Ep. 16: Revenue management do’s and don'ts, with Aditi Verma.

TravelHotels

Jul 14

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Picture this: we’re in Texas Hill Country at a resort that’s co-owned by George Strait. The chef’s prepared a spread of tomahawk steaks, barbecue shrimp, and we’re playing around with Instagram’s new boomerang feature. It’s November 2015. A simpler time, maybe?

4 years before that, Aditi Verma, who had been working for Northview Hotel Group since 2011, befriended me on one of my first days on the job. We became fast friends with a common love of travel, hotels, and our families.

Aditi and I worked closely to create and execute marketing and revenue strategies for a dozen hotels and resorts from coast to coast. She was my partner on weekly revenue calls, monthly marketing calls, and an ally when it came to getting hotel GMs on board with our playbooks. I also admired how Aditi balanced work and life from her home in Orlando, which sometimes meant bringing her son Rishi on the road to our property visits.

I’ve learned so much from Aditi over the years. Today, Aditi’s role has grown from Director of Revenue to VP of Revenue Management for Northview Hotel Group.

Before working with Northview, Aditi worked as Director of Revenue Management for Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, a 1,400 room, four-diamond convention resort generating $180 million in revenues annually. Aditi has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Delhi University in India and an MBA from Rollins College in Florida.

Aditi and I traveled together to the hotels in Northview’s portfolio. In Telluride, we rode the gondola and plunged into a $2 million outdoor pool that looked out across the San Juan mountains. On Jekyll Island we got lost biking out to Driftwood Beach, between branding sessions for the hotel.

Working with Aditi made it incredibly easy to track results, prove the effectiveness of campaigns, double down on what was working, and also shed things that weren’t. We ran campaigns that generated six figure revenues in 72 hours or less, we launched new websites, we cleaned up booking engines, and we trialed everything from TripTease to FlipKey. Looking back now, those were the good old days.

Aditi is a numbers person, who could back up just about any recommendation with a spreadsheet, constantly measuring results and optimizing for the best ROI. Whenever I’m planning a trip, and a hotel lists seasonal, flat rates, I always think of Aditi on her laptop, adjusting rates weekly—if not daily—based on supply, demand, and the comp set. Aditi’s world isn’t just revenue management, it’s revenue maximization.

The ability to understand and adapt to change has never been more important. There’s no denying that the pandemic has disrupted the hospitality industry, and revenue management can make the difference of whether you’ll sink, or swim.

Aditi is the revenue leader you wish you had on your team, and she’s joining me today to share her knowledge. So how have things changed today? What’s working in terms of revenue management, and what needs to be shed? What are some of the mistakes hotels are making, and how can they self-correct? Should we be tossing out OTAs all together? What’s the right cancellation policy? We’ll learn all this and more on today’s episode.

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I always learn so much from Aditi when it comes to revenue management. My key takeaways were:

How Aditi took some time to reflect on the recovery period after 2008—how it took years to come back to pre-2008 rates. She’s thinking two steps ahead this time around. If you drop your rates by 30 or 40% now, it will be that much harder to get back to your pre-pandemic rates.
Also, when it comes to rates—to Aditi’s point—lowering them isn’t going to convince someone who is afraid to travel, to come stay with you. This downturn is much different than 2008. The human element and the pandemic are the reasons people aren’t able to travel now. So while the gut reaction to loss in business might be to drop rates, Aditi warns against this. Guests are not price shopping right now, they’re biding their time until it’s safe to travel again.
When Aditi looks to the future, and talks about the recovery of meeting and events business.I think that’s where hotels need to be innovating. How can you rethink your meeting space and make it that much more flexible?
Brasada Ranch is a great example of thinking a few steps ahead, and launching a summer stay package that hit all the marks and then some, and effectively sold out summer by providing everything guests could ask for in the midst of a pandemic, and then took it further to ensure safety for everyone on property. I think Brasada is one to watch when it comes to out of the box thinking. I’ll be very curious to see how they might reimagine meeting and event spaces in the near future.
Finally, when it comes to OTAs, I liked how Aditi referred to them as a “necessary evil.” Use them for the billboard effect, get your name out there, but remember that even the OTAs are going to have a hard time bringing in bookings, because the “lowest rate” isn’t really the deal maker, or breaker anymore.
Instead of leaning on the OTAs, hold onto your rate and focus on your guest experience. Aditi talked about word of mouth being the number one source of business right now—that makes a lot of sense. Make sure that what you promote and promise in your marketing efforts matches what you deliver in the guest experience.

So, where do you stand? Have you dropped your rates? Leaned more heavily on OTAs than perhaps you should have? There’s still time to self-correct. Use the resources in front of you. Communicate your protocols, policies, and plans on social media and engage with your audience. Instead of spending marketing dollars trying to find new customers, nurture your past guest list. Email them, and communicate your new normal and what they can expect on property.

As always, keep sharing your stories.