I started my profession when placing “huge information” in your bio was sufficient to get you invited to keynote trade occasions. There was a way that the extra information you had, the higher you had been. In the present day, as you learn this, I’m positive you may have a desk piled excessive with reviews and an inbox full of knowledge, but nonetheless have robust challenges to unravel—so the promise that information can resolve all the things clearly hasn’t turned out to be true.
Nonetheless, I’m positive you’ve additionally seen circumstances the place information has unlocked efficiency and profitability. So, how do you identify if information is working in opposition to you or for you? Listed below are key issues to be careful for:
- You’re not seeing the entire image. Information works in opposition to you once you aren’t amassing it the precise approach. Completeness and recency matter. Flawed or biased information units must be recognized early, equivalent to visitor satisfaction scores from surveys that solely seize the opinions of completely happy friends, or staffing fashions constructed on pre-pandemic demand patterns. With out fixing this, information creates false confidence. Bear in mind: Rubbish in, rubbish out.
- Your numbers look good till you see what’s potential. On stage on the NYU IHIF convention, one of many high resort asset managers informed me what retains him up at night time: a resort outperforming final 12 months’s outcomes or its present compset, but nonetheless falling wanting its full potential due to current renovations that considerably enhanced the visitor expertise and will justify larger charges. Context and depth of knowledge assist keep away from this. A quantity in context can inform a narrative, drive motion, and push the boundaries of what’s potential.
- You’re profitable a sport that doesn’t matter. Self-importance metrics exist in each trade, however particularly in hospitality. I see this in departments throughout properties and firm sorts around the globe. Putting an excessive amount of inventory in social media followers and web site visits. Celebrating excessive occupancy with out contemplating charges, visitor spend, and profitability.
- Your groups are working onerous, however in numerous instructions. Information works in opposition to you when it pulls you in a unique course than different groups it’s good to be collaborating with. That is associated to the purpose above, however doubtlessly a good larger drawback as a result of it’s typically more durable to see. The resort trade has been plagued for years by misaligned incentives. One workforce optimizes for top-line income, whereas one other focuses on bottom-line earnings. Fortuitously, we’re seeing extra alignment throughout our trade on profitability, however that is nonetheless one thing to be careful for. If advertising and marketing campaigns, room pricing, and staffing choices aren’t constructed round widespread objectives like profitability, you received’t obtain the outcomes you possibly can.
- You might have extra reviews than outcomes. Information works in opposition to you once you spend an excessive amount of time interacting with the information and never appearing on the insights it gives. Resort leaders at the moment are monitoring dozens of KPIs, from gross sales and income to power utilization to labor scheduling to visitor satisfaction scores. With out a great way to course of all of it and act on what issues most, this could result in evaluation paralysis. Information is a method to an finish, not the tip itself.
From main information initiatives over the previous 15 years with resort groups around the globe, I’ve seen that information actually can ship on the promise of saving time and driving profitability. However it’s good to keep away from these widespread pitfalls to get there. Take a recent take a look at how your information is collected, analyzed, and used. Ensure the information behind your resort enterprise is about up in a approach that helps you make choices, align your groups, and drive earnings.
