The Modern Hotelier #163: Reviving the Human Touch in Hospitality | with Jill Wilder
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David Millili:  Welcome to The Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged podcast. I'm David Millili.
Steve Carran: I'm Steve Carran.
Jon Bumhoffer: And I'm Jon Bumhoffer
David Millili: Steve, who do we have on the program today?
Steve Carran: Yeah, David. Today we have on Jill Wilder, president of App Tech. Jill has been with App Tech for over 38 years and is known for a hands-on leadership style that has helped make App Tech an industry front runner. App Tech is the leading provider of business intelligence and enterprise accounting and budgeting and forecasting to the hospitality industry. Welcome to the show, Jill. How you doing?
Jill Wilder: Good. Steve, it's good to see you again.
David Millili: All right, great. So we're gonna. Jump in, Jill. We're gonna go through a real quick lightning round, uh, some quick questions. We're gonna get to learn about your personal background, your career, and then we're gonna dive into some industry topics. Sound good? All right, here we go. What's something you wish you were better at?
Jill Wilder: Delegating,
David Millili: What's the most used app on your phone?
Jill Wilder: uh, wow. Probably Outlook.
David Millili: Got it. What's a luxury you can't live without?
Jill Wilder: Oh goodness. Um. Wow. Probably my phone.
David Millili: Right. You could trade places with one person for a day, who would it be?
Jill Wilder: Oh, that is a great question. probably one of my grandchildren
David Millili: Wow. That's, and what's the best piece of advice you've received?
Jill Wilder: myself.
David Millili: Got it. And last one, what's your favorite season of the year and why? I.
Jill Wilder: Summer, I love hot weather and sunshine.
David Millili: Kind of good.
Jill Wilder: Yeah.
Steve Carran: That was great, Jill. So now we're gonna move on to your background a little bit, kind of what makes you tick. So you were born and raised in Pittsburgh, and you still live there. How did that shape you into who you are today?
Jill Wilder: is a great city. People don't realize, how wonderful it's. got many, many ethnic parts to it and, um, people are overall friendly because many people immigrated here. Um, their families became Pittsburgh based. Um, and it was a new family. That family was made up of the people you went to church with or you worked with or you lived near.
So it became, a very friendly, Helping each other kind of a city. And it continues to be that way. You'll find if, um, there's a family in need businesses, um, neighborhoods, they all jump in to help that person. So that has really helped me in forming who I am today. those qualities are just there now. everyone helps each other out.
Steve Carran: That's great.
David Millili: Okay, so you went to Robert Morris University. What did you major in and what made you stay in the Pittsburgh area?
Jill Wilder: Well, I didn't have much choice about what I went to school for. My dad was a CPA, so I had to have accounting somewhere in my life. He, of course, wanted me to take over the family business and and run his accounting firm, but that was not for me. But I did love accounting and I did love. Business. So that was my main, my major was in management and accounting and computer science.
So I kind of put a mix all the way around. The great part about Robert Morris at the time I went there is, it was a, an. Extremely, focused business university. And so even if you were an accounting major, you still got marketing background and sales experience and all those other kinds of, areas. So it wasn't like you were just singly, studying one topic. You got an overall business degree,
Steve Carran: That's great. So I have to ask this, living in Pittsburgh your whole
Steve Carran: if I'm coming there for the first time, what's a hidden gem or maybe something I have to do while I'm in town?
Jill Wilder: Um, it's funny because we had our first, customer advisory board meeting last week, and many of those folks had never been to Pittsburgh and we intentionally wanted to have this first one here in Pittsburgh so they could come and see what AP Tech called home. The, probably the, Most impressive piece of abec is it sits, um, in amongst, three rivers and two mountains, per se, hills or mountains.
And when you come through the tunnel to see the city for the first time, it's absolutely breathtaking. Um, you're coming out of darkness and suddenly this city and the water and everything is just in front of you, and it's absolutely beautiful. Assuming the weather is good. And, uh, they were thoroughly impressed with that. as kind of a fun event, we took them to the Pittsburgh Pirate game. the pirates aren't the best, but the park is absolutely gorgeous. And in that background, again, is the beautiful scenery at the city. So. That would be the one thing you know, it would be to see the city with lots of museums, lots of history because you know, Pittsburgh's Heinz and Pittsburgh Plate Glass and Iron City Beer and those kinds of things that everybody's familiar with. And all those are great fun parts of Pittsburgh to see. But the city overall is just beautiful.
Steve Carran: I couldn't agree more. It's a beautiful city. I've been there a couple times, so, well, that was great. So now we're gonna move into the career. Your career, how you became the president of AP Tech. So outta college, you worked for a country club as an as an accountant. What did those early days teach you that you still take with you today?
Jill Wilder: Well, it's a funny thing. When I went to work, I had just come outta school and, um, I had learned all how to do everything computerized. And the two ladies who I was working with, I. We're brand new to computers, so I had to train them on the computer side. But the benefit that I got was I learned how to do things with pencil and paper and how to make sure things balanced and how to double check things and proof things.
And that has helped me many, many times. So in accounting, we always laugh and say we go back to the T accounts when we're trying to figure things out. Still to this day, if we're trying to figure out how to write a program, we go back to those T accounts that I learned way back 
David Millili: That's great. And so I guess one of the things is, you know, having been at App Tech for 39 years, almost 40, what's, what's kind of made you stay there?
Jill Wilder: People hands down, it's the people you know. It's um. And this is real, prominent in my mind right now, having just been with the, customer advisory board. It is a unique set of people and the longevity of those people that have worked there. It's, um, very typical that people have worked there 15, 20 years.
When you love what you do and you love the people you work with. Why you have no interest in moving elsewhere? and App Tech continues to grow. My job is never ever the same, every single day. and that's just great. Our customers are our partners, so it's not like you drop software and run, you're with them long term. And our customers have been with us long-term. Some of them have been with us 25 years, and that's just something to be said about APT Tech's values.
Steve Carran: Sure. Sure. So for those not familiar with App Tech, can you give us a little bit more about the background of App Tech and what sets you apart from other accounting softwares?
Jill Wilder: Absolutely. So AP Tech was founded back in 1970, and it's always been in the. Um, software business. It actually started way back then with country clubs and doing counting software and also handling golf handicapping. So back in those days we had lots of different, industries that we worked with.
We worked with law firms, we worked with hotels, we worked with um, aaas, we worked with country clubs. There were lots of different industries, but it was always, accounting was the basis of all of that. Um, and years ago, interstate Hotels was based here in Pittsburgh and they were our number one customer and when the Windows world came about and things needed to be moved and we needed to rewrite things, we needed to take a good look at what were we best at, and hands down the hotel industry was by far our best. we just were embedded in that. more so than any of those other industries.
So that's why we decided at that point we would become hotel specific. Um, and that's where we've been and remain to be and intend on staying there. You know, people have said, haven't you gone into some? We've been there, we've done that. We just wanna stay where we are, work with the customers that we have. We don't wanna be the largest. We just wanna service our customers the very best that we can. Okay.
David Millili: That's great. And you've recently got acquired by Jonas Hospitality. Can you tell us a little bit about how that process went about with Jonas?
Jill Wilder: Absolutely. We're about six months in to our acquisition. We were acquired the very end of October. that was an amazing process to go through. And as a president of the company, um, when I look back now, it just seems completely overwhelming. but it was, um, it was a decision that, you know, app Tech was privately owned by a family, um, for, for.
The, the bulk of its years until it was recently sold, it was at the point where we needed to grow and investment needed to be made in the company and we needed to spread, spread our wings a bit, and, um, we needed to move on from being a small family business to make those things happen. So we went through a process, a whole analysis process.
We had many bids on the business and ultimately we had to decide who was the best fit for AP Tech. Hands down it was Jonas. Jonas and AP Tech have many similar, Values, they value their customers, their products, and their employees, and they work in a decentralized mode. So AP Tech remains AP Tech.
We're just part of Jonas, and they have a great diagram that they do, that they ultimately wanna have every offering available. to the Hotelier. So if you wanna work with one vendor, they'll have all the solutions right there for everyone. But if you don't, that's fine as well because they're great integrators.
Apek became a primary spoke of that wheel. being the accounting and the business intelligence and the budgeting and forecasting. We had the back of the house to compliment that whole solution. And so it's, um. It's great 'cause AP Tech remains to be AP Tech. We still have the same employees, we still are in Pittsburgh.
We don't have to change any of those things. We just benefit for the innovation and the growth and the opportunities to expand and take ourselves farther.
Steve Carran: That's great. Everybody's looking for all in one system. These days, and this gives hoteliers that option to work with multiple companies under one umbrella. I, I love the business model and, love that you're part of Jonas are a great company. So now that you got acquired by Jonas six months ago, still pretty fresh, what's next for App Tech?
Jill Wilder: well. Pretty quickly. We can move quicker now because we have, you know, we have a bigger, um, resource pool to go to, in many, many different ways. But one of the, greatest things, and you'll see this at High Tech, is we've already brought three new products to, to the, industry. Those are a brand new.
Budgeting and forecasting module, which, um, we call TVNG, which is Target View Next Generation. We've brought a light version of our accounting solution for the boutique folks and the, single properties that need a, a solid hospitality based accounting system, but they don't need all the bells and whistles that a bigger Bigger hotel or a management company, um, were to need, that's our PVNG light. and then we also are starting to compliment some modules on there. So we've added a, a fixed asset management module, to that accounting solution. So just like Jonas wants to be the best of breed and bring all those things together, we wanna add some additional modules to make it, a better solution for our customers, whichever pieces they need.
Steve Carran: Sure. That is great. Y'all have certainly been busy, that's for sure.
Jill Wilder: We sure have. 

Steve Carran: So now. We're gonna move on to the industry thought, kind of thought leadership section of the podcast. So in your opinion, you know, working in the accounting side for almost 40 years, what do hoteliers want from their accounting and financial systems, and how important is it for them to streamline operations through automation?
Jill Wilder: ultimately they want results quicker and accurately so they want the most accurate results quicker. and that's what everybody's striving for. But when you're coming from our side, what we're really trying to do is not replace people. I. Streamline processes. We all see labor's still a number one issue in the hotel industry.
It is in others, but really in the hotel industry. So any kind of automation that can be done, any kind of streamlining that can be done to processes to help that, um, controller or that director of finance to get the information more accurately without any chances of human error and quicker. And when you integrate.
Of course the information comes from the source system, so it's going to be more accurate and they don't have to do any keying. So the labor amount is reduced, and you can use that when you bring over data from any kind of source system. And you can also do it when you, when you implement things like scanning popular, um, function that we brought to the industry several years ago was the ability to scan, accounts payable invoices so no one needed to enter them.
So they're scanned and. put into the accounts payable system for review and approval so that data entry portion has been removed. Those are the kinds of things that we're constantly looking for, to streamline that. Integrations with banks, being able to reconcile on a daily basis. Now, not having to wait till the end of the month to do that kind of reconciliation.
Anything like that is where we're putting, we're continuing to put our focus on not to replace people, because the intention is not to replace people. It's really just to provide information more accurately and faster into the hands of the decision makers, whether that's the controller, the director of finance, the general manager, or even the management company or ownership group. How do I get that information to them quicker? Mm-hmm.
David Millili: Great. This is our second conversation and what's refreshing is that you App Tech are so focused on customer service and that's just for me very refreshing to hear. So what advice would you give to a hospitality tech company or companies about how to really do a better job riding great guests?
Jill Wilder: Number one, personally, answer the phone. Number one, your people in your service department have to want to help people. And they want, they need to want to speak to them, not email, not text messages. They need to care. And it was in, in that customer advisory board, the Jonas folks said to me, we've never seen customers love a vendor more than these customers love AP Tech.
And every single one of them said AP Tech's, Jim is their service department, and they always get a person. one of the clients said, I've never waited more than 15 minutes to have a person. Physically call me back. Yeah. From a nav tech service person. And that's 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So it's just, that's number one. If a tech company thinks they're gonna shortcut that their service ratings are just not gonna be, top notch.
Steve Carran: I love that because I feel like hospitality technology is not known for their great service. I mean, coming, David and I both come from the technology space and you know, I've heard horror stories, uh. About how, you know, once they bought a product, they never heard from their customer support. So just that that is your number one priority at App Tech is so refreshing to hear, so kudos to you.
Jill Wilder: Yeah, I started the department with that intent, and it still remains that way today. and it's really great because that adds to the partnership, um, that we like to make with our customers. Our customers know our people. They know their fa you know, they kind of know if they have children or not and, and what's going on in their lives.
In the same way for our service, people know for the customers, and so it's very. it helps because maybe it's a busy time for a customer and they're really in a tight situation. They don't have to call and say, Hey, I'm really, you know, I'm really trying to get this up. Our folks already know, you know, this, this company has a three day deadline to get to this point, or they've gotta have a forecast every Friday.
So our folks are on top of it watching, making sure things are where they need to be for those people, 
Steve Carran: Incredible, incredible. So the hospitality industry right now is kind of an interesting place. can you share your thoughts on, on the state of the hospitality industry as a whole? Right now? I.
Jill Wilder: Yeah. everybody's talking about artificial intelligence. That's the thing. And how am I going to use artificial intelligence? Well, we've had artificial intelligence in our business intelligence three years now. It is a great tool, but it is not a replacement and. I did an article not too long ago about leaving the, the, um, hospitality in the hospitality industry.
you need to use the tools to help you, but don't take the personal touch out. artificial intelligence is great to give you. Information quickly and to help you make decisions. But don't let artificial intelligence be your decision maker. It can assist you, but don't let it replace somebody. Um, and if you feel that it's going to, you're not gonna be satisfied because the information is not perfect yet.
you know, so I'd say, you know, keep your good thinkers on top of. this artificial intelligence, give them the ability to use the tools and things that they need, but don't try to replace them or replace the decisions they make. With technology.
David Millili: Great. And so what advice would you have for someone who's looking to be president or in a leadership role in hospitality tech?
Jill Wilder: You have to, understand your people. Understand the jobs they've got to do and have a respect for that. I don't want our folks to ever feel limited or not have the things that they need to do the best job that they can for our customers. So don't try to shortchange those things. Understand your people.
I still can take a support call. I may not be the best at answering it at this point. but I will sit down with a programmer, help them figure something out. I'll balance somebody's report if they're having an issue and need some help. So don't be afraid to sit down and work with your people rather than, Constantly telling them how to do things, sit down and, be arm in arm with them. You know, in the beginning I said delegation's probably the hardest thing for me. I tend to, um, like to be involved in lots of things. and so I stay involved and maybe that makes me work a lot of extra hours, but I feel like I have my hands in things and can understand the business and the pulse of the business at all times.
Steve Carran: and you've been in the industry for, like I said, with App Tech for almost
Jill Wilder: Yeah.
Steve Carran: Um, and I'm sure you've seen the hospitality industry change quite a bit over over 40 years. Is there something, a trend or something you're seeing in hospitality right now that's exciting you? I.
Jill Wilder: putting the people back into the industry, I think we walked away from that for a bit. everybody was concentrating on letting machines talk to each other rather than people talk to each other. And maybe COVID paid, played into that. But anymore that. Umbrella of hospitality, I think is just bigger as we now have remote working and hybrid environments and everybody's everywhere.
It kind of feels like every, like this big, um, hug is coming along, um, in the hotel industry and everybody's saying, you know what? We really do know how to be good at this, so let's all put our, best foot forward and do it.
Steve Carran: I love that we could all use a hug.
Jill Wilder: yeah, everybody can use a hug every day.
Steve Carran: You bet. You bet. So that was great. So we've been, David and I have been asking you questions this whole time. So this is a part of the podcast where we turn the tables and let you ask David and I a question.
Jill Wilder: Okay, so what's the number one thing you're going to look for at High Tech?
Steve Carran: Ooh, great question. David, do you wanna go or should I?
David Millili: Yeah, I think it was, it was very funny. Well, it's not funny, but robotics, I mean, there's all these things especially, you know, just stuff like cleaning floors or you know, vacuuming, things like that. And it seems like, I was surprised last year there wasn't, I. There wasn't a, at least a handful of companies that were really, I would thought there would've been more so, in other words, if, if you, I saw two or three companies that still were selling phones for guest rooms, you would think there'd be some robotics or something at a high tech.
Um, and I haven't really seen that. So I'm hoping this year there's more kind of innovation rather than just the same companies that do the same things. Yeah.
Jill Wilder: Right.
Steve Carran: Very nice. I. I'm excited. I don't think I've ever been more excited for a high tech than this one. I think we're gonna have a busy time at High Tech. We're just doing booth interviews, so I'm excited to, you know, chat with the vendors, kinda see what's new in the industry, what they're working on, hear kind of how things have changed since last year.
David and I are also talking at HSMI really excited to do the podcast on stage there. and then just to see everybody, I mean, this is the event where it's like, I feel like every time I turn around. I see somebody I know and it's so good to be in person, like you're saying, and it, it feels like a hug when you're just running into your friends kind of everywhere you go.
So I think that's what I'm most excited about. It's been a year since high tech and I am ready to be back. So.
Jill Wilder: is a, it is a very unique industry. You just never know and you just look out for each other. you could be competing neck and neck with someone, and yet you still go over, give 'em a hug and say, how are you doing? How have you been? And I just think that's very unique and I love that part, you know?
Yeah. And, it's fun too when your competitors send you opportunities and you can send, you know, I think we're good at that in the industry. We don't tend to poke at each other. We tend to compliment each other in the areas that we're all best in. and I think that makes us all better for what we do.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, last question we have for you, our producer, John, has been sitting and listening the whole time, so we're gonna kick it in O over to him for one last question before we get you outta here.
Jill Wilder: Okay.
Jon Bumhoffer: First of all I've loved hearing this conversation and just your energy and your. Focus on the people in, in the industry. I think it's awesome. Since you guys work so closely with customers, I'm curious, what are some of the, things that you see when you're like onboarding new clients? Like what are some of the biggest issues you see with, with, um, hoteliers in their accounting and maybe some quick things that they could do or like some simple things they could do to make the biggest strides and like figuring all that side of it out.
Jill Wilder: Yeah, John, you're gonna laugh at my answer. The core of a best accounting system is the chart of accounts. That's why I say you're gonna laugh the chart of accounts, good grief. But if you spend the time to build the chart of accounts and now we've got this wonderful guide, you know that the version 12 of the of you, Sally, if you spend the time kind of matching your business to that chart of accounts, the accounting software comes easier, it kind of, you've put the time into kind of putting your business into that. So then when the software does its work, it's pre, it's giving you good results because you've put the time into setting it up the way that you wanted it. And that goes for any of the products. A strong chart of accounts will help you budget easier and forecast easier.
It'll also give you better reporting results, so you're doing less, Less maintaining and maneuvering and making things look the way that you want them to. So as crazy as it sounds, if you put the work into the chart of accounts in the beginning and make sure it matches what you need, things will go much easier and it'll all fall together much quicker.
David Millili: Well that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. This is the part, Jill, where you can let people know how they can either get in touch with you, app Tech Jonas, where, what events you guys are gonna be outside of High Tech, maybe along with high tech, where you're gonna be so plug away.
Jill Wilder: Absolutely. So, we're gonna be at the hospitality show as well as high tech. We'll also be at the hotel data conference. and then we'll be at a lot more regional shows. We've decided to, um. Venture out into the, some of the regional areas to put Apt Tech's name back out there. for our intention of taking on some new customers.
You can, um, of course come to Pittsburgh to see us if you'd like to. But our, you can, go onto our website and see us from there. You can also get to us from the Jonas, um, website as well. and you can just pick up a phone and call us. 'cause I can assure you that one of us will answer the phone without any issue.
David Millili: That's great. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to be with you again soon. Thank you, Jill.
Jill Wilder: Thank you.