Although hotel departments have historically operated in silos, the way consumers interact with hotels nowadays highlights the increased need for consolidation into a comprehensive commercial strategy – where everyone from front office staff to revenue management, sales, and marketing are aligned towards delivering the best experiences to guests and boosting business performance.
Guests increasingly prioritize seamless digital interactions and personalized experiences, creating a demand for more efficient, integrated, and agile operations. This integration allows businesses to leverage data across functions, providing a unified view of consumer behavior that enhances decision-making and drives targeted marketing efforts.
In this article, we put the commercial strategy into context for hotels and what each department can bring to the table to improve business performance. Furthermore, we provide actionable tips for hotels to consolidate and successfully implement a fully comprehensive commercial strategy.
Why do Hotels need a Commercial Strategy?
In recent years, consumer behaviour has undergone significant shifts, and these changes are set to continue, reshaping how hotels must operate to remain competitive:
- Early Engagement: With attention spans shortening due to constant digital distractions, hotels must now capture guests’ interest much earlier in the booking process. Sophisticated digital marketing and data-driven strategies are essential to engage potential guests before they even begin considering their options.
- Personalized Experiences: Modern travelers expect personalized offerings that cater to their specific preferences, such as customized room settings and tailored communications. This demand for personalization is crucial for enhancing guest satisfaction and fostering loyalty.
- Flexibility and Security: Recent global events have increased uncertainty in travel planning, driving the need for flexible booking options and clear communication about security policies. Guests now seek the ability to modify or cancel their plans without penalties, making flexibility a key requirement.
- Seamless Digital Interactions: The expectation for seamless digital interactions has become a non-negotiable aspect of the guest experience. Guests expect to manage every part of their stay—from booking to check-out—through intuitive digital platforms, with these interactions being critical to guest satisfaction.
These trends underscore the importance of hotels adopting a unified commercial strategy that consolidates marketing, sales, revenue management, and operations. This approach ensures that every aspect of the guest journey, from the first point of contact to the post-stay experience, is aligned to meet the evolving demands of today’s travelers.
In fact, a recent study by Deloitte highlights that companies that align these functions can achieve up to 15% higher revenue growth, as they are better positioned to respond to real-time market changes and optimize pricing strategies. This shift not only boosts operational efficiency but also fosters sustained business growth in a rapidly evolving market landscape.
How a Unified Commercial Strategy Strengthens Direct Guest Relationships and Maximizes Profits
A successful commercial strategy in the hotel industry hinges on one core principle: aligning all teams around a common goal of generating the most profitable business performance. This means focusing on direct revenue growth, which is not only more profitable but also enhances control over guest relationships and overall profitability.
To achieve this, hotels must prioritize direct relationships with their guests and ensure that every department—from marketing to revenue management, and even housekeeping—is working in harmony toward this objective. However, this is often easier said than done. For instance, marketing teams may focus on enhancing the hotel’s digital presence to drive more direct bookings, while revenue management may be concerned with rate parity across OTAs, potentially undermining efforts to boost direct revenue. Such misalignments can lead to missed opportunities in capturing and retaining guests through direct channels.
The reality is that profitable revenue comes from direct bookings, which are far more cost-effective than those generated through OTAs. According to a Guestcentric study, hotels that achieve over 50% direct revenue do so at a cost of just 0,6%, compared to the 18% to 22% commission typically paid to OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia. This stark difference underscores the importance of focusing on direct revenue as a key driver of profitability.
To illustrate the impact of a unified approach, consider the example of a hotel that had successfully optimized its digital presence but was struggling with poor guest reviews due to a lack of attention from the staff. The hotel’s management implemented a new strategy where the manager held monthly meetings with all departments, including housekeeping and front office staff. During these meetings, the manager shared guest reviews and highlighted how each team’s efforts were directly influencing the hotel’s performance.
This simple change not only improved staff engagement but also transformed guest satisfaction, turning the meetings into a source of pride and celebration for the entire team. In a matter of weeks, the hotel’s ratings improved, proving that when all teams are aligned, the guest experience—and ultimately, direct revenue—can be significantly enhanced.
A unified commercial strategy ensures that hotels can meet guests’ evolving demands for personalized experiences, flexibility, and seamless digital interactions. By leveraging shared data across departments, hotels can create consistent, tailored messaging and services that resonate with guests from the moment they begin their booking journey. This not only captures guests’ attention early but also maintains their loyalty by delivering on the promises made during the booking process.
For example, a hotel promoting a special weekend package must ensure that every department is prepared to deliver the advertised benefits. If marketing campaigns are not aligned with operations, it can lead to confusion, unfulfilled promises, and a negative guest experience. However, when all teams work together with a common goal, guests receive the seamless, personalized service they expect, leading to higher satisfaction, repeat business, and positive reviews.
A commercial strategy is critical for maximizing a hotel’s profitability and strengthening its direct relationships with guests. By ensuring that all teams are aligned and focused on the shared goal of driving profitable direct revenue, hotels can optimize their operations, enhance guest satisfaction, and ultimately secure a stronger, more sustainable business performance.
5 Steps for Hotels to implement a Unified Commercial Strategy
Implementing an effective commercial strategy starts with all teams aligning around a common goal to strengthen direct relationships with guests and profits. From there, each department from housekeeping to revenue management must play their part in order to ensure the business as a whole achieves this goal. This involves several key steps, where technology plays a significant role but is complemented by other crucial practices like cross-training staff and fostering a collaborative culture:
- Harness Technology to Integrate core Business Functions: The first step is to ensure that the hotel’s core systems—such as the Property Management System (PMS), Revenue Management System (RMS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Point-of-Sale (POS) systems—are fully integrated. This is particularly beneficial for smaller independent hotels or groups with less staff, where a number of business functions will typically be managed by less than five individuals. Using technology to integrate core business functions allows for seamless data flow between departments, providing a unified view of operations and customer interactions.
- Centralize Data and Analytics: With integrated systems, the next step is to centralize data collection and analysis. Hotels should use tools that aggregate fundamental business data from various sources, such as booking trends, guest preferences, and financial performance. This centralized data hub will enable hotel management to make informed, data-driven decisions. The insights derived from this analysis can be used to refine pricing strategies, personalize marketing campaigns, and improve guest services, all of which are crucial for a successful commercial strategy.
- Cross-Train Staff Across Departments: Technology alone cannot drive a successful commercial strategy; the human element is equally important. Cross-training staff across different departments, such as front desk, housekeeping, and sales, ensures that everyone understands how their role contributes to the overall business goals. This cross-functional knowledge fosters collaboration and allows for greater flexibility in operations. For example, front desk staff with knowledge of revenue management principles can help identify upselling opportunities during guest interactions, directly contributing to revenue generation.
- Foster a Collaborative Culture: Encourage a culture of collaboration and open communication among all departments. Regular meetings between revenue management, marketing, sales, and operations teams can help ensure that everyone is aligned with the hotel’s commercial strategy. Use collaborative tools like shared digital dashboards and project management software to keep everyone informed and engaged. This collaborative approach ensures that all departments are working towards the same goals, and any adjustments to the strategy can be communicated and implemented swiftly.
- Continuously Monitor and Adjust the Strategy: Finally, it’s important to continuously monitor the performance of the consolidated commercial strategy and be ready to make adjustments as necessary. Use real-time data analytics to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as occupancy rates, average daily rate (ADR), and guest satisfaction scores. Regularly review the strategy in response to market changes, guest feedback, and operational challenges. Flexibility is key—what works today may need tweaking tomorrow, so maintaining an adaptive mindset is essential for long-term success.
By following these steps, hotels can successfully implement a consolidated commercial strategy that leverages technology while also emphasizing the importance of staff collaboration and ongoing strategy refinement. This approach not only improves efficiency and profitability but also enhances the overall guest experience.
United around the Guest Experience is the key to Hotel Business Success
In today’s competitive hospitality landscape with ever-changing consumer demands, aligning all teams into commercial strategy based on a common goal is not just beneficial—it is essential. To increase profits in today’s competitive industry landscape, the focus must be on prioritizing direct business growth.
By aligning all efforts, from initial customer outreach to check-in, the guest stay, check-out, and post-stay interactions, hotels can create a seamless and satisfying customer journey that encourages direct bookings and maximizes revenue. The key to success lies in recognizing that each guest has unique needs, but the overarching strategy should be consistent across all departments, centered around meeting these needs. This approach not only enhances the guest experience but also ensures that guests spend more during their stay, delivering the best value for their money.
Therefore, regular cross-sharing of departmental information, integrated technology, joint goal-setting, and a customer-centric approach are critical for achieving the alignment necessary to drive sustained growth and profitability.
About GuestCentric
GuestCentric is a leading provider of cloud-based digital marketing software and services that help extraordinary hoteliers promote their brand, drive direct bookings and connect with customers on all digital platforms. GuestCentric’s all-in-one platform provides hotels with the only unified solution for managing their guests’ online journey: award-winning, high impact websites; an integrated, easy-to-use booking engine; social media marketing and publishing tools; a GDS chain code and a channel manager to offer rooms on Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia, Galileo, Google, Sabre, TripAdvisor and hundreds of other channels. GuestCentric is a proud provider of solutions that maximize direct bookings to hotel groups and independent hotels from collections such as Design Hotels, Great Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels and Small Danish Hotels. GuestCentric is featured on Skift Travel Tech 250, a list of the top 250 travel tech companies shaping the modern-day travel experience.
Melissa Rodrigues
Content Manager
+35 196 157 3854
GuestCentric Systems
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