Revinate unplugged: Super user secrets & success stories | a Revinate webinar
June 18, 2025
This episode of Hotel Moment features a webinar from Revinate’s Hotel Moment Deep Dive series with, Brent Sanders, Senior Customer Education Specialist at Revinate, speaks with Miranda Cubillas, Director of Reservations and Recreation at Ojai Valley Inn, to explore how hotels can unlock the full potential of their reservation teams. Learn how strategic coaching, cross-departmental collaboration, and smart technology can turn your reservation department into a key revenue driver. Whether managing remote or on-site staff, this episode offers actionable insights for creating exceptional guest experiences and improving bottom-line performance.
This episode of Hotel Moment features a webinar from Revinate’s Hotel Moment Deep Dive series with Brent Sanders, Customer Education Specialist at Revinate, and Miranda Cubillas, Director of Reservations and Recreation at the Ojai Valley Inn. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience at the iconic California resort, Miranda shares how hoteliers can elevate reservation operations through a culture of excellence, experiential training, and strategic leadership.
With Ojai Valley Inn’s offerings — including 307 rooms, a PGA-certified golf course, and a 3,200-square-foot spa — Miranda outlines the reservation strategies that support the property's high-touch guest service. The discussion covers how to build effective remote teams, apply SMART goals for coaching, and use tech tools to maintain service consistency.
Also featured is Revinator, Melissa McMullin, Product Marketing Manager, who shares additional insights on driving results through collaboration between the reservations and marketing teams.
Together, Brent and Miranda,offer practical tactics for increasing conversion rates, capturing guest data, and enhancing campaign performance through proactive outreach.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to build advanced training programs to empower confident, knowledgeable reservation agents
- Why remote agents benefit from experiential learning to better sell amenities and experiences
- The value of SMART goal-setting for ongoing coaching and staff development
- How to use technology and call recordings to ensure consistent service delivery
- Why email capture is essential to marketing success,and how to encourage front-line buy-in
- How to create high-impact collaborations between marketing and reservations teams
- Proactive outreach strategies that build long-term guest relationships and loyalty
- The role of cross-departmental coordination in enhancing service and revenue
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Connect with Miranda Cubillas here:
Connect with Melissa McMullin here:
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Episode Highlights:
[14:19] Experiential training for remote teams
Miranda explains how the Ojai Valley Inn transitioned to a fully remote reservations team while maintaining luxury service standards. Agents who excel in selling spa services earn spa day rewards worth up to $350 to experience the offerings themselves. The program also includes dining and other amenities, helping staff speak authentically about the guest experience. Remote agents visit the property for immersive training, including welcome tours and room walkthroughs. This hands-on approach makes agents feel like guests, reinforcing the resort’s high-touch service culture. The investment has been key to preserving quality across a distributed team.
[21:22] The SMART framework for coaching success
Miranda highlights the use of the SMART framework — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound — in their coaching strategy. This method shifts coaching from correction to growth — aligning agent goals with guest needs. Supervisors and agents use SMART goals to drive performance and focus coaching sessions. Regular calibration meetings ensure consistency in expectations and evaluation standards. As a result, the team has maintained a strong 93%+ performance score across its remote staff. The structured approach fosters both accountability and development.
Miranda highlights the use of the SMART framework — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound — in their coaching strategy. This method shifts coaching from correction to growth — aligning agent goals with guest needs. Supervisors and agents use SMART goals to drive performance and focus coaching sessions. Regular calibration meetings ensure consistency in expectations and evaluation standards. As a result, the team has maintained a strong 93%+ performance score across its remote staff. The structured approach fosters both accountability and development.
[23:06] Group coaching for scalable development
To scale coaching across a fully remote team, the reservations department uses Camtasia to record and archive group sessions. Supervisors lead sessions with small agent groups, addressing shared challenges and encouraging peer learning. These sessions are saved to a shared drive for easy access at any time. This on-demand library helps reinforce training and maintain consistent service quality. It also extends the reach of each supervisor’s efforts while supporting a flexible learning environment. The approach has been essential for managing and upskilling a remote workforce.
To scale coaching across a fully remote team, the reservations department uses Camtasia to record and archive group sessions. Supervisors lead sessions with small agent groups, addressing shared challenges and encouraging peer learning. These sessions are saved to a shared drive for easy access at any time. This on-demand library helps reinforce training and maintain consistent service quality. It also extends the reach of each supervisor’s efforts while supporting a flexible learning environment. The approach has been essential for managing and upskilling a remote workforce.
[39:56] Marketing-reservations partnership strategy
Miranda shares how strong collaboration between marketing and reservations has improved both performance and guest experience. By using dynamic phone tracking, the reservations team demonstrates ROI from marketing efforts. Advance notice of campaigns allows agents to be trained and staffing adjusted ahead of spikes in call volume. This alignment ensures consistent service during busy periods and maximizes campaign effectiveness. The partnership is built on shared goals and clear data, driving better coordination across teams. It's a model of proactive, cross-functional success.
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome & introduction
00:00 - Welcome & introduction
05:46 - Inside Ojai Valley Inn: A luxury resort experience
13:05 - Managing remote teams in luxury hospitality
21:22 - The SMART framework for effective coaching
26:46 - Building a culture of continuous learning & development
33:41 - Cross-departmental collaboration & employee recognition
39:56 - Marketing-reservations partnership: Campaign success
43:44 - Guest loyalty programs & outbound strategy
47:20 - Final thoughts & NAVIGATE preview
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here.
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.
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