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Romain Charié - Co-Founder and CEO at N&C

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Romain Charié
Co-Founder & CEO at N&C

Episode description

Welcome to a new episode of the podcast Revenue Machine, the only one dedicated to Revenue Management. Today, Emmanuel Scuto interviews Romain Charié. Romain, co-founder of the consulting firm N&C, initially pursued studies in aeronautics before specializing in business-oriented data analysis. His experience at Air France allowed him to combine his two passions. Although the airline has sophisticated processes and tools, human intervention remains essential for decision-making. Excessive automation can lead to a loss of control over tools and analysis.

One of the advantages of an RMS (Revenue Management System) is its speed and depth of analysis. However, when external factors disrupt the model (weather, strikes, security risks, etc.), the analyst must take over. For example, seasonality is never identical from one year to the next, requiring a flexible approach to analysis. At Air France, Romain compiled all documents and procedures related to optimization techniques into a White Paper, which became the bible for every revenue manager, ensuring a consistent approach to analysis.

In the car rental sector, where stock uncertainty makes precise forecasting impossible, Romain found that grouping cars into broad categories was sufficient to achieve accurate probability assessments. His last corporate experience was within the Revenue Development team at Disneyland Paris, where the existing forecasting tool was ultimately ill-suited to the evolving booking behaviors of clients.

Since 2014, Romain has partnered with Pascal Niffoi, with whom he worked at Air France and Disneyland Paris, to establish their consulting firm focused on optimization. They believe an analyst must always understand why a tool made a recommendation. They observed two reactions to their RMS Revbell: complete acceptance or rejection in favor of the more familiar Excel. To enhance RM analysts' skills, they offer checklists and procedures.

As passionate professionals, Romain and Pascal also aim to explain the levers of price action in the media. Regardless of the industry, they believe that volume is a key factor in profitability, even before the pursuit of average price.

📌 Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction to Romain

00:08:30 Early days in Revenue Management at Air France: Pricing and Fare Classes

00:19:10 Preparing for Optimization

00:22:40 The Air France Revenue Management White Paper

00:25:40 Optimization in Car Rentals (Europcar) and Flexible Inventory

00:35:20 Revenue Management in Theme Parks (Disneyland Paris)

00:50:00 Travel Costs and Contribution Calculations

01:01:00 The Analyst Must Always Understand RMS Recommendations

01:11:10 Advocating for Yield Management in the Media

01:18:00 Continuous Learning: The Art of Internal Feedback

Romain Charié
Co-Founder & CEO at N&C

Meet our guest

Romain Charié

Co-Founder & CEO at N&C

Romain Charié is the Founder and CEO of N&C, a consulting firm specializing in revenue management and pricing strategies. With a background in aeronautics and a master’s in data analysis, he began his career at Air France and later worked at Europcar and Disneyland Paris.

In 2014, he partnered with Pascal Niffoi to create N&C, focusing on margin maximization across various sectors. They developed the RMS Revbell, an innovative revenue management system. Romain is multilingual and holds degrees from HEC Paris and ESTACA.

Emmanuel Scuto
CEO of WeYield & Podcaster

🎙️ As the host of The Revenue Machine podcast, I am passionate about transforming the car rental industry through Yield, Revenue Management, and new technologies. Entrepreneur since 2007, I founded WeYield to empower and, more importantly, to provide greater freedom to all entrepreneurs and professionals in the Mobility sector.

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