How Groups & Sub Groups Led to a 41% RevPAR Increase for Travis Puckett

Customer type: Revenue Manager

Region: North America

Products: Dynamic Pricing, Portfolio Analytics, Market Dashboard

Executive Summary

Travis Puckett, an experienced revenue management consultant for short-term rental properties, relies on PriceLabs to streamline pricing strategies for his clients. By leveraging the Groups and Sub Groups features. Travis was able to increase RevPAR by 41%, optimize property performance across diverse portfolios, enhance operational efficiency, and foster long-term client trust. This story highlights his approach, the challenges he faced, and practical tips for other PriceLabs users managing large portfolios.

About Travis Puckett

Travis Puckett began his career in the STR industry in 2018 as an analytics intern at Vacasa. Over five years, he held multiple roles in the revenue organization, gaining a deep understanding of revenue management. Later, he joined Airbnb’s analytics department, where he worked with advanced proprietary tools and learned the importance of maintaining data quality to drive actionable insights.
Today, Travis is a revenue management consultant and co-founder of Revpar Pro, helping property managers optimize their revenue strategies. His approach combines analytical expertise with personalized client interaction, a combination he finds both fulfilling and effective.

Groups and Sub Groups: The Backbone of Pricing Strategies for Diverse Portfolios

Managing diverse STR portfolios comes with inherent complexity. Properties differ in size, turnover schedules, and demand patterns, requiring a flexible and dynamic pricing approach. Travis likens PriceLabs to a “layered cake,” where each layer builds on the other to create a cohesive strategy:

• Market Factors: The foundational layer, PriceLabs’ algorithm, provides market-driven pricing.
• Groups: This layer allows customization by segmenting properties based on broad categories like size or location.
• Sub Groups: This other layer enables granular adjustments, such as specific turnover schedules or seasonal pricing, without interrupting the base customizations.

For one client in a high-demand summer market, these features proved transformative. The client operated with a condensed booking window (mid-June to early September) and required precise turnover schedules (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). Using Groups, Travis set pricing based on property size. Sub Groups allowed him to customize turnover schedules without disrupting the broader group settings. In a world without Groups and Sub Groups, such adjustments would require manual changes at the listing level. This would lead to inefficiencies, increased errors, and chaotic workflows. 

“Without these features, you risk chasing your tail or playing whack-a-mole with settings,” Travis explains. By using Groups and Sub Groups, he ensures clean, actionable data that supports long-term strategic decisions.

Tips to Use Groups and Sub-Groups

Travis offers practical advice for property and revenue managers looking to optimize their use of Groups and Sub Groups in PriceLabs:

1. Understand Market Dynamics: Use the Neighborhood Data tab to analyze local booking windows. Match your last-minute pricing lever to these insights (e.g., set it to 45 or 60 days based on the market).
2. Start with Groups: Begin by segmenting properties into broad categories, such as size, location, or type. This creates a strong foundation for pricing adjustments.
3. Layer with Sub Groups: Add Sub Groups for granular adjustments, such as specific turnover days or unique seasonal requirements. These should complement, not overwrite, existing group-level settings.
4. Analyze and Adjust: Regularly evaluate the impact of your settings. Compare how much your customizations deviate from the base algorithm and refine them as needed to maximize results.

“With PriceLabs’ Groups and Sub Groups, I can manage complex turnover schedules and seasonal adjustments seamlessly. What used to take hours of manual work is now streamlined, allowing me to focus more on delivering analytics and actionable insights to my clients.”

– Travis Puckett

Results

The impact of Travis’s strategies is evident. For his summer market client:

• Increased RevPAR: Transitioning from static pricing to dynamic pricing with PriceLabs led to a 41% RevPAR increase. The client was amazed at how much more guests were willing to pay when pricing reflected market demand.
• Operational Efficiency: Turnover schedules were streamlined without disrupting group-level settings, saving time and reducing errors.
• Shifted Mindsets: Initially skeptical about dynamic pricing, the client gained confidence in the system after seeing consistent results.

Beyond financial outcomes, Travis emphasizes the importance of clean settings and trust. “When your settings are precise, the data you analyze is actionable and strategic,” he says. This long-term approach helps clients see sustained growth and prepares them for future seasons.

“I worked with a client who was initially skeptical about dynamic pricing, but after transitioning to PriceLabs, they were shocked to see how much more guests were willing to pay. PriceLabs helped them increase RevPAR by up to 41%.”

– Travis Puckett