By Seth Kekessie
In a recent webcast, “Think Like A Revenue Manager to Transform Your Group Business for Profitability,” we asked over 100 attendees three questions. The results are quite interesting.
Focus On The Whole Book Of Business For An Account Not An Event
We asked the same question in our earlier Source-of-Business Survey and received very similar results of respondents describing the Revenue Manager as a partner to them, especially when they can justify the business they are proposing with 87% in this poll and 84% from our prior survey.
This tells us that when a Sales Manager is “thinking like a Revenue Manager” by sharing the revenue potential beyond just one Booking, they are giving the Revenue Manager the full picture which allows them to optimize hotel revenue. Revenue Managers will often make different choices and concessions when they have the full picture in front of them. Bringing the full picture of revenue potential with an account will put you in favor with the Revenue Manager.
Lower Cost Acquisition Channels Translates to More Revenue
We would like to see more than 21% of responders saying that cost of acquisition is a part of strategy conversations. Having full transparency of the costs to acquire group goes hand in hand to rowing in the same direction with your Revenue Manager. While a Sales Manager might not have full appreciation for these costs, the Revenue Manager does.
A piece of business sourced directly without third party costs could have considerable benefits to both the hotel and the event planner. The more Sales Managers can “Think Like a Revenue Manager” around the overall cost of the piece of group business being proposed, the better the concession considerations a Revenue Manager would be willing to make
The Traditional Notion of A Comp Set Is Obsolete
The 32% of respondents that say they are not exclusively using their STR Comp Set as their main focus, and that they actively explore markets outside their comp sets, was the same percentage we received when we asked the same question in our Source of Business Survey.
Two-thirds of responders are still feeling pretty beholden to their traditional STR comp sets. Knowland believes if you only focused on them, it will hold you back. There is a place for these comp sets but in sourcing new group business Sales Managers should explore beyond your hotel’s backyard and because true competitors might not even be in the same market.
For example, if you are a property located near an airport is a large city, you are competing with other airport hotels located in a large city. Sourcing groups that have stayed in similar hotels near airports in similar sized cities is how you would widen your net. Leveraging event data from multiple markets, Sales Managers can edge out the competition.
Please click here to see the questions we asked in this edition of the Knowland Buzz.