If the general manager is the captain of the hotel ship, the director of revenue needs to be a strong first mate. The GM and the director of revenue need to forge a close working relationship based on mutual respect, trust and communications. Of course, it isn’t always that easy to create a perfect partnership.
Often, it depends on the background and tech savvy of the GM. Some old-school managers either don’t have an interest or experience in software-based revenue management systems or don’t trust the effectiveness of the discipline. Other, younger GMs fully support the efforts of the revenue strategy team and appreciate their input on the overall marketing, performance and distribution goals of the property.
In a best-case scenario, the director of revenue reports directly to the GM, rather than the director of sales and marketing. The priorities of the sales and revenue teams don’t always align so it’s important the GM—the person with the final say at a hotel—take the advice and guidance from the revenue director and then focus on executing an overall strategy to the sales and operations teams.
While a good director of revenue must at times be a risk-taker, he or she must also ultimately rely on data to guide decisions and recommendations. And, at times, those data-driven decisions should trump considerations the marketing team might have regarding client relationships. It’s a fine line everyone on the team must tread.
In addition to necessary analytic skills, revenue managers often need the power of persuasion to communicate their short- and long-term strategies. That stream of communications extends from executive staff meetings to one-on-ones with the GM and other staff members. Of course, the RM often encounters other strong personalities in a hotel or company. It’s the role of the director of revenue to be persuasive enough and have all necessary data and knowledge to be able to convince the GM toward a specific tactic or strategy.
It’s important for everyone in a property to be on the same page. When that happens, it gives the director of revenue the confidence to be involved in candid discussions when he or she knows the general manager is absolutely behind their efforts, even when they don’t always agree on all aspects of a strategy.
While weekly revenue strategy meetings with the GM are standard for most hotels, the RM is often asked to provide additional updates, sometimes daily, to the GM—and sometimes the DOSM—on a variety of topics: pace, weekly and monthly forecast, competitive intelligence and more.
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