Amid labor challenges and rising costs, the hospitality industry in general has entered an era of “doing more with less”. One of the ways hospitality companies achieve this goal is to prioritize the integration of sales, marketing, and revenue management departments.

Speaking at the session “A New Framework for Converging Sales, Marketing and Revenue Optimization” at the HSMAI 2022 Marketing Strategy Summit, PM Hotel Group’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing , Lovell Casiero, said the interrelation between sales, marketing and revenue teams have transformed the way his company approaches its busy bidding season.

“Revenue Management has done a terrific job of driving our [rates], and now we have to decide if we even need a few more accounts,” she added. “So it takes a village, right? Two months ago, we decided to sweep through one of our spreadsheets and have everyone look at what accounts they currently have… to kind of understand where we’re going from there.”

Experts note, however, that achieving this level of cooperation between government departments requires understanding of the function of each and its operation.

Chris Hardy, Vice President of Sales and Revenue Strategy for Parks Hospitality Group, said during the “How to Break Down the Silos” panel at HSMAI’s 2022 Revenue Optimization for the Americas Conference that his company was expanding his training.

“We started training [our sales teams] on revenue management principles and strategy…and I think that’s really benefited our team, so we have a better understanding of how the two disciplines need to work together,” he said.

Lori Kiel, commercial director of the Kessler collection, told the same panel that her company’s departmental integration efforts led to the creation of an executive sales committee. This committee is made up of all Kessler sales managers, marketing managers and revenue managers.

“They all sit on the same committee and we meet every two weeks on Zoom,” she said. “That way all the leaders are at a table, if you will, where they can talk business, whether it’s sales, revenue, marketing, or whatever.”

And while “breaking down silos” has become a cliché in recent years, it’s a opportunity that brands should seize amid the hospitality industry’s recovery, said Michael Klein, vice president of global revenue management for Hyatt Hotels Corp., speaking on the “Post-Pandemic Evolution to Revenue Strategy” panel at the conference. HSMAI 2022 Revenue Optimization Conference Americas.

“I know that’s been the buzzword of the last five conferences, but I really think the regionalization of recovery has really opened our eyes to how we need to get through the pandemic and really made a great model for the future,” he said.

Dave Roberts, former head of revenue management at Marriott International and current professor at Cornell University, added that greater collaboration across departments is essential in the era of “doing more with less.”

“There is still a big gap [between workforce needs and available talent]”, Roberts said. “I think there is still a huge opportunity for collaboration. The silos that go down is good, but what [panelists] describe is probably not universal in the industry.

Hospitality Experts at HSMAI 2022 Revenue Optimization Conference Americas View from the Top Panel Offered tips for young hoteliers that fit into this new normal of increased collaboration.

“Earlier in my career, I used to come up with a way forward and say, ‘OK, that’s the right way to do it. To this day, I think some of the things we’ve tried to do are still the right way, but if the industry is going in a different direction – everyone who works for me has heard the saying “You’re all alone in Rightsville “. So you may be right, but if you stay there all alone, it doesn’t do you any good. You’ve got to move on, you’ve got to let go,” Aimbridge’s executive vice president said. Business and Revenue Strategy Andrew Rubinacci.

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