Visual Matrix is considered a pioneering property management system (PMS), because it offers more than the basic functionality you’d expect. You also get many fully integrated tools and capabilities that work seamlessly to optimize your property’s operations and your bottom line.
One of the most strategic and important tools for a busy hotelier that’s included with the VM PMS is Revenue Management LIVE!, an RMS that makes it easy to ensure your hotel is always booking at the optimal rate to maximize your revenue – no matter what’s happening in the market.
Gone are the time-consuming spreadsheets and reports. With Revenue Management LIVE!, you can choose from four different methods for setting and changing your rates based on your preferences and goals. You can also use one, two, three, or all of the options at the same time for ultimate control and automation.
The first step to using Revenue Management LIVE! is to set up your rate tiers. You’ll want to set rates for each season, weekdays, and weekends. Then, it’s all about setting the rules for when those rate tiers go into effect, using these four methods:
1. Auto Tiering – Choose this method if you want full automation. Just set up which rate tier you want to use based on your hotel’s total occupancy, and Revenue Management LIVE! will do the rest. For example, when your hotel reaches 20% occupancy, your rates will adjust automatically to the corresponding rate tier you set up for 20% occupancy. When it reaches 40%, you can specify that a new rate tier kicks in, and so on. You can also set up different tier levels based on how far in advance you can make the booking and close out rate levels when your hotel reaches a specific occupancy level.
2. Manual and Manual Enhanced Tiering — This is the opposite of Auto Tiering. With this method, you manually set rate tier levels for specific dates and room types. They stay fixed until you update or change them manually. If you use this method, you can also take advantage of enhanced capabilities that provide you with tiering recommendations based on the information you entered when you set up Revenue Management LIVE!
3. Peak Date—Want to sell at a rate that is not one of your preset rate tiers? The Peak Date method enables you to do just that.
4. BestREV/Other 3rd Party RMS – The final method for managing room rates is to integrate your VM PMS with another revenue management system, like BestREV used by Best Western.
The genius of Revenue Management LIVE! is that it provides you with a rate change hierarchy that enables you to use any of these four methods in combination simultaneously. Here’s how it works:
- Auto Tiering is at the bottom of the hierarchy. It overrides base rates.
- Manual and Manual Enhanced Tiering override Auto Tiering.
- Peak Dates override both Auto and Manual and Manual Enhanced Tiering.
- BestREV and other 3rd party systems override Peak Dates if they exist.
The cherry on top is the decision-ready data you get with Revenue Management LIVE!, like ADR, Occ %, # of Rooms, Current and Historical Data, Estimated Occupancy Forecast, Forecast Trend Adjustment Analysis, Rate History, High Occupancy Report, and an Action Log.
Next Steps:
Here’s a great how-to article, including a five-minute video, explaining more about Revenue Management LIVE! The article is one of many in the extensive Visual Matrix Knowledge Base (KB), which is open to anyone who wants to learn more.
These KB articles on the subject of revenue management may be of interest to you as well:
Setup Weekly and Monthly Rates (Cloud) 🎥
Setup Daily Room Rates (Cloud) 🎥
Auto Tier Rates Offset Tool (Cloud) 🎥
Summary History Report (Cloud) 🎥
Are you a new user of the Visual Matrix PMS and/or Revenue Management LIVE? Be sure to check out all the Visual Matrix University courses. Here are two that will help you use Revenue Management LIVE! like a pro. (Sign-in is required.)
VM Cloud – Revenue Management LIVE!
VM Cloud – Revenue Manager Bundle Courses
Lastly, click here if you’d like to schedule a demo of the VM PMS with Revenue Management LIVE! and see what you’ve been missing!