28:24:22 - 00:28:36:04
Rob Napoli
Absolutely. That will make that happen. Ricard, I appreciate you so much for the time, for listeners out there, how can they get in touch with you if they want to learn more about about, or follow up with you, how can they get in touch with you? What's the best way?
00:28:36:06 - 00:28:45:16
Ricarda Muller
Very easy. Just go to our website. I bet A.com and, you will find me and our team, and you can contact me directly through our website.
00:28:45:18 - 00:28:59:06
Rob Napoli
Yeah, perfect. I'll make sure to have that link. So I to do as pop up in the show notes. Go to the website and you can find it there. Record, I appreciate you once again for joining this episode. For all of us out there listening. Thank you so much. Until next time, stay well.
