SALES & MARKETING
action on the most valuable data sources needed and reassigned how our time was invested . We transformed our tools to give minute-by-minute visibility across 140 hotels . This visibility was not just for our hotels , but for our regional teams and asset groups alike . There was never a more appropriate time to build the plane after take-off and this required a total team approach .
As our business intelligence toolbox took shape , we pioneered our next-generation strategy deck . The hard work during the pandemic resulted in new ways to communicate , as well as faster ways to execute our plans . The methodology used also applied to our new-build assets , having created the space to open more than 10 hotels over the past two years , while focusing on the results needed during the ramp period . It was the quintessential ‘ do more with less ’ focus . We are seeing the results as we emerge from the storm and are staying well positioned to perform in all business climates .
LORI KIEL chief revenue and marketing officer , The Kessler Collection , Orlando , Florida
We had already removed the silos from the individual disciplines and were now driving on a three-lane highway where everyone respects their lanes and guardrails and knew how to merge into each other ’ s lanes without causing a collision . I realize it ’ s a quippy analogy ; however , it is absolutely why what we did worked .
We had the misfortune , like many companies , of having to lay off hundreds of employees , and in sales , marketing , and revenue , we went from a staff of 81 people to 13 . The determination on who to keep was founded on who could easily merge between the three disciplines . We needed cross-trained people who could think outside their lanes to solve for all .
We not only came out of the pandemic on top of our competitive sets , but we opened two new hotels , an entertainment district , and converted one of our Autograph Collection Hotels into an independent . In every single instance , we were winning .
As we have come out of the pandemic , we have also paved a road that looks to the future , not the past , to determine the forecast and strategy for tomorrow . I hear many industry colleagues note their dependency on 2019 . But 2019 is merely a history lesson , and you will find no better analytics in looking at 2007 ( the year before the recession ) or 2000 ( the year before 9 / 11 ). The way we do business has changed . The way we work has changed . The way we spend our time and who we spend it with have changed .
The most creative tactic you had during the pandemic was to rely on everything you ever learned and use it as a resource , not a rule . As we advance into 2022 , 2023 , and beyond , you must do the same . This is the very definition of revenue management ; take the science and use it artfully , and you will be rewarded in revenue .
THE DETERMINATION ON WHO TO KEEP WAS FOUNDED ON WHO COULD EASILY MERGE BETWEEN THE THREE DISCIPLINES . WE NEEDED CROSS-TRAINED PEOPLE WHO COULD THINK OUTSIDE THEIR LANES TO SOLVE FOR ALL .
– LORI KIEL , THE KESSLER COLLECTION
90 hotelsmag . com June 2022