A high-performance commercial team is critical to recovering faster for independent hotels and hotel groups. Plan the right commercial activities to capture more demand. Hotels that seize this opportunity to re-think which resources they need to acquire their guests and customers will be winners during the recovery and in the future.
Top management provides the framework
Top management should acknowledge the significant importance of the commercial function in a hotel. The commercial team has the complete trust to maximize the top-line of the profit & loss statement. The top management has the full responsibility to create the best circumstances for the commercial team to succeed, including the organizational structure, finding talents, providing efficient systems, communicating the overall vision and objectives, and engaging in following the progress.
When demand now starts to return, hotels have an opportunity to re-build the commercial function with a high-performance commercial team. Investments in the commercial area are crucial for the recovery of revenue. Real commercial teamwork can both increase revenue and keep customer acquisition cost to a minimum. All investments potentially have two benefits, increased revenue and cost savings.
I was recently the moderator for a discussion with two industry experts about creating a high-performance commercial team. You find a link to the conversation in the right column. We talked about five building blocks needed to make the commercial team highly productive.
1 Structure for teamwork
Teamwork is essential to succeed in the next couple of years. The size, type of hotel, market demand, and competition are a few variables to consider understanding how many and what type of people a hotel needs working with commercial activities. Every hotel is unique, so every commercial organization should be tailor-made for the specific hotel or hotel group.
2 Hire talents
The industry needs to attract talents to all commercial roles. The revenue manager is now wanted more than ever before. The most successful companies identify business-critical roles and fill these with A-level quality employees. Hotels with an A-level Commercial Team will recover faster.
3 Minimize unqualified manual work
Time is the most scarce resource. Therefore, hotels need to simplify workflows and collect valuable data to one easily accessible central location. Efficient systems will release time to build personal relationships attracting guests and customers, servicing guests better, and provide data to drive superior business decisions.
4 Create and execute the recovery strategy
A team that is aligned will reach the goals faster. Guidelines and meetings are well-tested ways to align all roles in the commercial team. Clear guidelines and few but efficient regular meetings will keep up the momentum and drive the team towards long-term success.
5 Track the progress
Reporting provides insights and communicates progress. With a sound reporting system, the commercial team will be in the driver's seat and can execute the strategy faster and more accurately to reach the hotel's goals.
More details about these five building blocks in the white paper "Create a High-Performance Commercial Team". Click on the "DOWNLOAD-button to the right and download the white paper free of charge.
