The Naughty vs. The Nice Revenue Manager
There are only two types of Revenue Managers in this world: The Naughty One, well and the Nice One.
And every hotel secretly knows which one they’ve hired. Let’s break it down.
The Nice Revenue Manager
Sweet. Polite. Collaborative. They want harmony. Alignment. Group hugs. They write beautiful summaries. They explain things gently. They lower rates only when they absolutely must. They try to keep Sales happy. They reassure the GM. They speak softly in meetings. They say things like:
“Let’s review the data together.” “Maybe there’s a better way.” “I understand your point.”
The nice RM is loved.
…But here’s the problem:
They get walked over. They spend half their time softening truths. They say yes far more than is healthy. And they often sacrifice revenue to keep peace.
Nice works...well, until it doesn’t.
The Naughty Revenue Manager
Not rude. Not arrogant. Just… unapologetically commercial.
The naughty RM says:
“No, that rate is stupid.” “No, that group is unprofitable.” “No, we’re not discounting again.” “No, I don’t care what the hotel next door is doing.”
They push rates when everyone else panics. They protect inventory like their dearest treasure. They challenge assumptions. They call BS on bad ideas: directly.
And they do NOT participate in “feel good pricing.”
The naughty RM is feared. But they’re also the ones who hit target, surprise the owner, and make the GM look like a genius (and we are not talking booking.com)
Naughty works....well, until it burns bridges.
So which one should you be?
Both. Every Revenue Manager needs naughty energy with nice delivery.
A velvet hammer. A charming assassin. A polite destroyer of bad decisions.
Because the reality is simple:
Too nice = your strategy gets diluted. Too naughty = your team stops listening.
Revenue management is a dancing between pushing boundaries and cool headed diplomacy.
A good RM keeps the peace. A great RM tells the truth.
A legendary RM does both and smiles while doing it.
The Playbook: Naughty vs. Nice in Real Life
When Sales wants to accept a terrible group deal:
Nice: “Let’s run displacement together.”
Naughty: “This group will cost us €40,000 in lost profit.”
Legendary: “I ran displacement: here’s the €40K loss and the alternative that keeps everyone happy. What you wanna do?”
When the GM wants to drop rates:
Nice: “Maybe we can consider a small reduction…”
Naughty: “Nope. Absolutely not.”
Legendary: “We drop today, we lose €120K over the next 90 days. How you are going to explain it? How about we try something different for once.”
When Marketing asks, ‘Can you simplify your data?’
Nice: “Of course, let me rewrite this.”
Naughty: “Why don’t you read it properly?”
Legendary: “Here’s the 10-second version. And the decision we need. Clear?”
When the owner asks, “Why are we not full?”
Nice: “We’re working on it.”
Naughty: “Because you overshot budget by 20%.”
Legendary: “Budget is misaligned. Here’s the latest forecast, here's the actions, here’s the timeline, here’s what you can expect.”
Final Thought
Revenue management is not for the faint-hearted. It requires diplomacy, courage, clarity, and backbone.
You can’t be only naughty. You can’t be only nice. If you are a parent you know what I mean...if you don't have those half ninjas in your life: Good cop bad cop .... just in one. Got it?
You must be both: because profit doesn’t come from personality… it comes from knowing your shit inside out and standing up for it.
Love, Fabi
Bit about me: I’m Fabian Bartnick aka. Fabi – The Commercial Growth Leader. I’ve built and exited hospitality tech companies, trained thousands of leaders worldwide in sales, marketing and revenue management, and helped businesses in multiple industries align their commercial teams for measurable growth. If you’re ready to align your sales, marketing, and data into one unstoppable growth engine connect with me on LinkedIn.
