Meet the #TeamGuestline Andrew O’Connor
Who are #TeamGuestline? Get to know Andrew O’Connor, Business Development Manager, Ireland
We speak to Andrew O’Connor, about his new role with Guestline to bring cloud-based solutions to hoteliers in Ireland.
We recently caught up with one of the newer members of the Guestline team, Andrew O’Connor, who joined us this Spring as Business Development Manager for Ireland.
With an impressive background in sales and an in-depth understanding of the Irish hospitality market, we are delighted to welcome Andrew to the Guestline team and took the opportunity to chat with him about his previous experience, what he was looking forward to most in his role and his talent for cars.
Andrew, welcome to Guestline! Tell us a bit about your experience prior to joining the Guestline team.
I have had the privilege of working in the Irish hospitality sector for the past few years, and I am excited to embark on my fourth role within this dynamic industry. As the inaugural Hospitality Sales Manager for myTaxi (now Free Now) in Ireland, I spearheaded the expansion of the company's market presence beyond the capital. During my tenure as Head of Sales at SeaChange, I achieved remarkable growth, increasing their Irish hotel customer base by approximately 7 times and successfully launching innovative digital products. In my most recent position at Snapfix, I played a pivotal role in securing 70% of all new hotel business in Ireland. It has been a thrilling and fulfilling journey thus far!
What is your current role?
I am the new Business Development Manager for Ireland, and I am excited to collaborate with Country Manager Clio to bring cloud-based solutions to hoteliers.
What’s a typical day within your role like?
Each day brings new experiences and unique challenges in my role. As I navigate through the initial settling-in period, I have the opportunity to shadow Clio, gaining hands-on knowledge about Guestline and its operations. This includes engaging with hoteliers, allowing me to grasp their evolving requirements within the market. I have had the privilege of meeting the wider Guestline team in the UK and hosted a Partner Day event in Ireland with our esteemed tech partners. I’m also busy familiarising myself with the intricate process of integrating Guestline’s solutions seamlessly with hotelier’s operations.
What do you like about your role?
I am a people’s person and I love the opportunity to meet with and help different people on their technology buying journey. I enjoy positioning the right products against a client’s requirements ensuring maximum customer satisfaction. As strange as it may sound, I love the challenge of objection-handling! It is a real opportunity to communicate the incredible value that Guestline can bring to a hotel’s operations.
What attracted you to Guestline?
I have known about Guestline for about 2 years. I first met Clio when dealing with a mutual customers requirement for an integration. When I worked in hotels in my late teens / early 20’s I recall the unattractive and complicated PMS that we would use to check in guests or to make bookings. On the face of it Guestline seemed to provide innovate, fresh and exciting products that were, most importantly, easy to use and packed a serious punch! After my initial few weeks, I can confidently say that I was right – only I did not realise the full power of the products and how they collectively can help hotel teams really improve and streamline their tech stack.
What would you say to someone who is interested in working for Guestline?
Go for it! Guestline is constantly adding new products and making updates to existing solutions which makes work very exciting and full of opportunity. From my visit to Head Office, one of the things that struck me was the amount of people who have been with the company for a very long time! This is testament to the type of Company that Guestline is.
What would your ideal job be?
Am I supposed to say salesperson here? I am going to channel my inner child and say a hybrid of a musician and a car journalist – maybe this is a new thing I could try, review cars but sing the reviews! #watchthisspace
Okay, now for some fun! What four famous people would you invite for dinner?
Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Clodagh McKenna and Rachel Allen. Not sure if you pieced it together but the plan here is to let them do all the cooking whilst I eat and hopefully have some craic too!
Do you have any hidden talents?
My 5-year-old tells me ‘Daddy you know everything!’. Sadly, this is not true, and I am not an encyclopaedia, but I have been told that my ‘talent’ to be able to identify any car from a distance, even at night from just the headlights, is quite impressive! Will that do?
"It is a real opportunity to communicate the incredible value that Guestline can bring to a hotel’s operations."
"When I worked in hotels, I recall the unattractive and complicated PMS that we would use to check in guests or to make bookings."
"On the face of it, Guestline seemed to provide innovate, fresh and exciting products that packed a serious punch!"
- Author
- Guestline Marketing Team
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