Throughout our history, our mission has been the same. We want to make revenue management so user-friendly, insightful and profitable that you wouldn’t dream of doing it any other way.
A pioneer and global technology leader, IDeaS offers industry-leading revenue management solutions for business of all types and sizes in the global hospitality and travel industries.
Tell us about your task on your current position?
I lead the Asia region for IDeaS Revenue Solutions in terms of Account Management. My team and I are responsible for the commercial partnership with all our existing clients that have headquarters in Asia. I have the pleasure of working with a great team of individuals and more importantly clients. My team ensures we are aligned to assist our clients in their growth, initiatives and ultimately exceed their targets. Luckily IDeaS isn’t looking at the status quo; IDeaS is constantly innovating and a lot of our innovations are sparked from directions, conversations and goals of our clients in which we want to help them accomplish making our job exciting to participate in as they grow and succeed in their specific initiatives.
About your company.
IDeaS provides technology to hospitality and travel organizations to help them maximize their revenue and enhance productivity. We started as an airline ticket-pricing technology company and expanded into hotel booking and parking. We serve more than 18,000 clients worldwide across 145 countries, and we’ve been in business for over 30 years. Our goal is to transform data into intelligent decisions that empower organizations to achieve their revenue goals.
What are the most common reasons that hotels still hesitate to adopt a revenue management system (RMS)?
Many hoteliers hesitate to implement a revenue management system (RMS) because they do not understand its benefits and believe it will replace their jobs. However, an RMS isn’t meant to replace a hospitality professional. The solution provides insights and time-savings that help hospitality professionals perform even better in their roles.
Why is it important for hotels to use a revenue management system?
Hotel rooms are like plane tickets. If you lose the customer because the price is too high, lose revenue when the price is too low, or don’t sell the room at all, that profit potential disappears forever. It’s a very short window and you get one chance to win.
This is why revenue management is vital to the hotel industry. A revenue management system will gather the data and insights hospitality professionals need to make informed decisions, predict future demand with accuracy, fine-tune strategies, and maximize profits.
Furthermore, a revenue management system boosts productivity and maximizes revenue because it eliminates the busywork and tactical chores that bog down many hoteliers. This allows them to dedicate more time toward strategizing and improving other areas of their business.
What does “revenue optimization” mean, and why is it essential when considering a revenue management solution?
“Revenue optimization” refers to systematically balancing supply and demand to maximize revenue while accounting for risk in current and future market conditions. Essentially, revenue optimization focuses on managing and adjusting pricing, inventory, demand, and distribution channels based on data feedback to ensure organizations make the most profit with each business opportunity.
Revenue optimization is crucial because it accounts for the many factors that go into making an informed business decision. Businesses must consider the demand, available rooms, historical rates, and customer expectations to effectively price a room. And pricing decisions often need to be made quickly to capture the right customer through the right channel at the right time.
Revenue management systems gather data from all necessary facets to ensure you don’t miss out on an opportunity to earn more revenue or capture business.
This article dives deeper into how revenue optimization benefits hospitality organizations.
How do you convince the hotel management or owner that your revenue management system focuses on analytics and information that produce meaningful results?
While the benefits of an RMS are clear, it can be difficult to convince your colleagues that an RMS is worth the investment. To convince your company’s stakeholders that an RMS is worth the cost, focus on the benefits. After all, organizations that use an RMS see a 7 to 20% increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR) plus an average 2 to 7% increase in profit margin, according to Deloitte. Additionally, Hotel Tech Report found that teams equipped with an RMS save about 20 to 40 hours of time per month. That’s half a week to a full week of work.
Selling an RMS to your colleagues works best when you recruit influential advocates for your cause. Ask yourself, ‘Who is a senior-level member in my organization that I can recruit to advocate for an RMS?’ This sponsor should have a direct line of communication with the stakeholders in charge of making the final decision on an RMS. Once you have your sponsor, consider finding another advocate or two if possible. Finding these additional advocates will allow you to refine your business case and identify weak points in your argument.
To discover twelve proven steps for pitching an RMS to your colleagues, check out the following resource: 12 Essential Steps for Pitching a Revenue Management System (RMS) to your Colleagues.
More aspects that you need to highlight around your revenue management solution.
Revenue management systems are more critical now than ever since we’re seeing a boom in hotel bookings following the lockdowns of 2020-21. An RMS will help you take advantage of every potential booking that goes along with the increase in demand.
Despite the comeback, today’s market isn’t the same as the one we knew before 2020. Revenue management helps you work through the new changes and challenges your business encounters. Let’s say your hotel relied on group business bookings, but now that demand has dried up since people are working from home, you need a new way to compensate for this change in demand. Revenue management uses data to strategize ways to make the most of existing business and find new, untapped opportunities that your organization can make the most of.