The messages and the principles that define our brands are more convoluted than ever.  New hotel brands appear on an almost daily basis, and the ability for the customer (and even ourselves !) to distinguish between brands becomes increasingly challenging as well.  As an industry, we cannot lose site of the fact that customers do not necessarily accept ‘new’ as ‘better’ and if the definition of that which is ‘new’ isn’t clear, that customer will likely revert to that which they already know.

In today’s ultra-competitive hotel universe, the art and the science of revenue management plays an enormously important role.  We analyze data, we debate strategies, we execute tactics, all in the interest of maximizing our revenue performance on a daily basis.  However, less prominent in strategic revenue management conversations is the effect of these pricing decisions on our customer mix.

Recently, there has been much attention paid to the concept of ‘inclusion.’    Do you understand this concept well enough to be able to say that your business is truly ‘inclusive?’  It seems simple enough; given an opportunity to include people, whether they be guests, colleagues, or associates, we should endeavor to be proactive and to follow the approach that a fundamental of hospitality is that we should always strive to work harder and dig deeper to understand and appreciate those around us.

Do you know how to identify specific markets, segments, and/or accounts that are currently doing business in your competitive set?  Think before you answer; if you know of business that is in your set, that’s a good start, but knowing that it’s there does not, of itself, represent a plan to steal that business. 

It seems fundamental enough; do we understand who our competition is, and do we understand why?  Despite the apparent simplicity of these questions, it should surprise no one to know that there are numerous interpretations of competition, and this manifests itself in many ways in how we do business.

As industry leaders, we focus on how we did vs. various metrics, such as same time last year, budget, forecast etc.  When we dig deeper into those comparisons, one of the places that we land is in the realm of our Sales Departments, where we look closely (or should !) at the performance of our individual Sales team members.  How did each do this month?  Did they achieve their goals?  Did they miss?  Do they (do we) understand the reasons why?

As we get down to the final days of 2016, many have already compiled their resolutions for the coming year.  Whether you’ve already done so, or (like us) haven’t quite gotten there yet, we’d like to add some thoughts to the list of possible “must do’s” for the coming year.

After all of the planning and work that goes into the development of our annual business and strategic plans, the new year is nearly upon us.  Now comes the time when we start to execute all of those lofty and ambitious tactics and strategies that we said three months ago would bring us success in the coming year.  The question is, are those plans that we worked so hard on still applicable, and will we know how to measure their impact?

The hospitality industry has long been a catch-all for words and phrases used to describe seemingly new trends.  “Yield Management” evolved to “Revenue Management;” “Sales Management” is often referred to now as “Sales Automation;”  and the list goes on.  Another word that has worked its way into our hospitality vernacular, even if it is not truly understood by all that utilize it, is “activation.”  It is imperative that we endeavor to understand why “activation” takes on so many different definitions in the world of hospitality.