As HOTELS has previously reported, the hospitality industry is mobilizing to meet the increasing complexity in hotel distribution with data-driven revenue management, but many leaders are unsure what more automation would mean for their companies and their staffs.
I can say confidently that automation is something hotel companies should embrace rather than fear. That goes for all hospitality companies, from hotel chains down to independent properties.
Automation in hotel revenue management is and will continue to be a net positive, unlike for manufacturing or other industries where it’s seen as a job-killer. It is a reliable way for hotels to move from rote revenue management, dependent on spreadsheets and static pricing models, toward a more holistic revenue strategy that leverages predictive analytics and sources of dynamic data.
It’s important to differentiate what gets systematically done by software and algorithms from what a revenue manager’s job should be. A system can automate all the data gathering and processing that a human being currently does using spreadsheets, which involve little to no strategic thinking — just a lot of time. When the revenue manager has the time to focus on the job instead of tasks, it becomes a truly strategic position.
Yet I still see hotels and casinos trying to recruit potential revenue managers by calling for the totally wrong skill set. I came across a job description on LinkedIn for a hotel revenue manager, seeking somebody proficient in Excel and SQL programming. That describes the job as it was 10 years ago, not as it is today and certainly not how it will be in the very near future.
What should you be looking for when you’re looking to hire your next revenue strategist? Ideally, you need a “geek who can speak.”
This person will be assisted and enhanced by interacting with a fully automated revenue strategy solution, but they must still understand the statistics and math involved in traditional revenue management.
But, more importantly, this leader needs to formulate a strategy for pricing and distribution and be able to get the buy-in from other departments and stakeholders in the hotel or organization. This person needs to be a coalition builder who can influence different co-workers and negotiate their differences to get everybody working toward shared goals for profitability.
Communication is crucial to revenue strategists, and its importance will only grow in the near future. Even if they report directly to the CEO or the owner, revenue strategists will have to bring all departments around to a more collaborative strategy and culture, which is one of the hardest parts of the job. It requires the quintessential human touch, which an algorithm can help, but certainly can’t replace.
Contributed by Patrick Bosworth, Duetto, San Francisco