Five Basic Tasks Every Revenue Manager Should Be Doing

Nov 22, 12 | 12:08 am

By Taoufik Haraketi

In an increasingly competitive global hotel environment, it is vital for revenue managers to help their organizations and its patrons thrive by creating revenue management strategies that drive up the bottom line through enhanced customer intelligence processes and a greater culture of revenue management.

Revenue management reality: Principles for today's hoteliers is a recent white paper by Ideas; it draws the major traits of a sound revenue management approach that will help revenue managers stay on track and better position their organizations for long-term success.

According to the paper; in order to react to market conditions, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and enhance their organization's culture of revenue management, revenue managers need to undertake five key tasks:

1 - Collecting the right data:

One of the most important aspects of revenue management is to be able to collect and analyze the right data. In effect, revenue managers should collect historical data for various market segments, booking dates, arrival dates, room types, rates, commissions' rates, etc. Revenue managers can then analyze this information and use it to make future decisions.

2 - Deepening Customer Intelligence Processes:

Gathering data that reflects customers' demographics (age, income, marital status, employment status), psychographics (attends sporting or cultural events, dines out once a month, etc.), residence (where does your market live?), motives or benefits (what are people trying to get during their stay in your hotel, what are they looking for?), will help revenue managers to predict future consumer behavior and therefore to offer packages and rates that will attract more patrons.

3 - Thinking creatively:

Thinking creatively, or ‘'outside the box'' means that in periods of weak demand for example, revenue managers are required not to focus solely on price reductions. Instead of slashing prices and hoping that consumers will buy their organization's products and services, revenue managers should approach this challenge as an opportunity to re-define what makes their property stand out for the potential buyer.

4 - Learning Total Revenue Management:

Total revenue management means that hotels need to shift from a ‘room-centric' approach to revenue management to a much wider methodology that embraces all the hotel's available revenue streams (including rooms, food & beverage, Spa, golf, space, etc.)

5 - Being a Revenue Management Ambassador:

In addition to collecting data, optimizing all of the hotel revenue streams, and thinking creatively, revenue managers must also be able to communicate and ‘teach' revenue management strategies and principles to all their colleagues in all levels.

To download Revenue management reality: Principles for today's hoteliers eBook, please visit IdeaS website.

Source: Taoufik Haraketi

About Taoufik Haraketi

Taoufik Haraketi is a room reservations manager and blogger heavily involved in Hotel rooms revenue management and hotel online marketing. He holds a BBA Hotel & International tourism management from the American University of London. He is currently employed as a reservation manager at Caribbean World Hotels and Resorts in Tunisia.

Blog: http://www.taoufikharaketi.com/.
Twitter: @taoufikharaketi