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| Room Pricing Tool |
Consistent, enterprise-wide pricing and rapid response to enquiries in a highly competitive environment.
'Apollo' Room Pricing Tool
Developed by KB Logic to determine pricing for group conference and event sales, this solution enabled the client to deliver a standardised pricing policy to over 400 employees, across all of their brands, and for the very first time.
The need for speed
In a selling environment where being ‘first to respond' is critical, salespeople had previously struggled to provide prices within very tight time scales, with the risk that customers could be given different prices by different people.
Maximum revenue potential
The solution enables salespeople to receive near-instantaneous pricing by inputting simple parameters, and it can be rapidly adjusted and flexed by Revenue Managers to achieve maximum revenue potential across multiple selling strategies.
Delivering consistent pricing Based on a Pricing Query applet, ‘Apollo' has improved the quality and consistency of Revenue Management tactics across the business and is now available to over 400 users on different network domains, and to the general public via a website.
"With 'Apollo' we've seen a massive change in terms of knowledge and focus and it has really raised our game. With no off-the-shelf pricing tools available to suit the Conferences & Events business, we looked at best practices and briefed KB Logic. They're always honest and proactive and have enabled us to control bedroom and event pricing across the business.”
- Margaret Harris - Director of Revenue Management. De Vere Group.
Details:
‘Apollo' Room Pricing Tool
A bespoke business-wide solution that publishes an easy-to-use interface to complex business models for hundreds of users and to a closed user group via a website. Developed as a support application, Apollo enables salespeople across the business to determine pricing for group conference and event sales. It now used by more than 400 employees and enabled The Client to deliver a standardised pricing policy throughout all of their brands for the first time.
The Problem
Maximising sales revenue and responding very quickly to customer enquiries is key to engendering a profitable Conference & Event business. The preferred pricing strategy was a complicated beast and communicating it to salespeople was challenging. None of the systems the client owned enabled them to model and communicate such a complex selling strategy.
Salespeople trying to calculate prices for conference and event business were constrained to provide prices to the client within a very tight timescale – to be the ‘first to respond' amongst competitors - which was difficult with existing systems, and users often had to consult with people in other departments by telephone.
The Client was concerned that without a unified solution, customers could potentially be given different prices, depending upon who quoted them. It was important therefore to present a ‘single price' to the prospect/customer. Allied to this, the client wanted to align the business processes for a number of brands.
The Requirement
To improve the quality and consistency of Revenue Management tactics across the business, The Client needed salespeople to input some simple parameters about the conference or event into a simple application and to near-instantaneously receive accurate and detailed pricing information with a variety of alternative and lower cost options.
The model needed be intuitive for Revenue Managers to adjust and flex to encourage maximum revenue potential, with the ability to incorporate and communicate value-added sales and other messages. At the same time, it was necessary for Revenue Management staff to work on and publish multiple selling strategies at any one time.
The application had to be made available to 400 users across the business on different network domains, with the facility to harness the pricing engine for use on an end-user website. Also, the pricing query tool had to be designed to fit alongside the Newmarket International Delphi MPE Conference and Event product for easiest possible use.
The Solution
KB Logic provided a Pricing Query applet that was deployed to users via Citrix and which used a MS SQL Server database to store and calculate prices. In testing, both queries on the complex model and alternative scenarios were returned within milliseconds – far in advance of the users' expectations and requirements.
The Pricing Query applet was designed to present information to salespeople in a non-equivocal way so that it was easy to pick out the relevant information, and where necessary offer the user alternative choices of dates or conference/event rooms.
A separate Control Panel application was developed which enabled Revenue Managers to create and manage the various selling strategies that they wished to implement, allowing them to take strategies online/offline and work on future strategies well in advance.
All applications were developed using the Microsoft .NET platform and training was provided by The Client's own staff. The solution was rolled out big-bang style, very successfully, and is used to provide results for hundreds of queries every week.
The Benefits
Giving The Client the ability to respond very rapidly to sales enquiries and with a unified pricing structure Apollo has provided a significant advantage, delivering both improved sales and improved margins in a highly competitive arena and with improved customer satisfaction. |
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