Disclaimer: My music tastes below are for illustration purposes only
Robbie Williams, for me, is the Revenue Manager of the hotel world. Used to be part of a bigger team, then went solo and became one of the most important rockstars on the planet. For a few years he came out with contribution after contribution that always landed. The expectations were high for him to perform and he did just that. When the future was uncertain, people looked to him for where things were going next. A trailblazer for the ages.
Roll on a few years and there are lots of Robbies … all doing a similar thing and not many new ideas are coming through. Although still a valuable member of the overall industry it is all becoming a bit predictable and a bit stayed.
To be fair his best days are probably behind him and I am not sure whether he will be able to reinvent himself. The oldies were great at the time but the new stuff really isn’t pushing any boundaries. There are only so many times you can hear the same anthems.
Not good for a rockstar or indeed a Revenue Manager.
I wrote a previous article in which I said Revenue Managers were the rockstars of the hotel world … and they have been for many years. But every now and again a new rockstar comes around the corner: is the time of the Revenue Manager on the centre of the stage under those beaming spotlights coming to an end?
For me, there is a new kid on the block. Enter Harry Styles.
Harry is the Data Analyst of the hotel world.
With access to the same realm of information he is able to reinterpret it and take a fresh look at the industry with new and creative ideas. He is able to do wonderful things with the notes available to all others. This is because of his experience, skillset and natural talent.
A New interpretation of existing sounds = new insight
Having worked with many different industries since heading up the team at Full Circle Data I am more convinced than ever that THE game changer for the hotel industry is generating actionable insights from data analytics.
With the death of the third-party cookies, first party data (where we collect data on customers that have direct interactions with us) is the only game in town. But hotels should not despair, not only do we have access to so much richer first party data than many other industries but more importantly we have the operational intelligence to make use of it. All we need is the alchemist to change raw data into actionable insight, the success of our industry is so predicated on the opportunities it provides.
But let us be very clear.
This is not an increased responsibility creep for the Director of Sales & Marketing (by the way those roles are completely mutually exclusive and should never be seen in the same title!) or indeed the Revenue Manager. This is a specialist role for a particular set of skills which can transform the whole operation of the hotel not just increase revenue.
I have been around long enough to see the hotel industry being late to the party for many revolutions.
Aggregators got the run in the industry because hotels were still deciding how employee names should look before the @ sign on email addresses.
The airlines and car hire firms have always led in Revenue Management and we just try to keep up.
Think about hiring a Harry (or Henrietta) and how they could revolutionise your whole business by delivering actionable insights to transform your hotel from the data assets you already have.
Let’s not be laggards this time. And this time is now.
Specialising in Hospitality and Retail, Full Circle Data is a creative data agency that drives revenue optimisation through data intelligence and predictive modelling.
We use data to help you understand your customers better and predict their behaviour to increase your revenue. At Full Circle Data we believe that, used properly, data can bring amazing insight to your business, and more importantly inform your sales & marketing strategy to give a greater return.
For more about us please visit https://www.fullcircledata.ie
