In hotels, revenue management and marketing are two sides of the same coin. Revenue managers are responsible for demand control. They know when and where demand is expected and needed. Marketers are responsible for demand generation including campaign strategies, guest relationship management and loyalty programs. Each department holds key pieces of information about demand that, when integrated and analyzed, produce incredibly valuable insights about demand patterns, product preferences and purchase behavior.

Instead of working well together, problems inevitably flare up between these departments. Misaligned goals and poor communication result in situations where marketing, with a goal of generating demand, sends out discount promotions that dilute rates during peak periods. While revenue management, trying to maximize revenue, closes off promotional rates meant to encourage stays from the most loyal guests. These conflicting activities damage revenue performance and guest relationships.

During the economic downturn, traditional playbooks were thrown out of the window. Without excess demand to control, all departments in the hotel were forced toward demand generation, working together to understand where demand could be sourced and to build pricing strategies designed to encourage bookings.

Finally, the role of the revenue manager is evolving from tactical inventory management to have a more strategic demand management focus. As a result, marketing data and analytics have become even more critical to maximizing revenue while staying focused on maintaining price position within the market.

Often, it’s these departments that lead the charge to create a strong analytics culture. They must continue to share key information and move toward an automated, integrated environment. Key to that environment are Customer Analytics and Revenue Management technologies that help hoteliers promote higher guest satisfaction, stronger relationships with valued guests, and increased revenue and profits.

I’d like to hear about your experiences with this integration. What is working for you and what isn't? What successes have you seen through better cooperation?

I’ll join a panel at this month’s HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference in Austin and hope to see some of you there. We’re discussing the Future of Business Intelligence, including emerging data sources and how best to access and use them. Let me know which issues you’re facing and I’ll be glad to share my feedback as well.