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One of the most challenging aspects of yield management is finding an accurate benchmark against which to measure your own performance. Aspirations are one thing; an ambitious owner of a midscale asset in Cleveland, Ohio, might dream of attracting the rates as the Four Seasons in New York, but trying to fit those lofty goals within the demands of the real world can prove as misguided as trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole. A wiser route would be to back up your competitive set selection with solid data from STR Analytics.
Start with your feet firmly planted in reality
The first step is to accurately assess your position in the market. This requires some honesty. Even if your four-year plan requires an extensive renovation of your hotel, judge your current offerings as they are now. What is the state of your asset? What amenities do you offer? What is your primary base of business? Answering these and other questions with national comp set statistics provided in STR Analytics’ US Comp Set Study will help you understand the overall US comp set landscape and offer insight into good comp sets vs. bad comp sets.
Identify your true competitors
After examining over 36,000 US and European comp sets, STR Analytics realized that 50% of the readers reading this will likely decide they indeed have good comp sets; and they might be correct. Regardless of which half you’re in ask yourself the following: Does each hotel deserve its slot in this set? Are there any outliers? Am I able to make sound decisions based on reports using data from this set? Of course most hoteliers don’t have the entire STR database to help them answer these questions and help develop strong sets, so STR Analytics has created a Comp Set Suite of products and services to offer unique data-driven intelligence.
Don’t get discouraged by what you find
Having indentified your true competitors, now you can accurately benchmark your performance. But don’t get discouraged if those initial findings put you below the market index average. Instead, see it as an opportunity to address weaknesses and begin stealing share. If your hotel is not able to achieve a relatively strong set because of lack of supply or other factors, STR Analytics’ Comp Set Suite can help you understand your set and how you fit within it. This in itself can have a huge impact on performance perspectives and positioning strategies.
Trust the data
Worse than getting discouraged by the data is ignoring it altogether. The numbers don’t lie. If STR Analytics’ statistical mComp report (part of the Comp Set Suite) reveals your hotel is only receiving 80 RevPAR index, dismissing the results isn’t going to help you regain share. Only by embracing the numbers and taking the proactive steps required will you begin to outperform your competitors—or at least get your fair share of market demand.
Summary
Navigating your performance against a weak and/or outdated competitive set is akin to wandering in the dark without a flashlight. But utilizing the above tips (and help from STR Analytics’ Comp Set Suite), you will have data-driven confidence to make smart decisions and be better armed to steal share in your market and eventually outperform your competitors.
Contact
STR Analytics
concierge@STRanalytics.com
About STR Analytics
STR Analytics’ Comp Set Suite offers progressive products and services to help you through comp set creation, evaluation and correction processes from start to finish. For more information and samples, please email concierge@STRanalytics.com
