By David Millili
Discover how to kickstart your day using the right strategies to optimize productivity, revenue, and the most profitable results
In a society largely defined by work and our ability to excel, many of us are fascinated with the traits and habits of great leaders and successful people. More importantly, we want to know which practices and routines we can emulate to garner similar results and transformations. Let’s take British business magnate Richard Branson, as an example, who likes to get up around 5 AM and exercise first. Similarly, Apple’s Tim Cook is up early every morning, rising at 3:45 AM to work on emails for an hour. Former Starwood CEO and board member of citizenM Hotels, Frits van Paaschen, on the other hand, says he religiously runs 10 miles each morning. Finally, President Obama stays on top of current affairs by reading the New York Times and watching ESPN, opting for green tea instead of coffee.
In the world of hospitality, revenue managers play a distinct role in the success of any hotel. Great revenue managers help to ensure hotels accurately anticipate demand and, in turn, can optimize availability and pricing to achieve the best possible results. Simply stated, revenue managers carry the responsibility of selling the right room, to the right guest, at the right moment, for the right price, through the right distribution channel.
In this regard, revenue managers are essential leaders within their hotel, working to serve and protect a hotel’s bottom line each day. And so, the question becomes – how do great revenue managers spend their mornings? If one’s morning routine can set the tone for the rest of their day, what are exceptional revenue managers doing each morning that sets them apart from the rest of the industry?
1. A Proactive Mindset Starts with Good Habits
As the saying goes, “how you do one thing is, more often than not, how you do everything.” Revenue management is, at its core, a dynamic job, and for revenue managers to weather that storm proactively, they must have strong personal and professional habits acting as the framework for their daily workflow. While forecasts may change constantly, revenue managers should have a clear plan and pattern to follow each day, from when they log on or step into the office to when they leave.
When are revenue managers calibrating their digital tools? When are they looking at reports? When are they performing inventory reviews? When are they conferring with teammates via meetings? When are they assessing the success of a given strategy and/or making rate adjustments? When are they connecting with OTAs? These duties should always be clearly accounted for (and blocked out) within a revenue manager’s schedule. Suppose they can stick to a predetermined plan and hierarchy of priorities. In that case, a hotel’s revenue team is less likely to fall victim to the distractions that will inevitably surface, and can better account for the hotel’s past, present, and future.
A prime example of this sentiment can be found in former Apple founder Steve Jobs, who was famous for always wearing the same signature black turtleneck to work. While some may have viewed the singularity of his outfit choices as extreme, Jobs demonstrated the power of eliminating uncertainty and variability in his day. He started each day knowing exactly what he would wear to work, and by streamlining certain decisions he would otherwise have to make in the morning, he had more time and energy to spend on what mattered most: the development of his company. In the world of a revenue manager, or any successful leader, for that matter, there is great success to be found in decisive routine and discipline.
2. Harness the Power of Technological Automation
Most revenue managers will begin each morning by looking at the fresh data and spending hours compiling it into new reports for the day. Revenue managers must intercept a wealth of information, from industry trends to data-backed insights and analysis, while also exhibiting strong communication skills as they work collaboratively with the hotel’s front office and other vital players/departments. In simple terms, revenue managers have a lot on their plate on any given day, so becoming overburdened with cumbersome, manual tasks that digital tools could better streamline is quite frankly, bad business.
Automation is a powerful tool, and with the right revenue management technology at their disposal, revenue managers can streamline and simplify tasks in the back end to free up mental bandwidth for those tasks and projects which require more hands-on effort and attention. More importantly, revenue managers are tasked with finding the ‘story’ the data is trying to tell them – a job that can undoubtedly benefit from an AI-driven revenue management system designed to capture and report those insights.
If the goal is to work smarter, not harder, leveraging the power of automation offered by revenue management tools is undoubtedly one of the best decisions a revenue manager can make. In this sense, revenue managers must be tech-savvy and open-minded while continuously seeking innovative technology that will act as a critical co-pilot for their efforts. However, technology isn’t going to replace revenue managers, but it will definitely enhance capabilities. The result? More accurate forecasting, smarter room pricing, and measurable ROI.
3. Get Organized, and Stay Organized
Much like any other manager, revenue managers live and die by their organizational skills. With countless tasks fighting for their attention, it’s absolutely paramount for revenue managers to prioritize organization, enhance productivity across touchpoints, and eliminate data silos.
Beyond strong habits and scheduling, revenue managers should seek and rely on tools that seamlessly integrate with the rest of their digital ecosystem. Ensuring cross-platform collaboration (in other words, the seamless transfer of data and insights from one platform to another) will allow revenue managers to begin each work day with a clear, 360-degree view of their organization and the information that will inform pricing decisions and strategy.
4. Keep Up With Competitor, Guest and Market Trends
If revenue management’s trends are ever-changing, shouldn’t the tactics and best practices utilized by revenue managers be subject to a similar evolution? Revenue managers must never lose sight of the importance of staying up to date with changing competitors, guests, and market trends.
Revenue managers should set best practice standards for the following key reports:
- Competitor analysis
- Environmental scanning
- Market modeling
- Distribution channel performance
- Business mix
- Length of stay
- Yield management
- Inventory availability by channel
- Pricing control
- New pricing concepts
Revenue managers should also perform competitive benchmark studies and follow market trends and analyze and price group business strategies, including function space and group room contribution to food and beverage. Moreover, the best revenue managers make a habit of monitoring what guests say about their hotel online, on social media, blogs, and hotel review websites. And, of course, revenue managers must promote and measure upsell and non-room revenues, all while keeping a close eye on the RevPAR index.
Those revenue managers with the greatest appetite for continued growth will generate (and, in turn, benefit from) the greatest success for their hotel. Complacency is, after all, the enemy of progress, and the revenue management segment will never remain stagnant.
5. Manage Relationships as Much As Revenue
Revenue managers aren’t just in the business of managing revenue – they’re in the business of managing relationships. Revenue managers must lead and continuously earn the buy-in of stakeholders, in addition to colleagues, OTA’s, IT partners, and asset managers (to name a few). With this in mind, revenue management must be adopted as a company-wide mission and strategy and, therefore, building up a revenue culture in a hotel is crucial. Common goals must be embraced by all employees and positioned as the driving force behind everyone’s success based on finding profitable ways to enrich each guest’s experience.
As such, successful revenue managers recognize that their day will be split between data management and people management. Therefore, it requires a balance between high-level analysis and strong interpersonal skills/engagement. Each morning, getting into the headspace to be a primary point person who communicates effectively with all stakeholders within the hotel ecosystem is critical to any revenue manager’s success.
While no routine works perfectly for everyone, revenue managers who implement these five habits will become more focused, productive, and ready to tackle everything that comes their way. Pick the best strategies for you and make them a regular, highly profitable habit.
