Thanks to modern technology, almost everything has become measurable around us, in our personal lives as well as at work. We can find out how many calories we consume, how much and how deep we sleep, how intense our workouts are, how much time we spend on each of our work processes, or browsing social media. Used properly, we can benefit from this information to achieve our personal and professional goals and to improve in all areas of our lives.
However, the raw data by itself isn’t sufficient. For example, if you are preparing for a marathon, it is important that you are able to compare the results of your training from week to week, analyze them, see the progress, and make corrections if necessary. You are much more likely to achieve your goals if you get the data available in a clear, easy-to-understand format.
It’s no different with your business either. It is impossible to make conclusions by trying to understand, compare and analyze annual or even monthly figures and trends accumulated in numerous different data sheets and documents. On the other hand, if you get it all in a real-time, organized, and comparable form, you can make consequent, professional decisions to achieve your goals.
Why are hotel reports important?
Analysis of big data plays an important role in all areas; it is no different in the hotel industry either. Data collection begins before the facility is opened and continues throughout the business lifecycle. Just think how much valuable information you have already accumulated about your business, your guests and your finances over the time your business started operating so far. The big amount of data by itself won’t be helpful though, trying to work with it is just groping in the dark.
- To make the right decisions
Reporting is the process of collecting and analyzing data about a specific area of a business. In addition to financial reports, reporting can be done on day-to-day operations, sales, quality control, inventory or any other area where performance can be monitored and measured in the hotel. Having all information in one place, organized helps you to analyze and understand them. It’s easier to identify what is causing a recurring problem or complaint if there is any, and of course, it also sheds light on if something is performing very well, beyond expectations.
With the help of hotel reports, you can make better business decisions, correct past mistakes, make improvements, and plan realistically for the future.
- To maximize performance and efficiency
Keeping operating costs lowest as possible, while maximizing revenue and the quality of services is the most fundamental goal for hotel managers. It's certainly no different for you. Imagine how helpful a system would be that allows you to review the revenues, costs and all measurable data in real-time with just one glance. One of your regular suppliers invoiced an unusually high amount? Cleaning is taking too long and guests cannot check-in? The number of cancellations suddenly went up last week?
A good reporting system allows you to intervene immediately and apply changes as needed instead of making post-adjustments.
- To increase the loyalty of your team
Employee engagement can be strengthened if they feel they belong somewhere and the team has a common goal on which you work together to achieve. Ongoing status reports and feedbacks are key to maintaining the team’s commitment on the road to the goal. However, a realistic goal can only be set with proper data analysis. So you can also make great use of hotel reports here.
- To get funds for new projects
As a hotel manager, you’re sure to see the places and areas where improvements, maintenance, and changes are the most needed. However, investments and new projects often require the approval of the CFO or the owners. In order to improve your property, it is essential that you present a convincing business plan that is supported by real data. Otherwise, you may run into walls if you try to explain to stakeholders why certain projects need to be implemented.
- To complete mandatory requirements
The reports also serve to ensure business transparency, and in most countries, the annual report is required by law. With the right reporting system, you can retrieve financial and other data at any time if you need to present it to stakeholders or competent authorities, for example during an unexpected audit.
What makes a hotel report good?
- Fresh and regularly updated data
Regular updating of the data is key, as is ensuring that the information is processed immediately upon arrival. No matter how much data you get about your suppliers’ prices, your competitors’ promotions, or your housekeeping team’s performance, when they are reviewed and used they have to be fresh and up-to-date.
- It caters to the needs they are created for
A report is only useful if the business can benefit from its data. In addition to being fresh and accurate, the report should always be relevant to your business. The same market-related information can be unnecessary for a guest house in a neighboring town but a treasure for your business’s operation. Or there may be data that is essential in summer and absolutely irrelevant in winter.
A good hotel report will show you which are the most profitable services and which are the money-takers. It highlights well-performing processes as well as areas that require improvement.
What kind of reports are there in hotels?
- Performance reports
Performance reports allow you to compare the performance of your hotel over different periods and seasons using data sets and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). They also show whether the goals set have been achieved or possibly exceeded.
- Financial reports
Financial and economic reports should be prepared on a regular basis in the hotel businesses just like in every other industry. In addition to mandatory financial reporting to the authorities, these hotel reports help keep the business on track to achieve its profit goals. You can use them to compare the aims set in the business plan with the real results.
- Market analysis reports
As a decision-maker in the hotel, you probably know how valuable the data of the current market situation and trends are. By keeping yourself up to date, it’s easier to decide where to put your focus and how to allocate your accommodation's resources. You can better meet the needs of your existing guests and run campaigns for a new potential market. This will increase both your guest satisfaction and your hotel’s revenues.
- Pickup and revenue reports
A pickup report is also an important tool in keeping the hotel’s revenue on the rise. It allows you to see clearly at what pace and how early bookings start to arrive for a given period. Using pickup and revenue reports, you can better understand your guests’ booking habits and develop a more profitable pricing strategy.
- Inventory reports
Inventory hotel reports can help you track the path of your purchased inventory to and from the warehouse. Using inventory reports makes it easy to see if, for example, your housekeeping team suddenly started using more cleaning supplies than average, or an unusually high amount of products are used in your restaurant’s kitchen. In the short term, it can help make quick decisions, and in the long term, it can help you operate economically and stay profitable.
Final words
At SabeeApp, we aim to help hotel managers and operators simplify and better understand their operational processes. There is a saying that ‘numbers don’t lie’. We also believe in this and are working to create new, easy-to-understand, and useful hotel reports that will allow you to easily see the valuable information behind the tangled figures in your hotel business.