Building a business case for revenue management

As more companies debate the merits of investing scarce resources to develop and implement a revenue management (RM) programme, it has become increasingly clear that there is a strong need to quantify the expected return that the company will receive from such an investment. Such estimates must be credible to senior management. Using an air cargo company as an example, this paper outlines how a company can build a business case to estimate the incremental revenues and costs associated with developing or enhancing an RM programme. As one of the first steps in the budgeting process, preparing such a business case can be a critical element in helping a company understand the level of investment that can be justified and identifying the most appropriate path to take.