By Juli Jones, CAE, Vice President, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)
How are you, as a revenue leader, coaching team members on how to deal with a potential downturn in the market, which many of them have not faced? HSMAI’s Revenue Optimization Advisory Board (ROAB) tackled that question at its annual retreat and identified 8 strategies that they are employing in their own businesses:
- Define and differentiate between an economic downturn versus a decline in demand.
- Increase communication both internally and externally by defining KPIs and knowing the source of your information in order to know how much to trust it.
- Provide a guide for best practice levers you can pull once you’re sure it is a downturn.
- Look beyond pricing to manage through a downturn (i.e., find new business).
- Read case studies and white papers based on the past.
- Train employees — focus on influencing, storytelling, instilling confidence, and making strategic decisions going forward.
- Use new metrics — don’t chase an index that might not be truly valuable.
- Plan for different scenarios.
The advisory board also discussed emerging trends. These issues and more will be addressed at HSMAI’S ROC on June 16-17, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas.