When I began my career in the hotel industry I worked in the sales department. I was very competitive and was always very keen on making sure that all my leads got all the required hotel rooms and meeting rooms for their events. I made sure that my guests were always delighted that they had their event in our hotel. All these efforts meant that I was always in constant debates and arguments with the director of room or the banquet director.
Revenue management culture was not really a concept practiced during my days as a sales person. So the procedure then was “first come first served”. Whoever comes in first with a lead gets the required hotel rooms and meeting rooms. If you happen to arrive seconds later, tough luck! Even if your lead had a potential of bringing in more revenue you would need to wait until the first lead released the block.
I worked as part of the sales team for a 5-star MICE hotel. I brought in a lead from one of my top pharmaceutical producers for a group of 30 people. They required 30 single rooms for 3 days and 2 nights and a meeting room for the same number of people that would last for 2 full days. When I went back to the hotel, I was very eager to block the guest rooms and the meeting for my VIP group. We were in the middle of the peak season at that time, and I was a bit worried that I would not be able to give them their required guest rooms. Luckily, there were still rooms left for the dates they required.
Next I had to block the meeting room. Alas! All rooms bar our grand ballroom were taken, and I had to break the bad news to my client. Then, since no one was using the grand ballroom, they asked if we could just put some dividers up so they could utilize a small portion of it. I thought this was awesome! I could still confirm the group and this would add to my quota for that month.
I eagerly explained the situation to the banquet director and she immediately dismissed this idea. She did not want to do it since it was not possible to turn on the lights and the air conditioning in just a small portion of the grand ballroom. She explained that accepting this group would entail a huge cost for the hotel since she needed to switch on lights and air conditioning for the whole grand ballroom. I immediately reported to the hotel owner and explained the situation and he, of course, chose my side as he was only focused on getting the revenue as well. In the end, I was given the meeting room and my guests were very delighted.
Thinking about this incident now that I have fully embraced a revenue management culture, I feel ashamed of my actions. I should have also taken the cost of every transaction into consideration. Analyzing group trends is also key in order for hotels to effectively yield not just any revenue, but the right kind of revenue.
So keep this in mind next time you are so eager to sell your product or services.
