Walked past Charlotte Tilbury Beauty “1 Woman. 10 Looks.” commercial (brilliant btw.) and thought:
Revenue managers are the same: one person, ten playbooks depending on the chaos level of the week.
But here’s the twist:
Most people pick the wrong “look” for the situation. The legends? They pick EXACTLY the right playbook at exactly the right time.
So let’s break it down RM-style.
Playbook 1: “We’re Empty!”
❌ What normal people do: Panic. Slash BAR. Pray. Add a panic promo on an OTA with a discount no one needed and a length-of-stay nobody asked for.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Looks at search demand, pacing pockets, channel friction, website conversion, and last-minute feeder markets. Fixes the leaks. Closes the gaps. Sells smarter before selling cheaper.
Playbook 2: “We’re Full… and Broke.”
❌ What normal people do: Celebrate high occupancy like it pays the bills. Say, “At least we’re full!”.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Checks rate mix. Upsells. Improves length of stay. Replaces low-yield channels with better business.
Because full hotels don’t impress legends: profitable ones do.
Playbook 3: Group Inquiry Madness
❌ What normal people do: Accept the group because “sales promised it.” Or reject it because “I feel like it.”
✅ What a revenue legend does: Runs displacement. Calculates mix impact. Negotiates. Creates fences. Makes the group work for the hotel, not the other way around.
Playbook 4: The Big Cancellation
❌ What normal people do: Blame the market. Send meltdown WhatsApps to the team. Dump the rates.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Identifies where demand can come from. Repositions pricing strategy. Uses OTA tools strategically. Updates forecast fast and rallies teams. Damage controlled. Revenue rebuilt. Dignity intact.
Playbook 5: Angry Owner Mode
❌ What normal people do: Show more spreadsheets. Talk about “market conditions.” Die slowly inside. Talk mor BS….keep going, Digging their own grave with an even bigger shovel.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Simplifies. Shows cause, effect, and the corrective path. Explains the next 90 days in actions, not excuses. Owners invest in clarity, not charts.
Playbook 6: GM Wants a Win
❌ What normal people do: Add another discount. Hope for the best. Happy GM, Happy life.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Picks strategic quick wins: Upselling. Website conversion. Package design. Tiny optimizations with big impact. Delivers wins without destroying long-term strategy. Above all, does what they are supposed to do: Make money!
Playbook 7: Sales Has Gone Rogue
❌ What normal people do: Complain. Fight. Start a meeting war.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Turns it into a teachable moment. Resets expectations. Creates guidelines. Aligns on value. Because the best RMs don’t fight sales: they make sales better.
Playbook 8: Demand Explosion
❌ What normal people do: Freeze. Ask “What are competitors doing?” Underprice the moment or even worse: Go Apeshit on pricing and LOS – you know who you are….the ones that put a 10k rate for New Year’s with a 10 day LOS only to sell rooms for $1 on the 24th as pick up “just didn’t come in”….no shit Sherlock!
✅ What a revenue legend does: Drives value. Pushes confidence. Owns the demand curve. Maximizes rate without shaking hands with guilt.
Playbook 9: The System is drunk
❌ What normal people do: Blindly follow the tool. Then blame it later.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Overrules with intelligence and evidence. Uses patterns, not panic. Human + machine = unbeatable. Machine alone = comedy show.
Playbook 10: Everything is “fine”
❌ What normal people do: Ignore the whisper in their gut. Wait for things to break.
✅ What a revenue legend does: Trusts intuition but validates with data. Catches soft signals early. Prevention always beats correction.
The Truth: Revenue Management requires a wardrobe.
One RM. One hotel. Ten situations. Ten playbooks.
The pros panic less because they’ve been here before. The legends shine because they know exactly which “look” to pull out at the right moment.
Profit loves preparation, not improvisation.
Love,
Fabi
Bit about me: I’m Fabian Bartnick aka. Fabi – The Commercial Growth Leader. I’ve built and exited hospitality tech companies, trained thousands of leaders worldwide in sales, marketing and revenue management, and helped businesses in multiple industries align their commercial teams for measurable growth. If you’re ready to align your sales, marketing, and data into one unstoppable growth engine connect with me on LinkedIn.
