Posturing for success: Three innovative strategies to revolutionise your hotel’s revenue potential
With competition fiercer than ever it’s clear hoteliers need to think strategically to get ahead
From economic uncertainty to global disruptions, hoteliers have faced no end of challenges to maximising their earning potential – especially under increasing pressure to drive efficiencies and reduce costs.
Competition is fiercer than ever before amid skyrocketing guest expectations – and it’s clear hoteliers need to think strategically to get ahead. Crucially, time is of the essence: acting quickly can help you gain a competitive edge within a crowded market.
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While technology and data analysis – alongside the use of hotel specific software products – can be key differentiators in expanding revenue potential, it’s important to uncover innovative strategies to put them to good use. With several possible ways forward, here are some recommended approaches that will help you position your business for success.
Dynamic pricing
For the hospitality industry, dynamic pricing – adjusting room rates according to various factors such as location, trends or competitor pricing – is now pretty much table stakes. However, there is a way to up the ante to rise above your competitors using access to data insights that inform personalised pricing.
Essentially, the more the price is tailored to the guest, the better. For example, an understanding of the individual guest’s willingness to pay can contribute to pricing parameters, alongside other guest data, reservation history, and past purchase behaviour. This not only maximises revenue opportunities, but also helps improve the guest experience.
Tailoring your pricing in this way requires exceptional visibility across every single department – and every customer – via a single source of truth. Cloud-based hotel management software can provide properties with the transparency they need to make more informed decisions, particularly in regard to generating income.
Upselling and cross-selling
Upselling now goes beyond introducing paid add-on services, like adding a bottle of pinot grigio to a stay or charging for premium breakfast options. There are multiple alternative ways of diversifying revenue streams, such as offering wellness experiences, or partnering with local businesses to provide discounts on restaurants or theatre shows.
Having access to the right data can help hotels offer the right upsell or cross-sell opportunity to the right customer. For example, understanding why guests are staying can be influential. If they’re a small group visiting for a business meeting, then you might offer a discount on an upscale restaurant, whereas a family of four may prefer a relaxed fast-food joint.
On top of this, hotel executives should look to leverage hotel management software in more innovative ways. For example, they could provide tablets inside rooms for guests to browse and book local experiences, giving them autonomy over their stay while collecting essential data – and of course, increasing revenue.
Automation
Having the ability to do more with less is critical for driving revenue growth. Introducing automation can streamline tasks where possible, increasing efficiency and freeing up staff time.
At an operational level, this could look like automated housekeeping scheduling leading to improved room readiness. This then increases the opportunity for early check-ins or late checkouts – provided to the customer for a fee.
Automation can be implemented in myriad ways beyond day-to-day operations. Automating personalised offers or discounts can encourage spending while improving the guest experience, while automated loyalty programs can track guest preferences and automatically apply rewards, encouraging repeat bookings and increasing lifetime value. Feedback requests can also be automated, contributing towards continual service improvement.
Focusing on the guest experience is particularly effective. Collinson research shows 83% of consumers would stay loyal to brands that offer travel related rewards and benefits as part of their customer engagement programme, demonstrating a direct link with revenue increase.
