You’re a fabulous revenue manager already, we’re well aware of that.
But our industry moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could stop learning, improving, and building on your existing expertise!
So check yourself against these 5 key skills that work in perfect harmony to make the perfect revenue manager. Perfect already? No harm in scanning through anyway for a quick refresh.
Love a good stat, me
A born-revenue manager loves their numbers and statistics. Data analysis is such a vital part of the role so is arguably the one you need to invest the most time on. It also demands constant learning and development because systems are being frantically refined, updated and remodelled, so pay particular attention to this area in 2019.
Communication says it all
Learning decent communication skills does not just a good revenue manager make. They translate into every part of your life and strengthen all kinds of relationships – professional, and also personal and potential. But enough about real life! Refining how you relate to your various colleagues as a revenue manager means, for example, you’ll be able to aptly train more junior team members in a way that makes them trust you. It also means you’ll be able to present back to your GMs and Directors, persuading them to see why they should buy into your plans and point of view. Both just as important, but as you can see, they require very different methods of communication.
Want to brush up on your skills? Take a look at some pointers here.
Know-it-all
We live in the age of information! It’s become expected that we all become unquestionable experts in our fields, and not fall into the trap of being millennial ‘masters of none’. For yourselves, the important thing is making sure you don’t silo your knowledge right down to the rooms you’re trying to sell. You need to see the hotel as one whole entity and make sure each department’s strategy links back to an overall strategy. Each department has the same goal, it’s just the way you’re selling services differs depending on the audience. Identify how you can drive incremental revenue by being aware of how the spa, gym, or F&B outlets work, and how you and your colleagues can benefit from this.
As well as knowing your hotel and the wider industry inside out, you need to understand what makes your customer tick. What compels them to buy? Why do they buy when they buy? What makes them pick one hotel over another? What device are they buying on? Consumer behaviour is evolving all the time, keeping yourself in the know is essential.
Ask why, but why, but why?
Curiosity is what gives us life! Our natural urge to be aware of our ever-changing surroundings is why our brains evolved to release dopamine when we came across something new. OK so, it’s not a hidden island off the coast we’re discovering, but being proactively curious in your role will give you a great sense of satisfaction and will help you to continue developing. Why is that particular statistic up or down on last year? Why is the rate-plan not mapping to the channel manager? Keep asking why throughout 2019.
Excel nerd alert!
Let us leave you with this; being an excel nerd, whiz, magician, whatever – is goals! Ramp up your excel knowledge this year and be proud of your ninja-like abilities. Need some help? There’s lots of online resources available that are worth looking into.
