ShareIf you’ve ever thought that you need to get a handle on data analytics but have no idea where to start — you’re not alone. Mastering analytics was one of the priority issues HSMAI Organizational Members identified at Spring Curate 2018, because while it’s never been easier to collect information about hotel guests, rates, booking patterns, and more, figuring out what to do with it can be overwhelming. So start with the basics. 
HSMAI’s new Best Practices Guide: Data Analytics — Hospitality Sales and Revenue Management offers practical case studies in lead qualification, reporting, performance analysis, benchmarking, and search performance — from some of the industry’s premier thought leaders. Each best practice was originally presented at HSMAI’s Analytics Think Tank, held as part of the 2018 Revenue Optimization Conference, and further developed for this Best Practices Guide. Here are select takeaways:
Lead qualification: From ZS Associates — “You can drive significant revenue by acting on insights from your company’s own data that is readily available to you.”
Reporting: From Nor1 — “We’ve been treating customers the same when it comes to pricing, when in actuality people will respond differently to different prices.”
Performance analysis: From The Kessler Collection — “It’s not about the value of the business, it’s about the profit that it will bring to the hotel.”
Benchmarking: From Interstate Hotels & Resorts — “Since the Pulse Report doesn’t provide the specific number, we get as close as our eyeballs see it from the graph data. With this visual snapshot, we created calculations to quantify the revenue needed to close the gap and the approximate RevPAR index for each ranking.”
Search performance: From Cendyn — “It’s not one-size-fits-all. You really have to understand your markets and your customers, and in order to do that, you have to your data centralized. This will allow you to create smart, obtainable goals for your organic search performance.”