Over the past few months as we transition back to what we hope will be a full trading recovery my phone has been busy with General Managers, Stakeholder and Business owners asking me how they might restructure their sales marketing and revenue functions within their business .

This is set against a backdrop of reduced team size in many cases, challenges in recruiting new talent and a weighting in many hotels towards increased leisure activity in their hotel or resort . Such a change in business mix and segment performance means that a certain level of realignment needs to happen in every business. This realignment may not be permanent but instead I recommend that you review every 6 months or so to ensure that it is fit for purpose .

One thing  we can be sure of is that no one structure  fits all, instead every business needs to build a team structure that will support and help the business achieve what their business goals and objectives are . Each business already has an experienced skill set and knowledge base within their existing team . The key question is How can you leverage that knowledge and business intelligence to support your business goals  now that your business has changed ? What skills sets do you need to build or strengthen within the team ? Do you need to engage with external resources or training supports to mitigate any deficit of skills in your hotel ? 

As you go about this change process and restructure here are a few pointers to guide your planning:

• Plan for both the short and the long term.
• Leverage and review your technology schema to optimise revenue to remove process and allow you focus on priority items.
• Understand the expectation of the leisure guest in terms of guest personalisation and service levels pre, onsite and post arrival.
• Focus on how you can develop ancillary revenue opportunities.
• Keep the guest journey very central in all your planning.
• Be Easy to do Business with!

If you are thinking of making changes in your team and would welcome some advice please drop us a line.

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