2011 SALES, CATERING & REVENUE CONFERENCE Climbing to New Heights 2011 SALES, CATERING & REVENUE CONFERENCE

Revenue Management – Top 10 Is Revenue Management a one-person job? If you use Rev for Hire, does that mean you can leave it up them? Who is the Chief Revenue Officer for your hotel? YOU! As the Chief, your job is to Maximize the Intelligence of your Revenue Team.

Pick 5 Of the Top 10 3 you likely already do; 2 you know you should do, but don’t; 5 will be new take-aways for you to implement on your return Of those 5, even if only 1 produces results and gives you a competitive advantage – you’ve come out of this session ahead of where you came in. Now imagine if all 5 worked for you!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE TOP 10? drum roll please…

Get to know your TPI Reps. They should be your best friends. Number 10 Get to know your TPI Reps. They should be your best friends. They control inventory placement on their sites; They play favoritism; They know the hotels, the rates and the top players in the market. If they like you, they will share it with you. Have a monthly call and a quarterly personal visit with each. Buy them lunch – befriend them.

Number 9 Know what’s happening at the competition… beyond Rate View and Market Vision. Sign up for email promotions Take “Adopt a Hotel” to the next level Sign up for Google Alerts

www.google.com/alerts

Review your forecast at the end of the month. Number 8 Review your forecast at the end of the month. What segments did you miss? Why? How did your “in the month” pick up compare to last year? To previous months? What about pick up by segment? How did your channels perform? What do you need to do differently?

Number 7 Improve your ADR by improving your process for selling upgrades at check in… Use photos of upgraded room types at the desk Track & incent your staff consistently and publicly Make upgrade fees more reasonable at check-in Fluctuate your upgrade fees by day of week, season and bed type. Even $5.00 extra for a slightly better room, that would otherwise sit empty, helps your bottom line.

Number 6 Track your no-show, early departure and cancellation fees on a daily or weekly basis. How does it compare to the previous year? Previous week? Share it with front desk & accounting so it is top of mind Don’t allow staff to take the “path of least resistance” and waive fees to avoid conflict – unless it’s really necessary Can you move to a tighter cancellation? 4pm instead of 6pm? 24 hours instead of 4pm?

What are your guaranteed no show revenues? Do you know? Most of you fall between .5% and .7% of total room revenue and average $25k. Doubletree Memphis ran 1.11% of total room revenue at $95k. How much can $95k help YOUR bottom line?

Squeaky wheel gets the oil. Number 5 Know your call center statistics and hold your brand or call center accountable. Average speed of answer? % of abandoned calls? Call conversion %? How do our stats compare to the center’s averages? Shop them regularly. How do they fade? What other hotels to they recommend? How do they answer tough questions? Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Number 4 Set Advance Purchase Rates OUTSIDE of your core booking window. Look at your booking window trends. At least 50% of your business = your core booking window. Set your Advance Purchase rate to close as that booking window opens. Don’t leave profitable dollars on the table.

Maintain a Competitive GRC Number 3 Maintain a Competitive GRC As you lose business to a competitor or hear a competitor has booked a group, track it on a GRC. Note booked date, how many rooms and group name. When you are setting rates or bidding on other business, you can look at it to see what business your competitors have on the books already, to help you know how to bid Also a great tool for prospecting for need dates by tracking dates booked.

Example… June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Marriott National Assn of Bull Riders, 25 rooms peak, 60 total   Hilton Medtronic, 10 rooms peak, 20 total Cirque de Soleil, 30 rooms per night flat, $59 Sheraton Wells Fargo, 50 rooms per night AYSO Soccer Tourney, 65 per night Hyatt Westin Am Lung Institute, 150 rooms peak, 350 total AYSO Soccer Tourney, 75 per night

Pay better attention to your “opportunity window”…3-7 weeks out. Number 2 Pay better attention to your “opportunity window”…3-7 weeks out. We look especially closely at pricing within two weeks but frequently don’t give the same scrutiny to this opportunity window. Are you frequently raising or lowering rates as you get within two weeks? Do it sooner, you’re losing business! The aggregate of denials over this period adds up beyond your realization. Add up your denials for this time frame on a weekly basis. Use it as a means of comparison week after week to understand your pace, and how pricing changes affect this booking window.

Revenue Management goes beyond rooms. Number 1 Revenue Management goes beyond rooms. ROGR–Revenue per Occupied Group Room (catering/room rental) RevPSF – Revenue per Square Foot RevPAS – Revenue per Available Seat – How do your meal periods compare? What about days of week? Banquet Room Occupancy – which rooms have highest demand? Charge more. Which rooms sit empty? Find a better use for them. Total Revenue per Room Sold

Calculating ROGR Year Quarter Total Group Rooms Banquet (group) revenue ROGR 2007 Q1 2394 $ 33,303.00 $ 13.91 Q2 2641 $ 56,052.00 $ 21.22 Q3 4332 $ 37,868.00 $ 8.74 Q4 3361 $ 65,663.00 $ 19.54 2008 3607 $ 20,245.00 $ 5.61 3861 $ 58,666.00 $ 15.19 4339 $ 25,614.00 $ 5.90 2988 $ 42,334.00 $ 14.17 2009 2694 $ 33,340.00 $ 12.38 2201 $ 45,122.00 $ 20.50 Q3 F 3646 $ 29,850.00 $ 8.19 Q4 F 3608 $ 66,651.00 $ 18.47

How do you implement the Top 10? Methodically. Take one idea at a time and implement it well. Measure success and move to the next one. Use a rifle, not a shotgun. Two ideas implemented in full is better than five ideas half-completed.