You’ve probably noticed it, too – the increased trend toward clustering revenue management positions.
NB: This is an article from Atomize, one of our Expert Partners
If you do it right, as a Cluster Revenue Manager, it can help you manage costs, increase efficiency and boost revenue. But it comes with its own set of challenges which are mainly related to time constraints and access to high-quality, accurate data.
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If you cluster three separately managed hotels, a single revenue manager will find it hard to do the same level of work for each property that three people did before. The amount of internal, market and competitor data that needs to be processed would simply be too much for one person to handle.
But that’s not the only challenge a cluster revenue manager faces.
Below, we take a look at five common issues they deal with and which simple solution can help you avoid these problems, so all your hotels can maximize their revenue potential.
1. Managing high data volumes for several hotels
The most time-consuming part of many revenue managers’ jobs today is data collection and processing. Because of it, a lot of time goes by before you can get to your ‘real’ work – forming strategies and making pricing decisions. Even if you’re only looking after a single hotel, this can be challenging, especially if you’re operating in a dynamic market.
So, what happens when you suddenly have several properties to manage as a Cluster Revenue Manager? Data quality or the amount of data you can collect will suffer. As a result, decisions will not be as well-informed or strategic as they could have been.
Instead of cutting back on the quality or quantity of data you work with, let a system handle data processing for you. Today, modern RMSs can collect and present all your hotel’s information in real time, 24/7.
Atomize is the perfect example for that. It presents KPIs like RevPAR, ADR, revenue, and occupancy for all properties in your cluster right on the dashboard. Scroll down a bit to see the latest pick-up data for each hotel. No more manual reporting needed! Instead, you can get straight to work strategizing.
2. Keeping a detailed performance overview of all properties
Access to your various hotels’ KPIs is an important first step. But what about comparing their performance?
If you have separate reports, spreadsheets or systems for each property that quickly becomes extremely complicated and time-consuming.
If your cluster includes different brands which have varying revenue potential that adds an extra challenge. The same applies if your portfolio spans countries with different currencies. Manually converting everything into the same denomination isn’t easy.
Again, your RMS can give you a hand. A system like Atomize offers a comparison of all hotels right in your dashboard. In a few clicks, you can filter by brand or region to drill down on the specific sets of properties you want to look at. And of course, you can choose which currency you want to view all the results in. This helps you understand each property individually and as part of your portfolio.
On top of that, it highlights which property has the greatest need for improvement right now, so you can focus your attention on the right hotels.
