Hey there, this is us!
MiceRate is a StartUp that was born out of practical needs. Complicated inquiry processes, ’email ping pong’ and long-term options should be a thing of the past. We have made it our mission to make the sales of meetings and weddings more efficient and future-oriented.
Yield Management and Dynamic Pricing have been a matter in the rooms sector for a long time. In contrast, the pricing process of meeting and banquet rooms is much more sophisticated. There is way more criteria involved than in the rooms sector. Much more factors have an influence on the price. Taking all factors into account at the same time is complex and takes a lot of time at calculating. In our tool, all settings regarding pricing rules and restrictions are bundled and technically applied.
We are hospitality insiders with the aim of enchancing the MICE sales process as well as releasing the potential of Dynamic Pricing for MICE throughout technology.
Gerhard Wasem
What works well for hotel rooms must be possible for events, too?! Commissioned by the hotel’s General Manager Lutz Frey, Gerhard was asked to set up a Dynamic Pricing for meetings and conferences at the Atrium Hotel Mainz. The first ideas about which factors should influence the price of a meeting resulted in an Excel spreadsheet. Until this hitched.
“When I arrived at work in the morning, the first thing I did was open my Excel spreadsheet with the prices. And then first get coffee. With luck, the spreadsheet was open by then.” – Gerhard’s younger self, highly motivated, hospitality management student at this time.
Over time, he continued to enhance the pricing mechanisms. “We didn’t expect we’d take it this far.” Eventually, he developed a pricing algorithm which calculates daily updated meeting prices according to current demand levels.
“However, if you want to do this seriously and thoughtfully, you can’t avoid a certain degree of automation and standardization,” he realized. As a result, an online booking engine and quote generator were added to the revenue management tool.
Further encouraged and supported by Lutz, Gerhard’s next step became clear: The tools should also be accessible to other hotels and venues. After his graduation, he became managing director in the family business, an event location called ‘Wasem Kloster Engelthal’ – and finally, he founded MiceRate. During the pandemic several modules of MiceRate were launched onto the market.
“Due to the pandemic over two years now any weddings could hardly take place. Many requests are hitting a limited number of available dates – consequently, we are now yielding our wedding prices, too”
– Gerhard, still highly motivated, CEO and founder of MiceRate.
Wasem Family
Welcome to the Wasem family.
Gerhard’s older brothers, Philipp and Julius, run the winery together with their dad Holger. Their mum Karin manages everything regarding the event gastronomy. And she provides the employees with the world’s best lunch.
A team of four people is in charge of planning the events at Wasem’s venue Kloster Engelthal, from business meetings to dream weddings.
Anna Kilian
Her former professor is certainly not innocent of the fact that she found her way to Wasems in Ingelheim. She also studied at the DHBW Ravensburg – and has brought her enthusiasm for MICE Revenue Management with her. As a trained hotel clerk and graduate in business administration, she works as Gerhard’s assistant.
Lutz Frey
Gerhard’s former boss has been one of his most important supporters ever since. As General Manager of a large conference hotel, it was him, kicking-off dynamization of conference pricing. “As a large conference hotel with around 2,000 sqm and 22 function spaces, we depend on keeping a constant eye on our revenue in the event sector,” explains Lutz Frey, “MiceRate makes a valuable contribution to that.”
Familie Wasem
Willkommen bei Familie Wasem.
Gerhards ältere Brüder, Philipp und Julius, führen gemeinsam mit Papa Holger das Weingut. Mama Karin leitet die Gastronomie und versorgt die Mitarbeitenden mit ihrem weltklasse leckeren Mittagessen. Ein vierköpfiges Team im Veranstaltungsbüro plant von Tagung bis Traumhochzeit die Veranstaltungen im Wasem Kloster Engelthal.
Anna Kilian
Ihr Professor ist nicht ganz unschuldig daran, dass Sie den Weg nach Ingelheim zu den Wasems gefunden hat. Sie hat ebenfalls an der DHBW Ravensburg studiert – und von dort ihre Begeisterung für MICE Revenue Management mitgebracht. Die gelernte Hotelfachfrau und studierte Betriebswirtin ist Gerhards Assistenz.
Lutz Frey
Hannah Öhrlein
Hannah is whom Gerhard particularly appreciates as an input provider for product development. She works at a large event location. They got to know each other during their studies from 2013 to 2016 at the DHBW Ravensburg.
Judith Schimm
When Gerhard isn’t working in the ‘Kloster-office’, he is at home office sitting right next to his social media and marketing expert, Judith. He also shares the “custody” of Oskar with his girlfriend Judith.
Oskar
The Oskar goes… obviously to the person with the best treat. “Home office is not his thing. He prefers the action in the office, where he is responsible for HR, jointly with me,” explains Gerhard.
Hannah Öhrlein
Judith Schimm
Oskar
OUR VISION
Selling function spaces and banquet rooms more innovatively with efficent, revenue-optimized sales proccesses
Revenue management and instant booking in the event sector – established at hotel rooms sales so far – should become a matter of events, too!
OUR MISSION
MiceRate is not a meta search engine, neither is it an OTA oder RFP portal, nor is it just ‘any’ IBE.
We do revenue management in meetings sales – and finally approach a topic whose (revenue) potential has been underestimated by the hospitality and event industry so far.
Jointly with our tools, we help with the future-oriented alignment of internal sales processes and the implementation of Dynamic Pricing in the event sector. In this way, we are contributing to increase our customers’ revenue.
FAQs
...have a look at our frequently asked questions!
The competitive environment for conference hotels and event venues is becoming increasingly intense. We are convinced that Dynamic Pricing, as applied to hotel rooms, has huge potential for meetings and events as well: make use of revenue management for long-term revenue growth.
But you can take our word for one thing: flexible meeting pricing is no fun when you’re struggling with a big Excel spreadsheet. Right, Gerhard?
“When I came to work in the morning, the very first thing I did was open my Excel spreadsheet with the prices. And then first get coffee. With luck, the spreadsheet was open by then.” – Gerhard’s younger self, highly motivated, hospitality student at this point of time.
Without a certain degree of automation and standardization, yielding is only half the fun. At least you’ll get aware of this fact as soon as you try to explain your fourth brilliant idea about price influencing factors to your employees in the event office – you are going to look into questioning faces. Right, Gerhard?
“Alright, if you’re acclaiming the potential of Dynamic Pricing (as we do) – you should better get an appropriate tool for it right away.” – Gerhard, still highly motivated, founder of MiceRate
You can (finally) implement flexible pricing in your event sector. One or the other may have been playing with this strategic idea for a while and wondered until now how to implement it. Others may now be asking themselves: Do I need flexible pricing for meetings? Sure, just have a look.
With the help of our tool you can dynamize your prices and make them as flexible as you want them to be: from using a few pricing mechanisms to daily rates – everything is possible among this spectrum. Going forward you won’t have to worry about the calculation, because MiceRate calculates live within every request.
We are a bit proud of the fast that we’re currently the only team that can even provide you with daily rates for events with help of our algorithm. By the way, our algorithm isn’t screw up by price-confusing events …. like a pandemic. The structure of the data in the background makes it possible.
As for the strategic side: We are also happy to advise you if you have little experience with flexible pricing or if you want to implement your ideas step by step. You are welcome to exchange ideas with us without obligation.
Did you know that MiceRate is also ideally suited for the sales of co-working spaces?
Oh no! We are not a RFP portal, an intermediary or anything like that – that’s why you don’t pay any commission. We provide you with an individually configured tool as a white-label solution for the homepage, i.e. “your” MiceRate.
You pay for the ongoing use of the tool. So it doesn’t cost you more if you generate more bookings through the tool.
Since we are from the hospitality industry ourselves, we know all too well that you don’t need a “financial risk” right now. Attention, here we go:
– Take a look at our payment terms, because you can also save one monthly fee by choosing the annual payment rhythm.
– Get in touch with us – then we’ll be happy to talk about a non-binding test phase free of charge.
You know your MICE business best – how much revenue potential does it offer? You don’t really know? Find out.
“Ditto,” thinks Anna. While Gerhard even uses his smartwatch to pay for parking tickets, she hears the coins rattling in her purse… Kidding aside.
Of course MiceRate is “pure technology”. But that doesn’t mean operating with it would be complicated. Right from the start, we made sure that you and your employees can quickly and easily find their way around – and of course your customers, too, if you decide to let them enter the process.
We are happy to launch the initial settings for you in order to cause as little effort as possible for you during the onboarding. Nevertheless, to ensure that your event sales team and MiceRate work well together, we are going to train you on how to use it in 60 minutes.
If you once have “deleted the internet”, just call or write a message to Gerhard. He will be happy to help you with questions regarding the operation with MiceRate at any time. 😊
Actually, not many! Most of our features are accessible pretty easily and quickly. 😊
In order for you to use MiceRate’s algorithm, it must be ensured that the algorithm is constantly fed with data. The easiest way to do so, is to connect one-way with your PMS. However, since we are currently not connected to all PMS providers or in case you don’t use a PMS to manage your capacities, we will be happy to find a work-around solution on how to provide data for the algorithm.
See our list of available PMS interfaces.
No interface to your PMS available? Feel free to ask your PMS provider if they would like to give you the option to connect with MiceRate.
Don’t forget that you’re able to implement flexible pricing, automated calculation and generate quotations without a sales & catering module of your PMS, using MiceRate as tool for dynamic and live calculation.
So far, we have a connection to Oracle Fidelio Suite 8, Opera Cloud, Bankett-Profi, EventTemple and Ibelsa. The interface to SiHot is nearing completion – and the connection to Mews is work in progress as well. Furthermore, we aim to connect with Protel (Air) and Guestline. If your Sales & Catering module is not listed yet, please do not hesitate to contact us and your provider. We are open-minded for further connections and are looking forward to work with new partners soon, as we want to extend the benefits for all users.
You don’t want to wait until a connection exists, but already want to take advantage of MiceRate today? You don’t manage events with a Sales & Catering module at all? Then contact us and find out what is already possible without an interface.
The “Atrium Hotel” in Mainz, for example, already works successfully with flexible prices – and wouldn’t like to change a thing about it. Download the case study and learn more about their experience with flexible pricing.
So far, we are one of the rare companies offering a yield management tool in the event sector. What has been normal for rooms for a long time, is only just becoming widespread for events.
However, you can take advantage from our practical experience in this field. Our tool was developed and approved right in the event office. Behind the considerations regarding MiceRate’s functions as the pricing mechanisms and the algorithm is practical knowledge and not just theory.
Sometimes, we are really deep in the matter, … that’s why we once have changed our perspective: What are the hurdle points on the way to flexible pricing in the MICE sector?
You can use MiceRate’s booking engine for internal sales and/or offer your customers to create their quotation conveniently online – so they don’t have to wait for someone to call them back or answer their e-mail… what doesn’t mean you’re out of personal contact.
But the real purpose of booking automation is as follows: You should definitely take your customers along with you on the whole topic. This can only be done with transparency and the right communication. When using the booking engine, your customers can see at a glance which particular dates are in high demand. In contrast, they get an overview on which dates they can benefit from a price advantage. Transparency increases the acceptance of dynamic prices and supports your capacity control by gaining customers for dates of low demand.
If you want to make your event prices more flexible, you can’t avoid some degree of standardization and automation…. At latest when you’re explaining the amount of brilliant ideas regarding flexible pricing to your employees, you’ll know what we mean.
Willst du deine Tagungspreise flexibilisieren, kommst du nicht um einen gewissen Grad an Standardisierung und Automatisierung umher… Das wirst du merken, wenn du deinen Mitarbeitenden im Veranstaltungsbüro deinen 4. genialen Einfall zu Preiseinflussfaktoren erklären willst – spätestens dann schaust du in fragende Gesichter.
No, we don’t have revenue manager who is updating the rates. That would only waste space in the office that we need for Oskar*. 😉 *our much-loved dog in the office.
If you want to achieve the maximum of flexibility – daily updated rates – you can confidently leave the effort to our system: The RateFinder analyses historical data and fixes the anchor rates for its “counterpart”, the RateManager that compares the current booking patterns with the RateFinder’s suggestions. The RateManager is in charge of adjusting and controlling your daily rates.
Of course, despite all the automation in the yielding process, you can also manually adjust rates if you want to. Please be aware of the fact that both of these functions need a sound data basis.
Are you collecting UNC-data in your venue, yet?
Hm… Fixed rates in the context of Dynamic Pricing…?
… alright, we know it ourselves. Some companies heavily insist on their fixed rates. You can offer fixed rates which are not yielded by the system by deposing them at the internal Assistant function. It will soon be possible to access local company rates by using a code which you can provide your customers with.
Did you ever heard of the concept to offer Floating Company Rates? Your local company customers can also take advantage of the dynamic rates. Learn more about floating company rates in our wiki. Pay attention to the communication with your customers as they recognize the advantages of FCR.
Not only hotels can enhance their MICE sales process and revenue management, but also event locations. MiceRate is suited for co-working spaces as well.
It’s obvious! Co-working spaces, function and banquet spaces have a fixed capacity with fluctuating demand whose revenue is “lost” for ever if it’s not realized daily.
We may come from the hospitality industry but our development doesn’t end within this field. Think about it, where does revenue management makes sense?
In long-term, your customers may use MiceRate as a booking or inquiry medium on your homepage. But let’s start with the first steps. The internal use of MiceRate depends on your team and your company structure. You don’t need to hire a revenue manager to implement Dynamic Pricing and capacity management.
The pricing strategy is usually a matter decided by the management or the sales team. You can deposit pricing rules and/or use the algorithm, if you like to. MiceRate provides you with essential key figures in order to control the success of your strategy on a regular basis.
The employees in event office operate more practically than strategically with MiceRate, e.g. they use the Inquiry Assistant function for creating and adjusting quotations which are calculated automatically according to the pricing rules. MiceRate is meant to relieve your employees during the sales process.
Our booking tools were just a consequence of many wild ideas about what should have an influence on the price. No chance with dynamic calculation without a certain degree of automation … Calculating manually or with Excel spreadsheets isn’t much fun … End of story: an Inquiry Assistant for employees in the event office … and booking engine on the homepage in order to pass the experience of real-time pricing to the customers.
We appreciate the booking tools as they are tracking all kind of traffic regarding demand which can be utilized by the algorithm.
As typical digital natives, we prefer to request events conveniently online – instead of waiting for a call-back. Perhaps there will always be customers who prefer calling or writing an e-mail, but after all requesting online is not the end of personal contact or service. Customers may perceive requesting online as contemporary channel.
Our Inquiry Assistant is intended for “internal” sales in the event office. It makes life easier for your employees in times of many incoming requests by automated calculation and quotation.
In addition, our tool makes it pretty easy to enter UNC inquiries.
Selling events during this pandemic is not that easy. After the lockdown, there was a flood of incoming inquiries.
- We perfectly know what it was like: customers were getting impatient because you can’t keep up with answering e-mails and returning calls.
- We all know this unspecific inquiries “How much is a conference at your hotel?” And then you start to find out about when, what, how many participants, which service is requested, …
- We write a lot of offers, but sometimes you end up with very little output in relation to all effort.
How can we put an end to this unproductive, stressful process?
Make event inquiries accessible on your homepage or start the process and let your customers enter it digitally to create an offer by themselves. Guests who don’t like to wait for a response have the opportunity to find real-time updated information, make concrete inquiries or perhaps process a direct booking.
… At the latest, when the first digital natives (like us) start to plan events for large companies, you should be prepared. We prefer to make our inquiries conveniently online.