REVENUE MANAGEMENT – MAKING YOUR BUSINESS WORK FOR YOU

I have been actively managing revenues and inventory in hotels and golf courses for over 30 years and it never ceases to amaze me, how many facilities still operate without a #revenuestrategy, with some even abdicating all responsibility of selling and managing their inventory to a third party. In this series of posts I will be sharing some of my experiences and thoughts on the steps necessary to develop a successful revenue strategy and implement it within your business.

For the doubters, be assured #revenuemanagement is not about discounting or relying on third party resellers. It is quite the opposite. Successful revenue management is about creating pricing integrity and managing distribution across your business including #membership , so that your customers trust your business and products, ensuring you maximise your profitability through selling at the right price and the right time to the right people.

You may be of the view that if all tee times, memberships or range bays are sold and headline prices are being achieved, then you have done a great job. In the absence of anything else this may be a reasonable assumption, but without a plan, how do you measure success and just as importantly, empower your team to make the right decisions every time. Do you allow them to discount for fear of losing the sale, or do you maintain pricing regardless, allowing the tee time or membership to remain unsold?

You may equally believe that revenue management is all too much of a faff and that you are doing very well without it, so why bother? For a small number that may be the position, but as we look to enter challenging economic times, most operators will need to consider how they ensure they are not overtaken by increasing costs and waning demand. Managing your tee sheet , membership and accommodation more effectively is both a relatively painless and a sensible way to ensure the long-term success of your facility.

So where to start? The good news is that revenue management is not new. Airlines have been doing it since the 70’s and it is now ubiquitous in many events, subscription or restricted inventory businesses, so there is plenty of analogous information out there. In a single product business (i.e. a standalone pay and play golf course), revenue management can be relatively straight forward, however, there are very few golf or hotel facilities that match that description today. Once you add in additional services, membership, societies, food & beverage, spa, accommodation and range the plan becomes more involved and the requirement for a well thought through and costed strategy becomes imperative. Over the coming weeks I will take you through some of the steps you can take to create and implement your strategy. Follow for more, or contact hotelgolfresortexperts.com today and start building your plan. #hotelmanagement#golfbusiness#golfmanagement#golfindustry#businessadvisory