Hotels realize that there is a need to change the old siloed organization with marketing, sales, and revenue management in separate departments. This way of organizing commercial work is not efficient and not cost-effective. There must be a better way to align the team members and organize commercial work in hotels. Let's start by looking at what commercial work is in hotels and then at some benefits.
The definition of commercial work in hotels
Commercial work in hotels focuses on attracting guests and customers to stay in the hotel and selling as much as possible to them during their stay. It is all about optimizing revenue to maximize profit. The commercial work includes short-term activities and building a long-term sustainable brand.
Working in silos creates more work for the general manager
When marketing, sales, and revenue management work in silos, it produces many challenges:
- Lack of coordination: When these departments are not working closely together, there may be a lack of coordination and communication, which can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. The lack of coordination pushes coordination to someone else, often the hotel general manager.
- Conflicting priorities: Each department may have different priorities and goals, leading to contradictory approaches and objectives. This can make it challenging to develop and implement effective strategies. Again, the conflicting priorities cause a lot of trouble for the hotel general manager, that has to act as a mediator.
- Ineffective use of resources: Working in silos can also result in the duplication of efforts and the inefficient use of resources, as each department may be working independently without considering the actions of other departments. Ultimately, the general manager responsible for producing a healthy profit will have to explain the effect of inefficiencies to owners.
- Poor customer experience: When marketing, sales, and revenue management are not working together effectively, it can lead to a poor customer experience. For example, if marketing promotes a particular amenity or service, but sales and revenue management are unaware, it may be difficult for guests to book or access it. Poor guest experiences lead to bad reviews, creating more problems for the hotel general manager.
For the hotel general manager, it is essential to ensure that marketing, sales, and revenue management are working closely together in one team to avoid these challenges and maximize the effectiveness of their efforts.
The general manager benefits from having a commercial team in a hotel
There are several benefits for the general manager to having a commercial team in a hotel:
- Increased revenue: A commercial team can focus on driving the hotel's revenue through attractive offerings, marketing, and sales. This help the hotel generate more revenue and improve its financial performance.
- Improved customer service: A commercial team can also focus on providing excellent customer service, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth marketing. This help the hotel attract more guests and maintain a strong reputation.
- Enhanced efficiency: A commercial team can help streamline and optimize various marketing, sales, and revenue management processes, which can improve the overall efficiency of the hotel.
- Competitive advantage: A strong commercial team helps the hotel stand out in the marketplace and gain a competitive advantage over other hotels.
- Clear priorities: The general manager can align the team toward the same overall goals to avoid having to solve conflicts and coordinate the work.
Overall, hotels with a commercial team will become more assertive in marketing, sales, and revenue management, making life easier for the general manager.
Align the team toward the same goal
Unfortunately, it is not just to merge the three departments and give the new department a new name. The general manager must point the commercial team in the right direction by setting goals aligned with the overall company goals. Aligning a commercial team toward the same goal brings several benefits, including:
- Increased motivation and engagement: When team members understand and are invested in a common goal, they tend to be more motivated and engaged in their work.
- Improved communication and collaboration: When team members work toward the same goal, they are more likely to communicate and collaborate effectively.
- Greater focus and productivity: With a shared goal, team members can stay focused and productive rather than becoming sidetracked by individual priorities or competing agendas.
- Enhanced adaptability: A shared goal gives the team an objective to work towards and makes it easier to make decisions and adapt to changes in the working environment.
- Greater sense of accountability: When team members work toward a shared goal, they are more likely to hold one another accountable for their contributions and performance.
- Better overall results: When the team works together effectively and efficiently, they are more likely to achieve the desired outcome.
The benefits above sound fantastic, but to achieve them all, the general manager needs to put a lot of effort into creating and setting engaging goals that the team can reach.
Give the commercial team the right resources
Equally important is to give the commercial team the right tools and systems to enable them to work as a team. The ideal solution is to find a system that would fulfill the needs of every role in the commercial team. There are several benefits to using one system for all commercial work in hotels:
- Improved coordination: A single system can facilitate better coordination and communication between different roles, such as sales, marketing, and revenue management. This can help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and that all efforts are aligned.
- Enhanced efficiency: Using a single system can also improve the efficiency of commercial work in hotels, as it can streamline processes and eliminate the need for multiple systems and platforms.
- Better data management: A single system can also provide a central location for storing and managing data, making it easier to track performance, analyze trends, and make informed decisions.
- Increased profitability: By improving coordination, efficiency, and data management, a single system for all commercial work can help hotels increase their profitability.
Overall, using a single system for all commercial work will give the general manager complete control by having real-time access to dashboards and reports.
Demand Calendar for the commercial team
As the CEO of small hotel groups, I have always worked closely with all commercial roles to grow revenue and maximize profits. This was a while ago, but I still remember that I lacked a system that could coordinate all work and efforts so we could grow revenue faster by capturing more of the market. That is how the idea of one system for the commercial team came up ten years ago.
Demand Calendar is a powerful, all-in-one system designed for commercial teams in hotels. With over 100 marketing, sales, revenue management, and reporting functions, it's the perfect solution for small groups operating 5-30 hotels. Using Demand Calendar, customers have reported a significant market share and revenue increase. In addition, the system streamlines data collection from various siloed systems in hotels, saving valuable time and allowing teams to focus on growing revenue and profits. With intuitive, insightful, and interactive features, Demand Calendar is the key to success for any hotel looking to optimize its performance and increase its bottom line.
With Demand Calendar, the hotel group CEO can rest assured that the commercial team is aligned and efficient and will bring in the revenue to produce a healthy profit. The best part is that the CEO and the top management team have a complete overview of the performance of the hotel group and each hotel in real time.