How to Get Revenue Management Right for 2020 and Beyond?
It is only few days and 2020 is approaching us, everyone in the industry might be busy for closing 2019 successfully and plan ahead for 2020 , well this is the normal process all of us has year over year , for most of us it year went and another one come.
Well, I looked around and see that everything around evolves, not only in terms of technology but also the way I see revenue management and how it becomes after three decades since it is started in the hospitality industry, and now we are about to start and celebrate the fourth decade.
By 2020 that will be a new decade for revenue management, with evolves continued happening, would revenue leaders have the same practice, or the same concept carry on the new decade.
The question will remain to all revenue leaders, owners, and hotel management team, How to Get Revenue Management Right for 2020?
The concept of total revenue management is simply about managing every revenue source at every guest touch point to it's maximum profitability for the hotel or resort asset. Yes, as an industry we've always tried to choose the best pieces of business, but the difference today is the desire by hoteliers to sophisticate that process; to have the empirical data to identify that ideal business mix and the investigative talent and strategic vision to deploy optimal selling guidelines at every time horizon - long, medium and short-term.
Revenue management within the hotel industry has only been around for just over three decades, it would be unwise to predict exactly how it will evolve over the next decade; however, I pick up five basics as reference to be your next decade revenue management treasure with supported reading materials.
Review and Understand the Revenue Management Basics Concept.
Every hoteliers should be sure that Revenue management or the revenue manager are certainly not a panacea that can deliver miracles, we all should back to the primary pivot of Revenue Management one by one and consider them as one cycle to complete a successfully revenue management implementation, if one is missing we should not expect miracles.
While it is true that Revenue Management is now the most critical function in the hotel industry but many hoteliers still have wild misconceptions about what RM can actually deliver, Revenue Optimization is about working with what you have (The right product, the right tools, the right pricing …..etc) and not what you expect to have.
However, we all understand the rise of the internet during the 21st century (and with it the rise of OTA's and Review Portals) has added another dimension to this field. This development has made traditional Hotel Revenue Management much more complex, while providing new ways to cheaply and objectively measure both customer satisfaction and pricing.
Like many other hoteliers, you do not know what revenue management is all about, so what you do not know about Revenue Management, could kill you especially if you have high expectations.
» What Revenue Management is all about?, Let's Go Back to Basics.
Understanding Hotel Revenue Manager Role and Leader Ship
Today's revenue manager can play a larger role in the overall success of the hotel than ever before. For the potential of the role to be realized, the revenue manager has to take a leadership role and gain the support of others in the organization. It is not always an easy transition and may not be the direction some leaders are willing to take. Just as a revenue manager should have a strategy to achieve hotel goals, they should have a strategy to reach their potential as a leader and influencer.
Today's hotel revenue managers may be tomorrow's corporate and hotel leaders or even the next hotel general manager. However, before that happens, revenue managers need to improve their leadership, motivational, analytical and communications skills.
It's time for revenue leaders to step up their game and focus on the overall commercial success of the business for which they are responsible. Optimizing all revenue streams, while balancing profitability, will be the key to revenue success in 2020 and beyond.
We are experiencing a significant change in the makeup of the hospitality industry's revenue management talent pool. The impact of undefined revenue management culture and not understanding what is your revenue manager do, means strategies are needed to build and retain the best employees.
The key is to invest in our RM talent - providing the right tools, meeting their needs and helping them learn and contribute. Even though advanced revenue management solutions are available to help operations run smoothly, technology and talent go hand-in-hand. You still need the people - the revenue managers themselves - to communicate, influence culture and grow your business.
» Better understanding for the Hotel Revenue Manager Job
» Revenue Management leadership: What should Revenue Manager know?
Online Travel Agents (OTAs) Revenue Management Systems.
We all agreed that OTAs is one of the best distribution strategy to your hotel special and it is for sure you already participate with Booking.com, Expedia, Orbitz.com, Hotels.com and Priceline.com and although this is usually the most costly distribution channel for hotels in terms of commission, there are numerous benefits.
OTAs generate exposure and marketing awareness about your hotel, allowing your hotel to attract guests who might not have found you through other channels. It is also the most popular distribution channel for mobile users, so we totally understand that OTAs is occupy a critical spot in the revenue management mix. It does mean that their role is changing in some key ways, and that the future will likely bring changes the industry cannot yet imagine.
Managing rates and keeping your hotel on top of competitors in the hotel industry is difficult, even by using extra rate shopper tools, RMS….etc. Rather encouragingly, the OTAs appear to be taking note of this with rate shopper tools i.e. Rev+ by Expedia and RateIntelligence by Booking.com, and guess wat they are revenue management tools.
» The Future of Revenue Management with the OTA's Part One
» The Future of Revenue Management with the OTA's Part Two
Channel Manager
Overall, Channel Management Systems have been developed during the last few years in order to updates the availability and rates of a hotel directly to major OTAs and retrieves reservations accordingly, it can be used in conjunction with a CRS and rate shopper to adjust pricing based on internal property targets and external demand factors.
Many RMS solutions have integrated channel managers, where hotels can connect to hundreds of online distribution channels in real-time making it easy for the hotel to offer its rooms online, avoiding overbooking and rate parity issues , It also allows a hotel to expand its reach and visibility online, as well as more easily manage its rates, availability, and reservations.
Channel Manager is a specialized tool for those hoteliers seeking much tighter control over where and how inventory is distributed. If the CRS is the heart, the channel manager is the valves, controlling where your inventory flows.
It is obvious that Revenue Management Systems have now become more crucial than ever before in pricing and other revenue management decisions for hotel operators of different property sizes and star ratings.
As we know, Revenue Management Systems are not standalone products and require constant data flow in order to operate efficiently and offer valid pricing and non-pricing recommendations. In order to truly empower hoteliers to make dynamic and timely decisions
» Why now is the Time for Hoteliers to Leverage Channel Manager?
Revenue Management Key Performance Metrics
Using these hotel metrics, you will be able to analyze and create a detailed performance report of your hotel. Thus, by tracking these metrics you will discover the factors affecting your hotel's performance and significantly improve the results.
The list of key performance is very well known to all hoteliers these are the KPI's which every property should run on the regular basis. They are simple calculations, allowing you to access a high-level view of your hotel and create benchmark metrics against industry standards and predictions.
Regardless of the size of your property or the property type, running these metrics and paying attention to them can significantly improve your performance! No matter which metric is used, the goal stays the same; to increase revenue and profits!
Recently, profitability measures have been picking up steam as useful tools to evaluate hotel performance. One key to profitability is getting everyone on the same page with your most important hotel KPIs and metrics. There may not be one Holy Grail KPI, but TRevPAR and GOPPAR are two metrics that should be on every hotelier's radar when it comes to driving revenue and profitability.
Remember what gets measured gets done; as regular measurement and reporting keep you focused — because you use that information to make decisions to improve your revenue and profit. Your most critical measurements called KPI - Key Performance Indicators- and by Understanding the difference between a measure and a metric that will help you to simplify your strategy, i.e. a measure is one quantitative number that counts something. e.g. We made $100,000 profit last quarter. A metric gives you more information because it compares the measure to some other baseline .e.g. we made $100,000 profit last quarter, but we made $50,000 more than the same quarter last year.
» Profit Management vs Revenue Management, what hoteliers need to measure?
» Can GOPPAR be an alternative to widely used REVPAR for hotel performance?
Conclusion
In order to get the revenue management right a revenue-management strategy can be vital for hoteliers looking to optimize financial results. Yet, it is important to understand that there are several different sub-strategies to be aware of as well as some best practices to follow.
Revenue management is not all about technology; it is all about who is setting behind the computer execute the appropriate strategy, understanding the hotel history and performance.
Revenue management is not all about implantation, it is all about who is doing what, who knows what is revenue management is, starting from the hotel GM till the hotel concierge .
