What motivates a potential guest to book a room at your hotel vs. your competitor’s property? Interpreting this is the key to hospitality revenue management, a concept which has revolutionized the hotel industry. The consumer’s ability to shop and compare room rates online has generated increased competition for price and value. Yet, thanks to modern tools and technology, the relationship between pricing and booking is relatively easy to measure and decipher… and guest behaviors have become increasingly more easy to predict. It all boils down to understanding, anticipating, and influencing customer behavior, with the end goal of driving ROI for your hotel.
Understand
your consumers’ buying habits and what prompts them to make a purchase. This is key to selling a room to a guest at the right price. Invest in technology and tools that help you study guest purchasing habits. For example, the SkyTouch Hotel OS® platform features technology that allows hoteliers to utilize the Best Available Rate (BAR) pricing strategy in order to respond to changes in the market and maximize revenue. Once customer data is collected and analyzed, it is simple to assess these findings in order to craft an effective revenue management strategy.
Anticipate
your guests’ behavior in order to sell and distribute room inventory. Use tools at your disposal to forecast demand and establish pricing that favorably impacts your bottom line. Realize that different segments of guests are willing to pay different rates under various circumstances. For example, a typical guest is more likely to pay more for a room with a view or a higher room rate during a high seasonal demand? Business guests may be more likely to shell out more for a room (on the company’s dime, naturally) than your more price-conscious leisure travelers. As you collect and monitor guest data, patterns will emerge that will help you understand and adapt to guest habits and preferences in order to guide revenue management.
Influence
customer behavior by presenting potential guests with pricing that is most likely to entice them to purchase at a price that works for your bottom line. Be sure to keep your pulse on targeted customer habits, industry trends, and competitor promotions in order to implement pricing and promotions that will draw potential customers to your brand while ensuring profitability.
Understand your customer. Anticipate their habits. Influence their purchasing decisions. In doing so, hoteliers will unlock the key to hospitality revenue management in order to achieve ROI.
