Synching RMS, CRS, and Distribution for Pricing Precision

Introduction - You have the best pricing strategy in place. You have even implemented pricing automation. Last edition we talked about it. The power or AI; Machine learning and how it is imperative to maintain market share and profitability. Having a powerful RMS is not enough. You also need a reliable central reservation system (CRS) that can distribute your rates and inventory across all your online and offline channels, ensuring consistency and accuracy. Without this integration, you risk losing revenue opportunities, creating customer dissatisfaction, and wasting time and resources. In this edition, I will share why it is important to harmonize your tech stack and ensure that your RMS and CRS are working in tandem to optimize your revenue strategy.

The Connectivity Imperative: RMS and CRS Integration

A disjointed tech stack is a silent revenue killer. If your RMS and CRS are not in perfect sync, you may face several issues, such as:

Rate disparity: Your rates may differ across different channels, leading to confusion, distrust, and lost bookings from potential customers who may find a lower price elsewhere, impacting rate consistency.
Overbooking: Your inventory may not be updated in real time, resulting in selling more rooms than you have available, causing operational headaches, compensation costs, and negative reviews.
Missed opportunities: You may not be able to react quickly to market changes, competitor actions, or customer behavior, leaving money on the table or losing market share.
Manual errors: You may have to rely on manual processes to update your rates and inventory, which are prone to human errors, inefficiencies, and delays.

To avoid these problems, you need a seamless connectivity between your RMS and CRS, so that your pricing strategy is echoed accurately across all distribution channels.

This means that your RMS and CRS should be able to exchange data in real time, using a common language and format, and following the same business rules and logic. This way, you can ensure that your rates and inventory are always aligned, consistent, and up to date.

One of the benefits of using a sophisticated RMS is that it can automate your pricing decisions based on real-time data and market conditions. This means that your RMS can adjust your rates and inventory dynamically, according to changes in demand, competition, seasonality, events, and other factors.

This way, you can capture more revenue opportunities and optimize your occupancy and RevPAR.

However, when you implement pricing automation, the volume of price changes will be much higher than what you have today.

Depending on your market and business model, you may have to deal with 10 to 100 times more price changes than before. This poses a challenge for your CRS, which has to digest and push those rates to the different distribution systems without any lag or loss of information.

If your CRS is not capable of handling such a high volume of data, you may face very complex issues

Critical Connections: RMS-CRS-Distribution Synergy

But having a seamless connectivity between your RMS and CRS is not enough either. You also need to ensure that your distribution channels are in sync with your RMS and CRS, so that your customers can see and book your rates and inventory without any friction or discrepancy. This means that your RMS, CRS, and distribution channels should work together as a cohesive system, creating a synergy that maximizes your revenue potential.

To achieve this synergy, you need to consider the following factors:

Channel mix: You need to choose the right mix of distribution channels that match your target segments, markets, and goals. You also need to monitor the performance and costs of each channel, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Channel management: You need to use technology that can connect your CRS with multiple distribution channels, such as online travel agencies (OTAs), global distribution systems (GDS), metasearch engines, and direct channels. You also need to ensure that such technology can handle high volumes of data and transactions, and provide reliable and secure connectivity.
Channel optimization: You need to optimize your presence and visibility on each distribution channel, by using effective content, images, reviews, ratings, and promotions. You also need to optimize your conversion and retention rates, by providing a seamless and personalized booking experience, and by engaging and rewarding your customers before, during, and after their stay.

The Strategy in a connected eco-system

You also need a clear and coherent strategy that aligns with your hotel's goals, market conditions, and customer segments.

And you need skilled and experienced revenue managers who can oversee and orchestrate the different technology systems, and intervene when necessary to make adjustments or decisions that require human judgment.

Your revenue managers are the conductors of this tech orchestra, and they need to have a deep understanding of how each instrument works, how they can harmonize together, and how they can create a symphony of sales that resonates with your target audience.

By combining the power of technology with the expertise of revenue managers, you can create a synergy between your RMS, CRS, and distribution channels that will enable you to reach and convert more customers, and to maximize your revenue potential.

You can also reduce the risk of human error, inconsistency, or inefficiency, and free up more time and resourcesfor your revenue managers to focus on strategic planning and innovation.

Syncing your RMS, CRS, and distribution channels is not just a technical solution, but a strategic vision that can transform your hotel's performance and profitability.

Conclusion

In summary, syncing your RMS, CRS, and distribution channels is essential for achieving pricing precision and revenue optimization.

By integrating your technology systems, you can ensure that your rates and inventory are always accurate, consistent, and up to date across all channels.

By creating a synergy between your RMS, CRS, and distribution channels, you can leverage your data, insights, and automation to reach and convert more customers, and to maximize your revenue potential.