Innovative Ways to Increase Revenue in 2021

As the recovery of the hospitality industry begins to take shape, maximizing the revenue from each guest—generating higher revenue per occupied room—should be a top priority for hoteliers. This will require some innovative thinking.

The sales and marketing department is responsible for generating demand (click here for how to do that); the revenue-management team manages demand; human resources leaders are accountable for employee happiness, which increases guest spend (click here for how to do that); and it’s the role of the entire executive team—possibly with the help of an independent consultant —to maximize the revenue from each guest in-house. Why not increase the share of wallet that goes to your hotel instead of to another welcoming restaurant, bar, or hotel?

How Do You Increase Share of Wallet?

Traditional approaches involve training the concierge and bell person to share their own experiences of the on-property restaurants and spa when guests inquire; they could also describe a specific entrée or spa treatment they recently enjoyed.

Tapping into current customer sentiment offers opportunity as well. Meetings and events are starting to show signs of returning in Q4 of this year, and all indications are that 2022 could be a banner year for this segment. After months and months of remote working and connecting with colleagues only via Zoom, it’s only natural that there will be a resurgence in teambuilding activities and enhanced networking events.

How can your hotel monetize these activities by keeping them in-house and creating an even greater revenue opportunity?

Are there areas of the hotel that are outdoors or, better yet, close to nature, that can be repurposed for a premium event experience? Is it time to review your function-area rental charges or maybe even reconsider off-site catering as an option?

These are 3 ideas to consider. There are a lot more ways to keep customers inside the property bubble and increase your hotel’s share of the wallet. It will make the customer happy, since it’s easier to coordinate events with just one person at the hotel who handles everything.

Good luck brainstorming with your team on other ways to encourage your customer to stay on site, and let me know how it goes!

Turn every employee into a salesperson by providing them first-hand experiences and as well as tools for them to share with every guest. Stay on top of trends, and then brainstorm with the team on ways to implement them or innovate to maximize the revenue from each guest. It will probably motivate the team while you’re at it!

"Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way." – Tom Freston

Hire Jo-Anne to:

• Turn all your employees into revenue drivers.
• Convert your organization so it can thrive during constant change.
• Engage a trusted advisor for consultation and recommendations.
• Conduct a deep-dive review of your sales and marketing organization.
• Remove silos and other barriers to employee productivity.
• Support your leaders with leadership coaching.
• Create a healthy organizational culture.

If you would like to hear more, simply reach out to Jo-Anne at
[email protected].

About Jo-Anne Hill

Jo-Anne is an industry expert who founded JH Hospitality Consulting to help hotels around the world dramatically improve revenue and profitability in creative ways. Her strategic thinking, skill, and practical approach to problem-solving come from hands-on experience at companies such as The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel Group, the Dorchester Collection, and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts.

Jo-Anne’s recently published book ‘Cultivating Leadership: How great leaders make a difference, one hotel at a time” dives deeper into the equation: happy staff = happy guests = more money revenue.