Reaching 100 hotel clients!

Interview with our Co-Founder Pontus Berner, by Cost & Logis Jens Riemann

berner + becker has grown considerably in recent years. What consequences does this have for your daily work?

Good question. Indeed, we have grown quite some, it has been, and it continues to be super exciting! My attention and focus constantly shift. I sometimes say it feels like standing in front of a kitchen stove where pots are heating up. First, all pots are simmering nicely, and suddenly one starts boiling, that’s when we must change something to have it nicely simmering again. Preferably, we manage to proactively update and change things, so it doesn’t boil over.

Starting back in 2017, me and my business partner Lars did all the client work ourselves of course, at the same time as trying to build the company. Later, I remember when we grew past 15 people in the company, the feeling went from “being a team” to “becoming an organization”. Now, with 30 people, the needs are again very different. During the years, it’s been important to clarify our vision as a company, strongly root our values, and implement standards while keeping flexibility and creativity flowing, which all contribute to our goal of employee happiness and client satisfaction. Personally, I really enjoy the leadership part of it all, and now with the opening of our latest office in Frankfurt, a prospering happy team delivering high-quality work is more important than ever.

In terms of the number of hotels you manage, you are now one of the major players in revenue management. what are your competitive strengths?

Yes, I guess you can say that by now. We are just surpassing 100 hotel clients that are using our outsourced revenue management service. So, one could perhaps compare us to a rather large hotel chain’s revenue management operation. However, I believe, that due to our collective experience as a company, with a vast diversity of hotels and with our team members previously having gained experience from all the different big chains, revenue management at berner+becker is even more cutting-edge and developed than in the big chains.

Hence, our team is our main asset, and the way we apply a holistic approach to strategic revenue management, paired with tailored technology that fits our clients’ individual needs, is what brings success to our clients.

what are your goals for the coming years?

Our internal vision is to shape the future of revenue management services and be the first choice for hotels looking to optimize their performance and revenue management. That means we need to continue to constantly develop our team members’ knowledge and strategic skills, and always stay at the forefront of implementation and use of AI-technology. With this we are also looking at further growth, during which we must secure our continued focus on employee happiness and delivering high quality work to our clients.

International tourism is recovering rapidly. what does this mean for revenue management?

That’s true, although I hope for an improved geopolitical situation in the world as well. But currently, international travel is growing in many regions including ours, and in essence for revenue managers, it means more demand to play with and higher profits for the hotels. Revenue management in a downturn is as important and focuses a lot on the actions of trying to find and capture demand. In a strong market, it shifts more to optimizing the incoming demand, which is quite fun. Nevertheless, the hotels that manage to combine and apply the learnings of operating in both market conditions will be the winners.