Following a recent E Symposium we were asked to summarise some useful hints and tips that participants could take away with them.
This is what we put together on the subject of Channel Management, and how a hotel can improve its online sales.
Appoint a Revenue Manager
As more of a hotels business moves online, the function of a Revenue Manager has a large influence on a hotels profitably, it should be undertaken by an experienced or at least willing employee.
Revenue Manager has goals
Its hard for a Revenue Manager to do their job without carefully thought out targets and goals. It is difficult to know if increasing or decreasing a room rate is the right thing to do. Is occupancy important or average room rate? etc.
Start Practicing Demand Management/Rate Flexing/Yield Management
Hotels know that they have to reduce rates midweek winter and increase them summer weekends. However because of the webs power to compare hundreds of hotels in seconds, the correct rate in comparison to your competitors is critical.
Use a Channel Manager
Originally developed to save Revenue Managers from having to spend time updating rates and availability on booking engines one at a time, one of the surprising side effects appears to be an increase in room sales, due to rates being optimized more often.
Sign up to the most popular Booking Engines
If you have a Channel Manager connect to as many channels that you can, so long as there are no sign-up/yearly fees, and you do not have the work of managing these channels.
Set up 5 basic room types on all channels
Many hotels believed that it is only worthwhile putting twins and doubles online, but in fact online the single is very popular (due to corporate bookings) as is the treble (due to social demographics). Set up singles, doubles, twins, trebles and families and reserve more sophisticated room types for the hotels own website 'Seaviews etc'.
Develop a 'first name' relationship with the Booking Engine Account Manager
The OTA's know their own systems best. Contacting them always results in some useful information. Do you know what is selling well on Booking.com currently? (Advance Purchase). Do you know how to sell well on Expedia when viewers or booking rooms and flights together (set up a separate 'Package Rate' etc)
Audit/Check your listings
In our experience a check on a properties listing on the different booking engines will almost always reveal potential improvements. Out of date photography, hotels located in the wrong towns or location, and most commonly not listed at all due to contract problems.
Hope that helps!