Get Their Hands Out of Your Cookie Jar!

The Lightning Round is a signature program at HSMAI’s ROC event — giving six revenue optimization executives just six minutes and 40 seconds each to share a best practice, strategic insight, or big idea. At ROC 2019, Roy Madhok, CRME, CHIA, vice president of revenue management for Real Hospitality Group, focused on getting “cookies” — i.e., extra fees — in a Lightning Round presentation called “Get Their Hands Out of Your Cookie Jar!”

KEY TAKEAWAY: According to Madhok, hotels don’t charge enough fees, partially due to their fear of low guest satisfaction. Airlines, on the other hand, raise billions of dollars in fees every year. Madhok recommended charging fees for cancellations, no-shows, and early departures, and suggested recording each fee on a separate line to keep it straight. “Remember,” he joked, “a cookie a day keeps the monster [the director of revenue] away.”