REPORT FROM THE U.S.—The act of managing a revenue-management meeting might not be the most exciting part of a hotelier’s day-to-day operations, but it could be the most important, sources said during a Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International webinar.
The meeting should play a critical role in setting revenue-management strategy at the hotel, but too often attendees leave the meeting feeling it wasn’t worth their time, experts said during the webinar Tuesday titled “How effective is your revenue meeting?”
“If your revenue meeting is very, very good, it can be one of the most important areas of your whole effort,” said Bonnie Buckhiester, president and CEO of Buckhiester Management.
Buckhiester said one common problem she sees with revenue meetings today is that participants focus on tactical issues instead of strategy. “I think our meetings need to become more strategic in nature,” she said.
Revenue managers should begin the meeting with their end goal in mind, which is to optimize demand, she said. That will help keep the meeting focused on strategy, Buckhiester said.
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Bonnie Buckhiester |
Dana Cariss, corporate director of revenue strategy at Destination Hotels & Resorts, agreed. He said it’s important to avoid a “data dump” during the meeting. Often, one of the people attending the meeting will get caught up on a single data point, which can significantly slow the meeting down.
“That puts the conversation into a tactical conversation and … it becomes very prone to tangents,” Cariss said. “It completely derails the flow that may have been created.”
Meeting leaders need to be creative in how they present information and get attendees involved, he said. The leader also should come prepared with a few key discussion points to get the conversation moving.
“Too often I think we find ourselves in the situation where we kind of do things the way we always have.”
Best practices for meetings
The webinar participants outlined what elements make for an effective revenue meeting.
Anja Fiedler, regional director of revenue at Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, said first, the meeting should be well organized.
Fiedler suggested a fixed meeting schedule that should be circulated to meeting participants a day in advance so everyone has a chance to digest the information.
“Starting off with a core, consistent agenda is a way to keep the focus on action items,” she said.
Cariss said the ideal meeting length is about an hour, and invites should be limited.
“The more people sometimes the less clear things get and the more prone the meeting will be to tangents,” he said.
Buckhiester said pitfalls to avoid during the meeting include:
- repetition;
- too much focus on the property;
- too much onus on the revenue manager;
- inconsistent participation; and
- decisions being made in a “silo.”
Instead, Buckhiester said areas to focus on during the meeting should include:
- a discussion of the general marketplace;
- a look at the demand landscape from the property’s perspective; and
- a discussion of sell strategies.
“At its core, the meeting should be collaborative,” Cariss said. “When you don’t foster a creative environment, things get very one directional.”