This June marks 14 years since TCRM first opened its doors.
What began in 2012 as an idea built around a simple observation has grown into a company that has supported more than 700 hotels around the world. Today, TCRM works with hundreds of hotel clients and provides daily revenue management support to more than 70 properties across North America and the Caribbean.
As we celebrate this milestone, I wanted to take a step back from the day-to-day work and look at where it all began. I recently sat down with our Founder and CEO, Lily Mockerman, to discuss why she started TCRM, what she saw in the industry at the time, and how revenue management has evolved over the last fourteen years.
Identifying a Gap
When Lily launched TCRM in 2012, she wasn’t necessarily setting out to build the company we know today. At the time, experienced Revenue Managers were in high demand. Recruiters frequently approached her with opportunities, but she noticed a recurring pattern. Revenue managers were often assigned either a very small portfolio of hotels or an extremely large one. In her view, neither model consistently delivered the best results.
“There was a supply versus demand issue for skilled Revenue Managers,” Lily recalls. “Most roles assigned either one or two hotels, or fifteen to twenty. I felt the sweet spot for quality was more like three to five, depending on what each hotel needed.”
Rather than joining another organization, she saw an opportunity to create a model that would allow hotels to receive focused, high-quality revenue management support while maximizing her own expertise and productivity.
That philosophy became the foundation of TCRM.
The Meaning Behind the Name
The company’s original name, Total Customized Revenue Management, reflected something Lily believed was missing from the industry.
“I felt the discipline needed more of a customized touch versus a quantity-over-quality, one-size-fits-all approach,” she explains.
That belief continues to influence the company’s approach today. While many organizations focus heavily on room revenue alone, Lily remains passionate about the broader concept of total hotel revenue management.
“While the industry has come to focus on other things rather than consistently applying full Revenue Management programs to areas like Food & Beverage, we remain focused on a holistic approach that benefits the entire hotel, profitability, and the total picture.”
From Independent Consultant to Growing Company
Although Lily envisioned TCRM as a consultancy, she didn’t fully anticipate how quickly the business would grow. Initially, she imagined operating much like an independent contractor. But client referrals began arriving faster than expected.
“I realized there was a greater need and opportunity than I had first imagined,” she says. That demand led to the addition of contractors and eventually employees, transforming what started as a solo venture into a growing organization serving hotels across multiple markets.
Like most entrepreneurs, the early years brought familiar challenges. “How much do I spend on marketing? How do I cover expenses as the business grows?”
Fortunately, strong client results helped build momentum. “We quickly built a proven track record in terms of revenue results for clients, and that helped us grow the client base.”
How Revenue Management Has Changed
Over the past fourteen years, few areas of hotel operations have evolved as rapidly as revenue management. When TCRM was founded, much of the discipline revolved around relatively straightforward pricing decisions within disconnected channels with a lot of manual work.
“When TCRM began, much of revenue management was just basic rate changes,” Lily says. Today, the role is significantly broader.
“There is much more emphasis on channel management and profitability beyond just BAR strategy, which is a good thing. Revenue management systems and other technologies have also evolved significantly, making much of this work more efficient than it was fourteen years ago.”
The relationship between revenue management, sales, and marketing has evolved as well. “There is a much better understanding now of what we would call Commercial Strategy,” she explains. “In the best organizations, each of these roles should be practicing a bit of the other roles and finding ways to collaborate together.”
While there is still room for improvement, Lily believes the industry has made substantial progress in breaking down departmental silos and encouraging a more unified commercial approach. Her comments are timely, as executives from TCRM prepare to attend the 2026 HSMAI Commercial Strategy Conference. This year marks the sixth year of the unified HSMAI Americas Commercial Strategy Conference, which was rebranded and evolved from the merger of the former Marketing Strategy Conference and HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference (ROC).
Technology’s Expanding Role
Technology has transformed the hospitality industry since 2012, but Lily’s perspective on automation has remained remarkably consistent. Long before launching TCRM, she remembers attending an HSMAI conference as a college student and asking questions about the capabilities of early revenue management systems.
Even then, she recognized both the opportunities and limitations. “I quickly understood that while the systems could make things more efficient, humans would always be needed to properly manage them with certain levels of skill and understanding.”
She believes the same principle applies today as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into hotel operations. “I believe this will continue to be true with AI capabilities. We will see opportunities to increase efficiency, but rather than replacing Revenue Managers, they will need to become more skilled in working with those systems and digging into new areas they may previously not have had the opportunity to.”
Opportunities Still Ahead
Despite the industry’s progress, Lily believes some of the most exciting opportunities remain untapped. One area she advocates for is the industry’s ability to measure profitability more effectively.
“I find myself surprised that we still have so many areas to tap into with total hotel revenue management, and still lack the ability to effectively track profitability by channel, room type, and other areas industry-wide.”
For an industry increasingly driven by data, she sees significant room for continued advancement. “But like any industry, change takes time, and we hope to continue driving these things forward with our clients and in the industry more broadly.”
Looking Ahead
While no one has a crystal ball, one thing is certain: hospitality will continue to evolve. Over the past fourteen years, TCRM has grown from a handful of hotel clients into a trusted revenue management partner for hundreds of properties. Along the way, the industry has experienced economic cycles, technological transformation, shifting traveler behaviors, and unprecedented disruptions.
As we look toward the future, our focus remains consistent with the vision that started the company in 2012: delivering customized revenue management support that prioritizes quality, strategy, and measurable results.
We will continue to focus on the types of hotels where our expertise creates the greatest impact. Upscale hotels, boutique properties, resorts, soft brands, and independent hotels seeking sophisticated commercial strategy and hands-on partnership. We will continue embracing technologies that improve efficiency and insight while recognizing that successful revenue management still depends on experience, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Most importantly, we will continue helping hotel owners and operators navigate change, uncover opportunity, and maximize profitability. Fourteen years ago, TCRM was founded on the belief that hotels deserved a more customized approach to revenue management.
Today, that belief remains as relevant as ever.