How Can Revenue Management Ensure Collaboration Amongst Hotel Teams?

“For any TRM initiative, think of yourself as the DJ in a nightclub. You might not have written any of the music, but you expertly recognise what beat is needed and when, the best pace, how loud it should play and for how long (not to mention when to drop the beat!). But how does this translate to TRM?

Recognise that you don’t have to be the expert in everything. Draw on others’ experiences and engage them early.

The revenue meeting is the place where the joint TRM initiatives are agreed – but they aren’t where they are born. You might do the analysis to uncover the issue and its cause, but the solution starts with just sitting down with the leaders who can help you co-create an initiative. The Revenue meeting should just be the “rubber stamp” – i.e., the final agreement on details and timing on the way forward.

Think about who might derail an initiative and why? Look to keep them on board all through the process and involve them from the beginning. Too often I see great initiatives fail because a GM (or other senior leader) has been kept in the dark and given no opportunity to give input.

Finally, what you may think is over-communication, probably isn’t. Just because something is important, doesn’t mean everyone else sees it the same way. Communicate your plans, get other more junior people from other departments involved in the rollout and make them accountable. Once launched, build excitement. Talk about the initiative at morning meetings, 1:1’s with other leaders, give recognition to others and celebrate “micro-wins” along the way. Use the revenue meeting as the place to decide if you need to course correct or change the plan.”

“Revenue Managers are responsible for creating a culture in the organisation that is focused on revenue optimisation. It is very important that we enrol each stakeholder into this process, but in many cases, this is easier said than done, considering the personality type of a typical revenue manager.

It is important that each income department reports on their own income and expenses. They need to own their results in order to drive the outcome. At the weekly revenue management meetings, we hear and discuss each department’s results and discuss optimisation strategies.

Something fun I do for communication is a monthly (but can also be done quarterly) newsletter on revenue wins and losses which includes a crossword or wordsearch puzzle. All correct entries are added into a draw.”

“Revenue Management has long been focused on maximizing room revenue, but in the past few years, we can see an increased interest in Total Revenue Management.

To ensure a collaborative effort, I would say that the first step would be to change the mindset. Revenue Management can be applied to all potential revenue-generating streams of a hotel. Whether it is F&B, Wellness, Events (meeting spaces, weddings, groups), or Housekeeping and minibar – everything that can bring ancillary revenue can be optimized.

The second important aspect would be for all stakeholders to understand the common goal and how they can all contribute – therefore training and constant communication are essential. Having common KPIs, regular revenue meetings that include all those concerned, and taking customer feedback into consideration would definitely help. Creating some incentives could also be a good idea.

In terms of technology, very often the tools are not all integrated (e.g., the software used in a hotel for Rooms, F&B and Events might be different). It might be a good idea to integrate systems or plan to invest in better tools so that data and behaviour can be tracked.

Depending on the hotel type, it would be interesting to work with other departments to create value-added packages that are authentic (i.e., not what everyone else is doing, like upgrades, resort credits etc.) but going beyond that and understanding post-pandemic customer behaviour and what they are really looking for.”

“For a successful collaborative environment among different departments, revenue managers must go beyond the weekly meetings. The coffee break/water cooler conversations are a big part of it. It is during those 10, 15 minutes when workers are away from their fortresses, without their laptops as their armour, inhibited and open, that valuable insights and exchanges can happen. Leaders should take that opportunity to talk about the challenges they are facing, the commonalities of concerns, and even comment on the last meeting they attended together.

Also outside of the water cooler time, it is important for revenue management leaders as well as leaders from other departments to visit other areas, work side-by-side for few hours. So often we get caught up in our work, we become glued to our desks and our ‘little world’, when in fact there is so much value in working together with people from other teams (respecting social distance safety measures of course).

When those rapports are built, revenue managers should create an environment of revenue mindset. They should have ‘revenue ambassadors’ in every hotel department -i.e., team members that will be guardians of the revenue mindset in their own areas, that will communicate with revenue leaders on new insights, changes, suggestions, etc. Coffee break/water cooler conversations, working next to each other, and setting up ambassadors, are the key elements to make any total revenue management strategy thrive.”

“Revenue teams can not work in a silo; they are the ones with access to the data and numbers. It is vital that trends, expectations and even details as to what worked and didn’t work, are shared with all departments. There is no need to bamboozle the operation teams with overly detailed information, but instead, share the overall numbers combined with the WHY.

Every associate of the total hotel team is a sales & revenue generator in their own way. In order to succeed with the revenue strategy it takes the whole team to buy-in. I would also strongly encourage brainstorm sessions with various departments, as other areas see revenue generation through different eyes.”

“Collaboration between teams/ departments is extremely important, even more so now during these times. For instance, the Revenue Management team must always be in sync with the Front Desk. Also, awareness about revenue management amongst front desk employees is an essential element. Team collaboration such as this helps you increase the chances of getting the most out of the property and selling the maximum number of rooms.”

“One of the useful insights I’ve experienced is when we can provide opportunities for all the staff to create actions of revenue increase or ancillary revenue where the staff profit from this revenue – for example, with gift vouchers, partners discounts, day spa, etc. We pay commissions for all the partners that sell the hotel, why can’t we commission our team and create this vision in the staff?

Another interesting strategy is to train all the departments in a didactic way, bringing daily situations and a sales vision for the teams. Showing best cases can always be good to create healthy competition amongst the hotel teams.”

“My suggestions for boosting collaboration are as follows:

1. Have an effective communication strategy in place with the whole team. Not everything should be a meeting. Easy-to-understand reports (automatically generated) are key to this. For example, a 10 minute one-on-one can be much more effective than an endless monthly revenue meeting (or any other meeting you can think of!).
2. Make sure that the information you provide and share is relevant to the department. This makes them much more involved in the results.
3. Show them their contribution! What is it that they achieved personally or as a team? This creates a result-driven organisation and gives the team more value, pride and motivation to be involved.
4. Celebrate successes! Acknowledgement is a key driver for success.”

“Open the revenue meeting to all the areas. Typically they are often held without every revenue-generating head. Alternatively, invite people to participate in an open forum. Operate an open-door policy, where team members feel free to contribute or ask questions on a one-to-one basis for those unwilling to discuss in a group meeting.

Ensure transparency with the data, so that everyone is aware of how the business is looking, and what the hotel is aiming for. Sharing the same goals, KPI’s and incentives is also key to ensuring a collaborative effort. How many of us remember the days when one department would be targeted on occupancy Vs revenue Vs profitability – and therefore causing a disconnect in the working environment!”

“Start with arranging a meeting with all stakeholders involved (e.g., at property-level, the Department Heads) who should bring their ideas to generate more revenue into their departments/outlets. These ideas should be discussed and brainstormed to ascertain which ones are viable. Out of those, everyone can discuss and agree on how can they be implemented.

Some will require the intervention of the Revenue Manager. while others could be implemented by each department. From there, set up regular updates to make sure the ideas have been implemented successfully, or if they are finding challenges, get the relevant peers involved to unblock them.”

“Teamwork makes the dream work, and I believe it begins with understanding, trust and listening. All departments play a key part in driving or/and supporting revenue and sales efforts, therefore they need to have a clear understanding of what the goals are and what’s the strategy of achieving them. In a busy hotel environment, getting everyone involved in a revenue strategy can be challenging at times.

Finding the right method of communication is the key; for some departments it might be face-to-face meetings or a presentation and for others, an email. Whatever communication method you choose, make sure you know and understand your audience. When explaining the commercial objectives, like the next year’s budget, your approach to the Front Office team and to F&B teams should be slightly different. Good communication also promotes motivation and creates better relationships between departments.

One other tip I would like to share is to be a good listener. Listening is the most important aspect of communication. Listening to your teams increases confidence and builds trust, helping you build a connection. Your team will be more open and motivated, they will be more likely to get involved in commercial strategy.”

“I think training and communication is key. It is imperative that as a revenue manager you ensure that everyone in the hotel is understanding how their daily jobs/tasks can influence the results of the hotel. Share results, share feedback and share consequences of all actions, both good and bad.”

“Firstly, all commercial teams should understand the common strategic goals and know how to apply them to their area of responsibility. If this is given, a regular dialogue on tactical initiatives to achieve intermediate goals supports the engagement of all teams and their contribution to the achievement of intermediate goals.

A classic example for an on-property operation would be the weekly commercial meeting where revenue management highlights any decline in demand in a certain market segment for a period in the future. Depending on the situation, the remaining commercial team would collaboratively discuss the measures to improve the situation and generate more demand. eCommerce/ Marketing can contribute with targeted media campaigns. Sales could enhance focus to acquire qualified business for the period in question. Revenue Management could propose a change in public pricing or fenced promotions or flash sale initiatives with 3rd parties. State of the art technology supports collaboration between commercial and operational teams during the forecasting process.”

“First & foremost, the goals of all departments need to be aligned for the total hotel or hotel group, which includes the bonus structure so the incentives don’t contradict each other. Transparent & open communication includes access to systems and data, so all involved can tap into the same information.

This includes knowing not only the on-the-books data, but also demand data as well as net profit contribution and channel cost data. Weekly revenue management meetings are crucial to ensure everyone is aligned, as well as picking up on any issues developing within the different departments.

In addition, it is beneficial to cross-train each team member in key departments to help them understand the importance & impact of certain tasks they are asked to complete. They can then see the challenges other departments face, e.g., lack of data. Typical example here would be the groups department entering a room block without updating the rate. Whilst the occupancy is accounted for, there is a detrimental impact on the ADR, as no rate was entered. Understanding how data flows through the different systems and departments is a big step towards successful total revenue management.”

“We must educate and translate our concepts, numbers and analysis into understandable content. Not all departments at the Hotel are necessarily knowledgeable about the RM terminology and logic. To involve and engage with different audiences, we need to tailor the communication and be relevant for the person who is listening.

Run multiple departmental small meetings if necessary, or just include a small written explanation in the reports that you are sending so that everybody can understand them. When people understand, they feel included and as such, part of the same strategic direction. It will be much easier to work effectively and efficiently as one team!”

“It is my experience that the best way to get everyone rowing in the same direction and cooperating is to try to share all of the data and progress reports via email/whatsapp/meetings (whether on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis) with all the heads of department and staff involved (from marketing to housekeeping, as well as restaurant, spa, etc.). It would be ideal to do this both with each department individually (to focus on what is working and what is not), and with all the departments together in plenary sessions to promote common policies that benefit the entire property.

Only by engaging and providing guidance to all departments on the property’s progress, the best practices to be deployed in order to increase sales/reduce costs, and by setting achievable goals (e.g., turnover x, score reviews y) in a given timeframe, can one create the conditions whereby all departments are encouraged to feel part of a common goal and to continue to improve every day. In such an environment, it becomes easier to stimulate creativity and the willingness to enact best practices and operations which are compatible across all departments and can help increase not only the profit of a single cost/revenue center, but rather the profit of all cost/revenue centers.”

“Take the approach that you wish to be transparent. If you can remove the stigma and black arts label from revenue management and take the approach that you wish to help educate other departments on the role and function of revenue management, then you will have much better collaboration.

In the same vein, it is important for revenue managers to want to, and actively to, try to learn and understand the roles and decisions being taken in other departments such as sales and marketing.”

“Revenue Management discipline continues to evolve. Revenue Managers are not only managing rates, but they are also collecting and analyzing data for forecasting. Hence it becomes extremely important for revenue managers to communicate all revenue-related decisions across the hotel.

Revenue Managers must keep open lines of communication with sales and operations. For example, sales and operations must be informed of low-demand days so they don’t turn down any potential business.”

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