OYO, India headquartered global travel technology company announced the elevation of Shreerang Godbole as the Chief Service Officer and Shirish Damani as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer today. These appointments are in line with OYO’s efforts to optimize its service technology, improve and scale customer experience and help its patrons (hotel owners) build branded, digitally-enabled storefronts with higher revenue generation potential. Shreerang has been the SVP – Consumer Product while Shirish has been leading the revenue function at OYO Vacation Homes (OVH). Having conceptualized the playbooks for core functions at OYO, these leaders will work on further growing the company’s business across the world.
In the recent past, OYO has introduced additional measures to improve revenue for its patrons, further sophisticate dynamic pricing ability for its customers, improve artificial intelligence-based algorithms, and added more flexibility through technology – making the digital experience on their platform more seamless. Shirish Damani, in his new role, therefore, will focus on building this revenue-first, tech-forward, customer-centric approach at OYO. He will take charge of the Consumer Product team and work towards making the OYO App and website even more smooth and user-friendly.
During his 7 years tenure at OYO, Shirish has helped revamp the revenue management system at OYO Vacation Homes (OVH), with the acquisition of Leisure Group being the highlight of his stint. Shirish was also instrumental in laying the foundation of OYO’s dynamic pricing system and algorithms. In 2019, OYO-powered hotel storefronts in India, Malaysia, Indonesia generated 1.5 to 1.9 times more revenue on average, after 12 weeks of joining the OYO platform – compared to the average revenue estimated at independent hotels of a similar size, according to RedSeer.
In order to further OYO’s global mission of building a consumer-first approach, Shreerang, in his new role as a Chief Service Officer, will be responsible for service and experience of Patrons and Customers globally. He will work closely with the operations, patron engagement, and customer service teams across markets, leading the Consumer Service and Partner Service Product charters. In his previous role as SVP – Consumer Product, Shreerang was responsible for building products that sustainably improve and scale customer experience, while unlocking revenue maximization opportunities. During his 8 years long tenure, Shreerang has led various roles and responsibilities at OYO and has driven key interventions such as building the Yo! Chatbot, shaping OYO Wizard+ into an attractive loyalty program, and consumer confidence generating campaigns such as VaccinAid and Sanitised Before Your Eyes (SBYE) during the pandemic. He recently took the additional charge of user acquisition and engagement journeys taking measures to improve the brand’s acquisition and conversion metrics. Under his leadership, the consumer product team has grown and the OYO App has become the third most downloaded travel mobile application globally and the most downloaded travel mobile application in Asia (2020), according to Sensor Tower.
Commenting on the recent addition to OYO’s leadership team, Ritesh Agarwal said, “Shirish and Shreerang have both been instrumental in building and sustaining growth momentum at OYO. Revenue management has been one of the stand-out success stories at OYO Vacation Homes. Shirish was among the first few to build our dynamic pricing engine which has evolved today to become the core of OYO’s revenue management and also been transformational for small and medium hotels and homes. Shreerang, on the other hand, has helped us build products that sustainably improve and scale customer experience while unlocking revenue maximization opportunities. I am excited to see that our tenured leaders continue to take up larger roles at OYO. Their entrepreneurial spirit combined with their problem-solving acumen have inspired many within the company. I wish them both the very best in their new roles. I am sure they’ll both contribute immensely to OYO’s future”.
Commenting on the elevation, Shirish Damani said, “The various roles I have undertaken at OYO have enabled me to set up some of our core systems and build strong teams across geographies which has lead to growth in revenue per storefront for our patrons. Last 7 years at OYO have also helped me learn different facets of leadership and emerge as a more rounded professional. With this new role, I hope to be able to further contribute to OYO’s growth leveraging top technology and talent.”
Shreerang Godbole commenting on his new role said, “I am proud to be associated with OYO and my journey with the brand has been extremely enriching. I have built businesses and scaled solutions using world class technology and talent. I plan to leverage what I have learnt to deliver superior & seamless experience to our customers and patrons, thereby fueling the overall expansion of OYO as a global brand”.
