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On this episode of Hospitable, as we sit down with Ruben Westmeijer, CRO and Co-Founder of Bond Agency, the world’s first nearbound agency, where we talk about building partnerships that matter.
We discuss trends in partnerships, indirect sales, and content creation for brands in the hospitality industry. And we explore how both large hotel chains and independent hoteliers can attract new audiences and stay relevant in the changing market.
Ruben shares his background in tourism management and his passion for creating relationships in the B2B space. Tune in to hear insights on how to bring value to clients and navigate the evolving landscape of the hospitality industry.
Don’t forget to subscribe and review.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Value in Consultative Work
00:00:48 - Introduction to Hospitable Podcast
00:00:59 - Ruben Westmeyer's Background
00:01:20 - Trends in Content and Sales for 2024
00:02:13 - Ruben's Journey from Tourism to Partnerships
00:03:39 - The Decision to Become an Entrepreneur
00:04:20 - Idea and Timing for Starting a Business
00:05:23 - Working with a Partner in Business
00:06:45 - Learning from Past Sales Roles
00:07:39 - Building Value for Clients
00:08:27 - Marketing Trends for 2024
00:09:16 - The Rise of Influencer Marketing in B2B
00:10:09 - Nearbound Strategy and Leveraging Networks
00:11:30 - Building a Successful Partner Network
00:12:46 - Travel Experiences and Entrepreneurship
00:13:08 - The Role of AI in Business
00:14:09 - Establishing Clear Expectations in Partnerships
00:15:11 - The Importance of Partner Profiles
00:16:03 - AI's Impact on Future Business
00:17:04 - Travel Influencing Business Perspectives
00:18:41 - Muse and Career Growth
00:19:59 - AI for Pitch Deck Creation
00:21:32 - AI Customization and Specialization
00:22:37 - Leveraging AI in Branding and Outreach
00:23:55 - Exciting Trends for 2024
00:24:11 - Custom AI vs. Standard AI Solutions
00:25:56 - The Importance of Data in Hospitality
00:27:29 - The Future of Events and Personal Connections
00:28:43 - Utilizing Data for Hotel Growth
00:29:56 - Hiring a Data Specialist
00:31:34 - How to Connect with Bond Agency
00:32:29 - Closing Remarks and Podcast Support Request
Shownotes:
[00:01:20] Trends in content and sales.
[00:06:05] Starting a business with your significant other.
[00:09:48] Nearbound strategy and influencer marketing.
[00:13:08] How to build a partner network.
[00:18:08] Cultural differences in international teams.
[00:20:24] The future of AI.
[00:28:23] Leveraging data for better experiences.
[00:32:29] Growing the podcast community.
Connect:
- Omniboost: www.omniboost.com
- Rob Napoli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robnap/
- Ruben Westmeijer : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruben-westmeijer-3b227798/
- Bond Agency (The World’s First Nearbound Agency): https://www.bond-agency.io/
Show Produced by: Niranjan Deshpande (Nick), Broken Frames Studio, www.brokenframesstudio.com
Creators & Guests
Host
What is Hospitable?
Hospitable is a podcast that discusses how to make hospitality MORE human through technology.
Hospitable focuses on discussing the leading challenges facing the hospitality industry and to explore the latest trends, technologies, and best practices that are shaping the industry. Each episode features interviews with hoteliers, restaurateurs, chefs, industry analysts, and other experts who share their insights and experiences on topics such as customer experience, sustainability, innovation, staffing, and more.
Hosted by Rob Napoli
00:00:00:01 - 00:00:18:06
RubenWestmeijer
In the end, it's all about the value that you bring for your clients, especially when you do consultative work like us. If you can't bring a value, then you know you're going to have a conflict at one point and you can only bring value. I feel for people that you like, that you believe in, that you have a connection with.
00:00:18:08 - 00:00:35:08
RubenWestmeijer
Try to convince someone you don't like and I know it's someone you don't like. Try to convince them to do something that will never listen to you anyway. So it needs to be all aligned. And that's what I really like. So it's very cliche, but that's when they say it becomes more than work. You know, it's true.
00:00:35:13 - 00:00:47:23
RubenWestmeijer
It becomes a bit of a passion. And you see people, you really see the impact that they're having and that's really cool also
00:00:48:01 - 00:01:17:17
Rob Napoli
We are back for another episode of Hospitable. My name is Rob Napoli. I'm your host and I'm here today with our guest, Ruben Westmeijer the Dutch pronunciation and Ruben has been working at partnerships and indirect sales for ten years. He is the CEO and co-founder of Bond Agency, which is an experienced team that combines direct and indirect channel partnerships and sales and content creation and marketing.
00:01:17:17 - 00:01:39:06
Rob Napoli
And Ruben I would just talk in pre-show, in my previous life, I ran across agency as well. So that's near and dear to my heart and I thought it'd be kind of fun. We're going to talk a little bit about trends as we head into 2024. I'm content on channel on sales, what we be looking for and how brands need to align themselves with the market for 2024.
00:01:39:06 - 00:02:03:00
Rob Napoli
As the market continues to move and change as the brands can be relevant, especially when we look at the hospitality space, you have large big brands with big budgets like Mary Adams Share. They have so many independent hoteliers and boutiques and things like that. So how do they become aware as a brand? How do they attract new audiences, new people to come and visit the hotels?
00:02:03:00 - 00:02:12:20
Rob Napoli
I mean, that's where we could start today. But Ruben why don't you let listeners know about your background and how you came to co-found Bond Agency?
00:02:12:22 - 00:02:46:18
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, for sure. So I studied tourism management when I was a long time ago when I was young still. And then so I always had a love for travel and hospitality, sort of working there, but found my sweet spot really in, you know, in creating relationships and then particularly B2B. I love B2B and, you know, the things with partnerships and channel sales and all of these things, which I really like to do, is that it's sales, but it's not direct sales.
00:02:46:18 - 00:03:11:08
RubenWestmeijer
So you have this momentum and it's you build that, you create a relationship over time and then you're compounding basically the results of that over the year on the longer term. And that's something really interesting for me. It's a long term strategy. So you're in it for the long for the long term. And I was doing this for different type of companies, first in tourism, then in hospitality, then in hospitality tech.
00:03:11:10 - 00:03:39:03
RubenWestmeijer
And yeah, after, you know, the pandemic, the whole hospitality world got, you know, upside down. So there was a perfect opportunity for me and my current fiancee to start Bond agency where we are helping hospitality tech companies specifically to grow through partnerships, but also through branding and helping them. So the growth agency is really like growth in the broadest sense of the word.
00:03:39:05 - 00:04:04:09
Rob Napoli
Amazing. So we started in tourism, you know, and then you got into the sales world. And as you kind of looking at these things, building relationships, when you were thinking about getting into working at different companies, starting out, then what led you to want to be an entrepreneur and really say, you know, let's go, because in your past, you know, you've worked is had a channel sales in the hospitality space.
00:04:04:09 - 00:04:20:00
Rob Napoli
You've been a partnership manager and the hoteliers face like what led you to say and finally, like, you know what, I want to step away from working in an organization and step into starting something on my own.
00:04:20:02 - 00:04:38:00
RubenWestmeijer
Well, you know, it all starts with an idea. I think, like I have been thinking about doing, like doing my own business on my own before, but I just didn't have the right idea in the right circumstances. And there was always like a better offer in terms of growth and development and developing myself and my skills within the organization.
00:04:38:00 - 00:04:53:19
RubenWestmeijer
And now it was just the time, you know, I was ready for it. I felt it. I had the great idea. I knew it was going to work. I had the network. I had a bit of a time pressure. Also, I really have to make it work within like within three months. I really have to do to sign my first client.
00:04:53:19 - 00:05:15:06
RubenWestmeijer
Otherwise I would have been like in a bit of a financial hassle. So it was like all the elements were there and then it was like, okay, let's do it. And yeah, and I think in one and a half months we, we signed our first client and they really helped us, you know, and it's amazing to get that feeling and that confidence of people like, okay, I'm going to pay you to do this.
00:05:15:08 - 00:05:23:10
RubenWestmeijer
And that's it. That's when I really got hooked. I was like, okay, I'm never going to go back to work for a boss again. Hopefully.
00:05:23:12 - 00:05:58:02
Rob Napoli
Well, I can say you do kind of work for a boss as you co-founded. Yeah, With your love how you said, my current fiancee earlier I don't know if that if that's the current term that's forever is evolving. My life is one where, you know Yeah I it's funny because I was actually talking to somebody the other day about, you know, it starts out, you know, how your title partner changes and it is great to say a change with that as you talk about it.
00:05:58:02 - 00:06:44:10
Rob Napoli
And also in business sense, right, Like starting a business other than your partner is can be amazing, but also quite a challenge as you are building both professional and business, professional and personal together alongside each other. But you know, it's super cool to see how this evolution happens when you think about working in channels ourselves and having worked for some of the brands that you've worked for the past, you know, really launching into this new this new world, what were some of things that you learned about being head of channel sales or working in the space, just working in that space into, you know, what you're doing today, running your own business and how is that shaped maybe your business strategy?
00:06:44:12 - 00:07:09:22
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, a lot, you know, like but it also is because our business is channel sales and partnerships. So that's really what, you know, what we help our clients to understand and to successfully implement and execute. So I think everything I'm doing today, I learned within the different companies I was doing general sales or partnerships before and it wasn't I wasn't always aware of that, doing it back then.
00:07:09:22 - 00:07:32:13
RubenWestmeijer
But now I can see that I really develop myself. And also with the help of everybody who was my manager was my boss will help me create better skills in that sense in general, sales and partnerships. Yeah, they made me who I am today and that really I do business also as I do partnerships. So I do a lot of things.
00:07:32:13 - 00:07:55:13
RubenWestmeijer
I'm trust my gut feeling. I want to have clients that I feel comfortable with and that I have an aligned vision as well. Because in the end it's all about the value that you bring for your clients, especially when you do consultative work like us. If you can't bring a value, then you know you're going to have a conflict at one point and you can only bring value.
00:07:55:13 - 00:08:12:04
RubenWestmeijer
I feel for people that you like that you believe in, that you have a, you know, a connection with, you know, try to convince someone you don't like, you know, and I know if you know someone you don't like, try to convince them to do something, they will never listen to you anyway. So, you know, it needs to be all aligned.
00:08:12:04 - 00:08:26:17
RubenWestmeijer
And I and that's what I really like. So it's very cliche, but that's when they say it becomes more than work. You know, it's true, but it becomes a bit of a passion. And you see people, you really see the impact that you're having. And that's really cool also.
00:08:26:19 - 00:08:57:16
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. And, you know, it's getting to the marketing side of things, right? And then growth outbound. So we talk about some of the trends for 2024. And one that I think is very interesting is in I think it was 2019, 2020 as well, 34% of B2B marketers were using influencers. But as of today, as we head into 2024, 85% of companies are using B2B, are using influencers in the B2B space.
00:08:57:18 - 00:09:17:08
Rob Napoli
Right? And I think there's a large number of people that believe influencer marketing is a strategy worth investing in. How they using that kind of with what you're doing with your clients and working on channel sales and different things. Are is influencer marketing something you are talking about? How have you seen that as a trend as we head into 2024?
00:09:17:10 - 00:09:39:11
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, it's absolutely a trend, but we always have to fight against the image of the influencer, right? So it's, you know, when we speak about influencers, we think about the guy or girl sitting on the beach drinking and promoting brands on Instagram. Well, actually like the influencer marketing lead. So it's a growth strategy. It's so important and it has been going on for so many years, but it's changing.
00:09:39:11 - 00:10:05:01
RubenWestmeijer
So we can see that there's actually a really cool company. They are basically creating this new concept called near bound. I'm not sure if you heard about this, but you basically have inbound outbound and near bounce and that's basically activating your circle of people that you know and that your client knows to do start pushing your products.
00:10:05:03 - 00:10:34:21
RubenWestmeijer
And this is super, super interesting approach because there are actually so many people that your client your future clients that they are already in touch with and if you know how to reach them, they can influence their, you know, their clients, your future clients, just because they already have this relationship. So if you know how to leverage that, if you know where to find these people and if you bring the value towards them as well, then you've got a really killer strategy because it means that you don't have to do so much annoying outbound sales.
00:10:34:21 - 00:10:56:08
RubenWestmeijer
You don't have to pester your clients with, you know, calls with emails and stuff, like nobody wants to receive that anyway, I'm not saying it doesn't work because I really believe in the agency. That's for sure. But I think the near bound strategy or the partnership strategy, it's just it's a really, really effective way of, growing.
00:10:56:10 - 00:11:19:21
RubenWestmeijer
And I just want to say one thing as well, because I think partnerships is also evolving into this thing because partnerships has been, you know, either it's either integration partners, it's either your referral partners, it's a reseller network that you've built up, you know, in the course of years. Well, actually now everything is going together. And it's not just, you know, one type of partner anymore.
00:11:19:23 - 00:11:30:00
RubenWestmeijer
Like the partner is really evolving into a network and an ecosystem of of different people, solutions, companies that will help you to grow.
00:11:30:02 - 00:11:53:01
Rob Napoli
Yeah. And I find it interesting because especially this near bound and I want to give this a bit more because in and I do agree with the influencer word influencer has a negative connotation now and you see a lot of brands using brand evangelists right? And that's because it's built because of the partner network. And I think this ties into that whole near bound strategy and outbound is great.
00:11:53:01 - 00:12:12:10
Rob Napoli
And I'll still propose that every company actually do outbound to a degree, especially young companies, right. In the fact that you still need to get eyeballs into the network in some way, shape or form, but outbound where the direct outbound is not a 15 minute call or 20 minute demo, right? It's where do you want the eyeballs to come in to see and connect as a lead with ask the certain content piece.
00:12:12:12 - 00:12:31:02
Rob Napoli
That's a lead capture. That's watching a video, right? It's taking eyeballs and driving eyeballs directly where you want it to be, to understand what you do and how you better get it into your network, i.e. into your LinkedIn so they can see what you're posting and over time what the timing is right. Actually want to potentially work with you.
00:12:31:08 - 00:12:50:15
Rob Napoli
You are partner with you. This is about near bound strategy. So if you can bring on certain key partners in your network and utilize them properly and have them help you amplify messaging opens up so many doors in a way that you don't actually realize, because most of us as humans, we scroll on our phones all the time, right?
00:12:50:15 - 00:13:12:14
Rob Napoli
We're lurkers. We purposefully lurk on content and not activate it, not do anything with it until the time is right, until I have to buy something. Then I'm looking through. Who do I know right? And so I love this idea of near bound how to leverage it. I think that's really cool. That's something that y'all are highly targeting and, you know, partner networks.
00:13:12:14 - 00:13:26:23
Rob Napoli
And so as if you work with clients and we think about this space, how do you build a partner network? How do you go out and put together meaningful relationships with partners, whether it's resellers, integrators, etc.?
00:13:27:01 - 00:13:45:00
RubenWestmeijer
Well, it's all about value. So, you know, you have to align yourself. So there are a few key things that you need to do before you start in the relationship. First of all, you need to manage your expectations, so you need to know what you're getting into. You as the one who wants to start a partnership, but also the partner, obviously.
00:13:45:02 - 00:14:06:08
RubenWestmeijer
And it just needs to be clear. What do you expect from your partner? I think too many companies, they make the mistake of being too vague and they don't want to be too pushy at the start. Like, okay, you know, maybe we can start like this or like that. We don't expect too much from you. But know as a partner you want to know, okay, am I expected to deliver 50 leads or per year or per months.
00:14:06:08 - 00:14:25:04
RubenWestmeijer
You know these things you have to be really clear from the start. And if you get those expectations right, then what you really need to think about is what is my value for my partner? And so we work with a lot of tech companies and we see the value proposition for the clients. They nailed it. You know, they have agencies working on that.
00:14:25:04 - 00:14:45:03
RubenWestmeijer
They spend a lot of money in crafting those beautiful one liners to make sure that the value is clear in one instant. But then when they start working with partners, they forget about, don't you forget about this. They think that this is the same value for partners, which is totally wrong. If you want to bring value for your partners, it means, okay, we can actually help you accelerate the growth of your company.
00:14:45:08 - 00:15:07:08
RubenWestmeijer
By promoting our product. We can increase the impact of your services by adding a technology or a functionality that you didn't have before. Like there's so many different values that you can think of, but you have to specify it to the partner that you're working with. And that's what a lot of companies do forget, and this is what we help them with, actually, you know, to make sure that they stick to that.
00:15:07:08 - 00:15:28:22
RubenWestmeijer
Our clients take those first steps and define that. Think about that. Also think about a partner profile. What is the type of partner that you want to work with? You know, hopefully this is going to be a long term relationship that you have that you will start to build. So you know, better find partners that you feel comfortable with, that you like, that you're going to have a drink with, that you can have a laugh with, you know, if you feel comfortable.
00:15:28:22 - 00:15:51:17
RubenWestmeijer
So that partner profile, not in terms of, okay, they are in this market and they are serving this type of clients, but also, okay, what is their vision? How do they see hospitality? What do they think of tech? You know, what is their experience? You know, talk with them first as a human and as a someone that you want to get to know before you think about, okay, this is someone I can partner with.
00:15:51:19 - 00:16:30:09
Rob Napoli
Yeah. I think that's really important because understanding where value creation is huge in so many. It's really easy to see fake perceived value. But what is actual value? Like what can we actually do together? What are the things that we can collaborate on and where that actually drives for an and understanding partner profile And true value is huge and it's something that I think a lot of companies don't do well because you get really excited about potential opportunity and it's single focus on this one opportunity versus the long term long term value in conversation and partners that I love.
00:16:30:11 - 00:16:56:06
Rob Napoli
I love that, you know, that's just thinking about your background and to how you got to where you are today. If you've been able to travel a lot and be around the world's different parts of your career in your life, how has traveling affected or helping you grow as an entrepreneur? How is that open your eyes to the work that you're doing today?
00:16:56:06 - 00:17:03:08
Rob Napoli
And do you think that travel has a huge impact on how we view creating valuable partnerships globally?
00:17:03:10 - 00:17:24:15
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, for sure. What I love is to, you know, to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. And this is something that this is also the reason why I studied and started working in tourism. You know, like I was so excited about this, travel the world and be with like working with people from different backgrounds and just have different influences also on me and my daily life.
00:17:24:17 - 00:17:40:08
RubenWestmeijer
And so I'm, from the Netherlands originally, and I used to live there until I was 30. 31, and then I really got like this bug and I said, Look, I need to get out of here. And luckily the company I used to work for back then was Mews. They offered they have like a position in their London office.
00:17:40:08 - 00:18:13:02
RubenWestmeijer
So I would go there and build my partnership team and I was like, Yeah, this is what I've been missing. I just want to like, you know, not even only travel, but also live in a place which is completely different as my own hometown. And, you know, to have all these experiences from meeting these different people and working in international teams and just, you know, starting to notice cultural differences, even if it's like, you know, the English compared to French or the Dutch compared to Belgium, there are these tiny differences that you already notice.
00:18:13:07 - 00:18:30:14
RubenWestmeijer
And that's what I think is really cool, because every time you have a different type of strategy and I'm going to speak with a Belgian, so I have to be a bit more patient and stuff like that and okay, I'm going to speak with a Dutch guy now. I can be super direct and quick. So yeah, those I think that's the most important thing for me.
00:18:30:16 - 00:18:40:06
RubenWestmeijer
Traveling, visiting places in the world. Yeah. The people, you know, and, and their culture and the way of doing things. It's super interesting too, to get to know.
00:18:40:08 - 00:19:10:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, that's really cool. And obviously for those that listening to the podcast, you probably have heard of a company called Mews and we had opportunity to interview. Richard Walter Yeah, Richard Walter. So, you know, it's kind of fun, you know, knowing that having had that opportunity to go and grow with your organization really opens up your eyes and something that, you know, I moved from the Midwest to Italy, Italy to New York and the whole places in between.
00:19:10:18 - 00:19:34:00
Rob Napoli
So getting to see I totally feel when you when you talk about those cultural differences and understanding and I think when you're building partnerships in your looking at creating true value, understanding those those differences and understanding how and what value means to different people opens up so many doors. So that's super, cool and exciting.
00:19:34:02 - 00:19:58:12
Rob Napoli
Yeah, There's a big conversation that happens in business right now around AI, right? And using AI to replace things. However you would leverage AI or seen AI or talk to on AI with potential partners as you're big being a growth agency, right? I'm sure this is something that gets discussed. What are some of the things that you're hearing and seeing and doing with AI tools?
00:19:58:14 - 00:20:18:11
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, of course are using it like I think everybody uses chat gpt just to test things. And I had this one thing that I want to do. I wanted to like create like a pitch deck, you know, for, our company, for investors totally like, like, you know, not real. But I just wanted to see how that worked in the chat gpt.
00:20:18:13 - 00:20:40:01
RubenWestmeijer
And it was amazing. You know, you put your input there and what it what it puts out, it's really eye opening and like, wow, it's so quick. So I think the future for, you know, in terms of AI is like if you master AI and you know how to work with it, will not be a threat to your work.
00:20:40:03 - 00:20:58:12
RubenWestmeijer
You know, you just have to be one of those really skilled people and prefer to be like one of the first people who really know how to use AI and make it make it evolve into your work, like make it better so that the services and the output of your work becomes much better as it was before.
00:20:58:12 - 00:21:31:12
RubenWestmeijer
And if you know how to do that, then you won't be replaced. You know, it's I always compare it a little bit with an artist. Of course, again, you can create art through AI, but the if you have the artist is the soul. You know why they do it. So if you still have that also as a as a consultant or whatever, you know, it doesn't matter what your job is, but if you are really passionate about it and you use the tools to create a better output, then you'll be obvious always on the winning side, I think.
00:21:31:14 - 00:21:53:18
Rob Napoli
That's really interesting cause I think AI is going to help us in a lot of ways. It can definitely reduce some things off our plate, but I think it's ever going to take to take over fully. And I think as we look at it from how you just said, like leveraging those tools to be to work for you and work with you, if you could do that, it changes the game.
00:21:53:18 - 00:22:17:08
Rob Napoli
And I see a lot of people using generative AI to respond to like in requests and things. As far as their outbound strategy. And it's like, great, pull that back a little bit because you can tell when it's like fake body stock, fluffy answers like me answer anything to chat gpt while you get really great information. If you ask to write something for you, it's really fluffy.
00:22:17:10 - 00:22:36:08
Rob Napoli
It's a lot of very big action verbs that you have to make it human because it's sometimes it doesn't come across as human. And so I think there's still a lot to be learned, but I think you're going to utilize it in building your brand and reaching out and connecting to make sure to take a second to spot check it and make an argument.
00:22:36:09 - 00:22:58:14
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Actually it lesson and also a bit with what you asked earlier. Like, you know, the type of clients that we like to work with. It's also the people who appreciate that, you know, who appreciate the fact that we put in our experience and our knowledge and our human side. But, you know, of course, we can use AI to create things and to, you know, to to be quicker and to be efficient, for sure.
00:22:58:16 - 00:23:16:13
RubenWestmeijer
But I just want to work with companies that appreciate that parts as well. That's, you know, and of course, you will have companies going, you know, if they want to do a new branding, for example, or a new website or whatever, or they need to design a new logo, they will use AI themselves. Okay, that's fine. You know, it's there.
00:23:16:13 - 00:23:35:02
RubenWestmeijer
And if you if you think that that's a really good work, then you should definitely do it. But I know for sure that there are a lot of companies out there who still appreciate the extra layer of professionals and stuff that is being used before you use AI by companies who have actually done people who have done it for many, many years.
00:23:35:02 - 00:23:53:15
RubenWestmeijer
And we have done different things and have the experience actually to put it up. So I hope that, you know, that there will be enough companies in the future as well to keep appreciating that and to just make sure that, you know, that experience is being used and the professionalism and that that expertise.
00:23:53:17 - 00:24:08:10
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that. So if you look at 2024, what is the one kind of trend that you're excited about or what is one thing that you're looking forward to like learning or doing in 2024?
00:24:08:12 - 00:24:30:06
RubenWestmeijer
I think it has to do with A.I. still. But what I'm really curious to see is if you know, there are companies out there, tech companies that have been working and building their own A.I. technology and. Right. So they have been doing this for many, many years, actually, like with machine learning. And, you know, they come now to a point that their AI is really, really good.
00:24:30:08 - 00:25:07:13
RubenWestmeijer
And then you have obviously a lot of tech companies that use the APIs of like open AI and like prebuilt solutions and used to use those engines. And I would I'm really curious to see where it goes if like these companies are actually building their own AI technology, if they would be able to, you know, start selling or like implementing their technology into the existing solutions where their the outputs of their AI will be, if it's going to be much better as compared to the standard solutions like open AI and stuff and I'm just curious to see that battle where it's going.
00:25:07:13 - 00:25:29:11
RubenWestmeijer
And if these companies also realize that they actually sitting on something really valuable, which is this custom made A.I. tool with machine learning and very specialized, I saw an amazing tool lately where they do AI on reviews basically, so you can answer it using that. And it was so cool because you could like customize it totally to your, you know, your tone of voice.
00:25:29:11 - 00:25:54:09
RubenWestmeijer
It would recognize a lot of like recurring issues, but would respond every time in a different way. And like it was so customizable and I thought like, yeah, I don't think that you can get to that level with these standards solution. So yeah, I'm really curious about that to see with the battle of A.I. basically standardized against custom made.
00:25:54:11 - 00:26:17:02
Rob Napoli
Yeah, it's going to be super interesting to see what happens and that's definitely a fun trend to look to. You know, I think for me, one of the things that I'm really interested in next year as a big topic and we're looking at how to do some cool stuff with AI ourselves internally here OmniBoost but with, events are coming back in a big way, right?
00:26:17:03 - 00:26:45:00
Rob Napoli
For a while this shut down. There's a lot of conversation about there's not as much value in events and things like that. But I think what you're seeing is that events will continue to be super big next year. The fact that more targeted, less these big, big, huge events where it's just like craziness and really thinking about one or more focused events and to see what the industry, what insdustry do with kind of events and curating is really highly valuable.
00:26:45:00 - 00:27:07:17
Rob Napoli
We talk a lot about value this episode, really highly valuable events and how to leverage that of being in person and utilizing this in person moments to drive the fact that we can have global connections and zoom calls and do business globally. So how do we leverage those in-person experiences to create meaningful, deep relationships that drive bigger long term value?
00:27:07:19 - 00:27:26:20
Rob Napoli
I'm really excited to see how that plays itself out because everyone thinks about the big, you know, the big events like our Web summit said, collisions in a flash. But seeing all those kind of like more targeted middle sized events and see how that's going to be leveraged next year by really cool companies.
00:27:26:22 - 00:27:54:13
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah. And I think one more thing. What I hope will be a trend next year that like the leverage of data, you know especially like hotels like hoteliers they have so much data actually have their fingertips but with the amount of like technology solutions out there and like the I wouldn't say siloed but you know, because like most of the are integrated.
00:27:54:13 - 00:28:13:17
RubenWestmeijer
Most of the solutions, however, are still like, it's not always clear where to find what data and really like how to make it really actionable, you know, And I think that's still a thing of a lot of people like a lot of the hoteliers as they move to a new cloud based PMS and they say, okay, now we have all this data sitting here, we can do so many things about it.
00:28:13:19 - 00:28:31:23
RubenWestmeijer
But then actually they are not really utilizing it because it's still a very static data that they for sure, maybe they do a weekly report or whatever, but I think that's it's going to be really cool to see certain solutions coming on the market where first of all, you can really manage the data in a very fluid way.
00:28:31:23 - 00:28:51:12
RubenWestmeijer
So it's always up to date. You capture all these different points along the whole customer journey or the guest journey but then how can you use that data and how can you like really put that, put it to use for you as a hotelier to make sure that you provide a better experience. You make them come again and stuff like that.
00:28:51:12 - 00:29:01:01
RubenWestmeijer
And I think there are no, you know, some of the solutions coming out there. But yeah, we need to get rid of that static data still because it's still really static. I feel.
00:29:01:03 - 00:29:18:17
Rob Napoli
Yeah, well, that's really interesting. That's why I bring up kind of AI the events that we look at next year. Like there's a lot of companies sitting on static data and there's a lot of companies that make changes based on data but don't realize how to leverage it. And it's really interesting. That's obviously what OmniBoost does we help people leverage data.
00:29:18:17 - 00:29:41:15
Rob Napoli
We have data unification. And it's really interesting that you make that point, is that so many companies also have a lot of data that they just never use, and it's just there. They don't understand how to leverage that data. And so that is something that for next year, I think companies really need to know and understand how to best utilize data to create value and what you're sitting on, what you have.
00:29:41:16 - 00:29:58:17
Rob Napoli
It's not always like we don't always need to chase the next thing. It's sitting back and looking at what do we have and how do we leverage? And that's something that will be really interesting to see what companies step up next year, especially hoteliers as we think about these hotels, is they want to grow and they want to create and they want to have more people.
00:29:58:17 - 00:30:09:12
Rob Napoli
They're utilizing this data to really attract that ideal customer, getting people in more pictures, more things, and getting that brand awareness really shared out to the world.
00:30:09:14 - 00:30:28:10
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah for sure, this going to be really interesting to see data you need. You need to use it. And I would advise any hotel company basically also like hire a data geek, you know, like hire someone who loves data. It goes through all of your data that you actually have and just find super creative ways and find new KPI.
00:30:28:12 - 00:30:52:18
RubenWestmeijer
And, you know, I was that did you know that we can actually see this and then you know and then blow your mind because sometimes you do things a certain way for a few years or even when you just change. Okay, we set up some weekly reports and then you're going to look at those reports every week. And it's the same kind of information that is never going to really add any benefits or any value to how you are operating your hotel and how you are adding value to your guest.
00:30:52:18 - 00:31:13:23
RubenWestmeijer
And, you know, sometimes it's an extra set of eyes from someone as you don't expect it. And who goes in there and just creates these new KPIs and yeah, blows your mind. I didn't even know we had that. We couldn't make those conclusions with the data that we have. And you can like there's so much data in any PMS so much data, so start utilizing it for sure.
00:31:14:01 - 00:31:32:03
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I love that start utilizing data in most companies they have utilize the right data. I think that is a great point to end on. Ruben I appreciate you coming on the podcast and you know, chopping it up where can our listeners find you, how they get in touch with you, how they learn more about bond agency?
00:31:32:05 - 00:31:39:13
RubenWestmeijer
Yeah, so we have a website with a bondagency.io. Sorry that AI .io okay.
00:31:39:13 - 00:31:43:14
Rob Napoli
That's great.
00:31:43:16 - 00:31:59:12
RubenWestmeijer
We have a website, a bond agency. io you can find everything that we do. There are services but also a bit more information about us. And if you want to send us an email hi@bodyagency.io So perfect there we can be found.
00:31:59:13 - 00:32:20:17
Rob Napoli
Also, I'll make sure to have that link into the show notes to get in touch. Ruben looking forward to seeing continued growth and hopefully soon in next year when I swing through over to Lisbon and grab a beer with you in a person. But I appreciate you jumping on. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful holiday season and talk to you soon, my friend.
00:32:20:19 - 00:32:26:22
RubenWestmeijer
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me Rob and have a good holiday too. And a beer since it's a deal in Lisbon.
00:32:27:00 - 00:32:44:08
Rob Napoli
I love it. Also, listeners, thank you so much be tier one do all the things like subscribe, rate review all those things. Help grow the podcast. Let us know if there's anything you would love to us to talk about. Guest a thing should be on the show, so on and so forth. And so then we'll see you next chow