Revenue management expert Bianca Spalteholz focuses on the interplay between technology and the human factor.
At a time when companies are increasingly relying on sophisticated technologies to optimize their business processes, revenue management is facing new challenges. Bianca Spalteholz relies on a balanced interaction between technology and human expertise; a sole dependence on software solutions is not sufficient in the medium and long term.
A consulting specialist speaks the language of both the software suppliers and the hotels
Everyone in the hotel needs to understand the pricing processes. A hotel's core system should therefore be set up accordingly right from the start. Among other things, this requires standards that also show new employees the right way to use the system.
In a digital environment, software integration or replacement must therefore be carefully prepared. Many software companies can help with this, but when it comes to support, the willingness to help often stops: "Then you need a knowledgeable consultant specialist who speaks the language of the various software suppliers as well as that of the hotels.
After one year, data hygiene is a thing of the past
The use of software initially leads to more basic structure as well as to better data hygiene, because digital handling already requires predefined steps when entering a reservation. Unfortunately, this is often not guaranteed with the 'software heart' of the hotel - the hotel management system," says Bianca Spalteholz, owner of Spalteholz Hotelkompetenz.
Often it is over after one user year with the planned data hygiene. At the latest with the first wrong inputs or data overlaps the support telephones of the software offerers run hot, which understand themselves however actually as software support and not as user coaches. With any software - whether PMS, WBE/IBE, POS system, SPA software or table reservation system - the following questions are relevant: Who is the user of the software, what previous knowledge is required, what connections with other systems are known and what goals are being pursued.
Where should a serious revenue management software start?
The "heart" of the hotel, the Property Management System (PMS) or the hotel management software, should first be understood by the operational management of the hotel. It should know what data is collected, extracted and evaluated in the PMS. Bianca Spalteholz adds, "You wouldn't believe it, but there are still hotels where sales are delivered in the daily manager report, but there is no indication whether they are gross or net figures and no information about which outlet generated which sales. There are no sales splits available because all prices are created as total sales prices without splitting. And this in times of different VAT rates. There is also no proper master data such as market segments or source and channel codes. There are guest files, but no travel agency or company files. Where should serious revenue management software go to generate additional revenue?"
The future of revenue management requires synergy of technology and human expertise
The next and also the most important user group of the PMS is the reservations and front office team. If the system is not set up with mandatory fields, then often only the most rudimentary guest data ends up in the system. The reasons can vary. One is that employees often have far too little time in their day-to-day work or are not trained well enough. The sense of correct data entry should therefore be explained to everyone, and sources of error eliminated. In conclusion, Bianca Spalteholz emphasizes that the future of revenue management requires a synergy of technology, artificial intelligence and human expertise. Companies that are able to harmoniously combine these elements will be able to successfully compete in an ever-changing competitive environment.
Kommentare