We’ve witnessed success from hoteliers and hospitality professionals alike who prioritize a data-driven culture. Our Hotel Moment podcast dives into those success stories, and it’s from those conversations that we bring you four tips from industry leaders who have grown their business by prioritizing the data they collect.

Because every hotelier wants to build a “dream team.” A highly functioning, unstoppable staff, unmatched in driving revenue and facilitating memorable guest experiences.

The answer to this hotelier’s dream is all in your data.

Data isn’t simply numbers on a spreadsheet. It represents your guests — their preferences, interests, motivations, and more. The key is being able to decipher your data to find the human stories behind it. And yes, you need the right tools — but you also need to get your hotel team comfortable with using data to learn about your guests and make informed decisions.

By fostering a data-driven culture, you not only improve your hotel functions and connect more effectively with guests, but you can significantly improve your direct revenue streams as well.

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What you will see here

• How to tell if you have a data-driven culture
• Tip 1: Prioritize property-level data collection
• Tip 2: Report, review, and align your KPIs
• Tip 3: Let data guide your coaching
• Tip 4: Choose team-friendly tech solutions

How to tell if you have a data-driven culture

As a portfolio manager, you may be wondering, “Don’t we already have a data-driven culture?” Let’s break it down. It’s not just about amassing numbers and information. A true data-driven culture weaves together data collection, reporting, management, and most importantly, your team. Your team is integral as they act on and grow from your guest data—transforming it into purposeful insights that drive your portfolio forward.

Here are a few signs that signal the need to prioritize your data,

Data Silos

If your data is fragmented and perpetually unorganized, this only creates a headache for your team. For many organizations, data silos are deterrents when it comes to developing a data-driven culture. With a daily deluge of data at your fingertips, operations can fracture —leaving departments more and more disconnected amid a sea of tech tools and disjointed processes.

Not only that, but data silos are a drain on employee engagement and productivity. Especially considering the fact that staff members lose a staggering 12 hours a week simply chasing data. Because of this 80% of organizations are now making data silo reduction a top priority.

Lack of personalization

Ever had a campaign or a series of campaigns fall flat? Ever had an outbound booking call fail to convert because the “spark” with the guest just wasn’t there? The common element missing from both of those interactions is personalization. And that too, can be traced back to the absence of a data-driven culture.

Because in reality, teams can’t personalize if they can’t make sense of the data.

So what’s your source of truth for clear data? If you’re operating with a hospitality-centric CDP, your teams don’t have to make sense of scattered or search for what’s accurate. Because without a source of truth, how can you personalize campaigns, outbound booking calls, or on-property text messages?

Breaking down those frustrating silos empowers every team member to make informed decisions that help to grow your entire business.

To start reaping the benefits a data-driven culture brings and consider these four tips to help you establish one at your organization.

Tip 1: Prioritize property-level data collection

No two properties are identical, and neither are their guests. Fostering a data-driven culture across your portfolio starts with empowering each property to tailor their data collection methods. With this individualized approach, you’re not just collecting data, you’re gathering insights that can transform your guest communication.

Consider these examples:

• A luxury ski resort might use survey results from their popular après-ski bar to craft hyper-relevant emails promoting new live music nights and cozy fire pits that were top guest requests.
• An urban business hotel could analyze usage patterns of their co-working spaces to send campaigns highlighting upgraded workstations with ergonomic chairs and adjustable desks, resonating with their business travelers.

The bottom line is that prioritizing property-level data reveals patterns — highlighting what works at one property and then adapting those patterns across your portfolio.

As Aaron Miller, VP of CRM & Digital at Highgate, aptly puts it: “People typically want to hear from the hotel that they’re staying at if they like it. Learn from practices…implementing [them] at other places so a lot of the practices can be standardized.”

It’s with this idea that Pacific Hospitality Group drove $13M in direct revenue by using segmentation to customize communications at each of their properties. They knew they needed personalized, timely email campaigns that enhanced guest engagement and guest loyalty.

Because not every data collection touchpoint is right for every segment. It’s important to get data collection right so that teams can craft offers that resonate. You don’t want to be among the 47% of businesses that bombard guests with repetitive content.

Tip 2: Report, review, and align your KPIs

To establish a data-driven culture, you need to transform the data you collect into a living, breathing part of your organization’s DNA. Coupling consistent data reporting with your hotel’s KPIs provides your team with a clear road map to success.

Making KPIs accessible to all team members and regularly discussing data can skyrocket your chances of achieving goals by 42%. Furthermore, employees of goal-oriented organizations are 6.7 times more likely to feel proud of their workplace. This approach builds stronger connections within your team, while aligning everyone with company objectives and achieving revenue targets.

This process translates to the front of the house as well. Keeping data at the center of operations makes creating personalized experiences second nature as your team anticipates guest needs. From tailored room preferences to customized offers, this data-informed approach results in less friction, smoother stays, and delightful experiences that keep visitors coming back for more.

As Kathleen Cullen, Executive VP at PTG Consulting puts it, “You can look at all the data you want, but if you’re not creating the right culture and understanding what the customer wants, all that data won’t matter because you’ll lose that customer.”

The goal is to strike a perfect balance — where your team’s enthusiasm meets guest satisfaction. Nail this, and watch your teams make guest connections that last and make a direct impact on your bottom line.

Tip 3: Let data guide your coaching

Remember the old adage? “Feedback is a gift?” Well, it’s true. Implementing a robust feedback process and packaging data into insights for your team is intrinsically linked to a thriving data-driven culture. Because feedback based on solid data isn’t critiquing, it’s coaching. Studies show that engagement soared among 84% of employees who received prompt feedback.

So if you want to keep your hotel dream team engaged, productive, and most importantly, confident enough in their role to stay at your hotel — feedback is a must.

As JC Thompson, Founder and CEO of Pursuance, explains, “​​get as few people as possible to leave. And to do that, we’ve got to, A, invest in those people, see them as future leaders, but also give them the tools to use the data to shift human behavior.

For example, take your reservations department. Staff in this position are the backbone of your voice channel and facilitators of some of the first guest interactions with your property. So your chance as a leader to promote a data-driven culture for your agents starts with showing them how to use historical guest data to refine their sales techniques, personalize conversations, and instill the confidence they need to secure direct bookings.

With a team empowered to proactively focus on a selling experience rather than just room rates, you’ll build better guest connections while driving revenue. All because of informed data-driven decisions your teams made.

Tip 4: Choose team-friendly tech solutions

69% of lodging businesses find system integration to be a top technology challenge. What does this have to do with a data-driven culture? Easy. Your team can’t have a healthy data-centric mindset if they can’t adapt to your hotel technology. You could say that the technology is only as good as the team there to support it.

Patrick Norton, CMO of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, says, “If you don’t have some sort of data-driven piece as the nucleus of your technology stack, then you’re doing something wrong, and you’re gonna fall behind. And you’re gonna get beat by companies that are focusing on that.”

A simplified text stack is not just for better guest communication, it’s about getting your teams on the same page, boosting productivity, and staying competitive in an increasingly tech-savvy industry.

Think of your technology is like an orchestral conductor for your teams — directing them to play the right notes — the more efficient the conductor, the better the music. Every hotel team is capable of making “music” or igniting every touchpoint with the beautiful notes of your guest data with technology that makes a data-driven culture come alive.

Harness the power of a data-driven culture

The shift to a data-driven culture isn’t going to happen overnight, but the rewards are well worth it. By prioritizing property-level data collection, fostering open communication, providing data-informed feedback, and choosing the right technology, you set the stage for operational efficiency and enhanced guest experiences. There opportunity is alive and well to transform your properties into agile, guest-centric, revenue-generating powerhouses.