In this article we discuss four pervasive myths and replace them with a simple operating system for commercial performance: one strategy kernel (a single, shared choice set), two distinct roles (a Commercial Strategy Lead and a Revenue/Profit Systems Lead), one-page decision briefs (no slides, faster approvals), and a guest-first operating model that creates perceived value before it sets price.
NB: This is an article from Demand Calendar
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What you’ll get is practical, not theoretical: a way to make faster, better decisions that lift NetRevPAR, keep CAC under control, and improve flow-through – without adding meetings or headcount. If your current cadence produces long updates and few commitments, this playbook will replace noise with clear choices, owners, dates, and measurable outcomes.
By the end, you’ll have a shared language for strategy, a cleaner division of work, and a repeatable mechanism to turn insight into action in days – not quarters.
Kill #1: “The spreadsheet RM can just become a strategist”
What to kill
The automatic promotion path from reservations → RM → “strategist.” Being brilliant at fences, pace reports, and rate plans does not equal strategic leadership.
Why it fails
Strategy is a choice architecture, not a reporting skill. It’s about which guests you will win, what promise you’ll deliver, how you’ll monetize (channel/economic model), and where you’ll allocate scarce resources. Most Revenue Managers have been rewarded for precision in the present (forecast accuracy, fence logic), not for making and defending future-facing trade-offs across marketing, sales, operations, and finance. Expecting a spreadsheet specialist to “scale up” to a cross-functional strategy, without redesigning the job, creates role confusion and leads to slow, conservative decisions.
Install instead: two distinct tracks.
Commercial Strategy Lead (GM or Commercial Director)
- Owns the big choices: target guest, positioning, channel architecture, product/packaging roadmap, and the 3–5 year economic model. Accountable for coherence across sales/marketing/ops and for price integrity via perceived value.
Revenue/Profit Systems Lead (modern RM)
- Runs the engine so strategy moves quickly and profitably: data pipelines, automation guardrails, CAC discipline, experiment design, profitability analytics, and the weekly execution cadence. Escalates only genuine exceptions; retires manual reporting.
Together: strategy decides where and how to win; systems make it fast, measurable, and repeatable.
Quick wins (implement this month)
- Publish role charts and stop referring to the Revenue Manager as “the strategist.” Make the new mandate explicit.
- Launch a rotation plan (marketing, sales, ops, finance) for anyone aspiring to strategy; require a portfolio of decisions made, not tenure in Excel.
Kill #2: “We have a strategy for everything”
What to kill
Strategy sprawl: the never-ending “pricing strategy,” “distribution strategy,” “OTA strategy,” “social strategy”… Each mini-“strategy” spawns its own deck, KPIs, and owners – until nothing aligns.
Why it fails
Proliferation dilutes accountability and breeds conflicting playbooks. Teams optimize their slice, not the business as a whole. You get motion without momentum.
