“Without data you’re just another person with an opinion” - William Demings
“Turn data into information, and information into insight.” – Carly Fiorina
Data is everywhere and has become a commodity of its own making. Data is being collected, mined, analysed and even sold. Without the correct tools and strategies to utilise data, its value simply evaporates. A good analogy would be to compare it to a perishable asset (think your hotel room); what could have been worth its weight in gold not only becomes a missed opportunity, but potentially a huge cost.
One illustration of this comes from a study performed by MIT Sloan School of Management professors Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson in conjunction with the MIT Center for Digital Business*. In this study they discovered that among the companies surveyed the ones that were primarily data driven benefited from 4% higher productivity as well as 6% higher profits. Having good data enables companies to increase their revenues, spot trends, fine tune operational efforts and most importantly be able to make the right decisions. This helps companies to become more efficient and adapt to the surrounding environment.
The world is changing so fast around us that it is basically in a constant state of flux, meaning we need to be prepared to leverage the data we have to make the best informed decisions we can. Even the seemingly smallest decisions can make or break companies. So given what we know about how effective data driven decisions can be, why is it that so many companies out there are still not willing to invest in the right tools to enable them to take their data and turn it into information that defines their actions?
At Pace, we recently launched Pace Analytics, the first in the Hospitality Tech industry to fully integrate a business intelligence (BI) engine in our Revenue Platform. This has allowed us to plug into the data rich PMS’s of our customers and collect, compile, enrich and effectively visualise data in our platform. Our customers are empowered to engage with relevant data at the right time to assist with critical decision-making. These “nuggets of gold” can then be distributed to key decision makers with a few clicks of the mouse all on a programmed schedule. Note that the recipients of these BI insights don’t even need access to our platform to receive them.
At Pace, we all share a conviction that revenue management should be data-driven, not opinion based. Covid-19 has already shown us the underlying cracks many hotels were covering up. Only the hotels that adapt and use good data for informative decision-making will make it out on the other side stronger than before.
To see what Pace Analytics can do for you please look here and reach out to us for more information.
[1]Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, “What Makes a Company Good at IT,” The Wall Street Journal