Mantra for data management: mine, manage and find meaning

Efficiently managing data and analytics is a big job, but Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts is finding a way forward.

The best way to set realistic expectations is to start with a business problem and then figure out how data and analytics can help to solve it. This could be a current business problem which could be improved by a new data stream, or a past problem that couldn’t be addressed because the right data couldn’t be accessed.

Not all hotels are the same, but EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta caught up with Devdutta Banerjee, Director Revenue Management at Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts about his approach managing any amount of data.

EFT: When it comes to being data-driven, how mature are hotels today?

DB: The maturity of hotel companies using data is obviously at different levels. Fortunately this is not necessarily a factor of how large a company is, but more related to the organisational philosophy of the hotel company. As we see a greater number of success stories from across the world towards data-driven marketing, more and more will we see the shift towards data holding a central stage in decision making.

A few things stand out:

-        Size matters but it’s not everything: Typically, a hotel chain that has access to larger databases would be able to understand trends and use these much faster than stand alone hotels. That’s the rule of thumb, but beware of making generalisations.

-        Adapt as quickly as possible: The other factor to consider is that with the speed of information availability growing exponentially, newer and younger chains have the ability to adapt faster to change than was possible in the past. So a younger organisation could immediately make the most of some of the available data analysis technology, rather than going through all the steps that larger organisations may have had in the past.

EFT: How competent are hotels at capturing all the essential data points in each transaction?

DB: If one were to look at the hotel industry as a whole, one may say that technology adoption is not that high when compared to some other service industries. However, that is changing as we speak and most hotels are now moving towards capturing as much data as possible. This has also changed quite a bit due to the fact that hotel ownership trends are changing from individual or family owned to being owned by financial institutions and investment companies. This in some sense has helped the cause for hotel companies to become more ROI focused and thus the need for capturing data and then using it towards effective marketing.

EFT: How can hotel companies benefit from being data-driven? Can you list any business use cases today?

DB: Data is now at the heart of every business and hotels are no different. In our part of the world, relationships are stronger and this then creates a stronger point towards creating a stronger emotional bond with customers. Having a data driven philosophy clearly helps us in all aspects of business; from identifying new opportunities to new markets, consumer benefits, manpower planning, sales efforts, PR and so on. These are some of the common uses.

An interesting example is a hotel company that tweaked its design and television programming based on forseeing growing demand from a certain geography. This led to greater guest satisfaction and higher demand from business emanating from these new markets.

EFT: When it comes to decision-making, what sort of data is required on a daily basis? Can you cite few examples?

DB: Data is the basis for every decision. One cannot stress this point enough. The only factor that people need to keep in mind is that data needs to be looked at from two perspectives:

-        Internal pointing data and external focused data, need to be looked at and both need to be brought to convergence when one looks at deriving business sense. One cannot forget any of the dimensions while understanding data.

-        The other point in data driven decision-making is that one needs to be careful about an old saying: “Correlation is not necessarily causation.” Understanding and deriving meaning from data is as critical as mining the data.

My mantra for managing any amount of data is: simple, standard, secure.

EFT: Any set of data needs to be turned into actionable recommendations. How can you achieve this?

DB: Data is a means to an end. If the end is not achieved, one would not be in a position to get buy-in from any level of the organisation. Using data to drive business decision-making and sharing wins and learnings from failures is extremely important. Not all decisions are going to give you results. The important part is to accept the fact that the data is not incorrect, but our understanding of the data or its interpretation might need improvement. Very often we face a situation in organisations where errors in interpretation lead to giving up. That in my mind is the biggest challenge that organisations face.

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