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# Lesson 5 · How to read one date
Lesson 5 — one row on the Yielding Board holds everything a decision needs. Learn to read it in a fixed order, so nothing is missed.
{% hint style="info" %}
**In this lesson.** You will be able to say what a single row on the Yielding Board represents, read its columns in a fixed order, and describe the date out loud in 3 sentences. **About 35 minutes.**
{% endhint %}
## A row is not a date
Open the [Yielding Board](/revhero-docs/setting-your-rates/yielding-board.md) and you see a grid. It is tempting to read one line as "15 August". It is not.
**One row is one combination of date × room type × board × rate plan × occupancy.** A single date can therefore have many rows. Your **Yield Mode** decides how many you see.
| Yield Mode | What you see |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Base** *(default)* | The base room, board and occupancy only. One row per date |
| **Room** | Each room type's base |
| **Custom** | Every combination |
| **Unit** | Per-unit pricing, for units that do not share a room hierarchy |
Work in **Base** for your first weeks. One row per date is enough to learn on, and a decision in Base carries through to everything that derives from it.
## The 6 steps, in order
The board has more than 25 columns. Reading them in whatever order your eye lands is how mistakes happen. Use the same 6 steps every time.
*Availability, then the range, then the 2 rates, then the change, then restrictions. The market last.*
### 1. Is the date on sale? — `Tot` and `Onl`
`Tot` is your total availability for the date. `Onl` is what is open online.
If `Onl` is 0, nothing else on the row matters. The date is not on sale, and a rate change will achieve nothing.
### 2. Your price range — `Init Rate`, `Min Rate`, `Max Rate`
| Column | What it is |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Init Rate** | The starting rate your pricing structure produces for the date |
| **Min Rate** | The floor you have allowed yourself to yield down to |
| **Max Rate** | The ceiling you have allowed yourself to yield up to |
These 3 come from your published pricing structure. If they are blank, no published structure covers that row, and you should fix that before you price anything.
### 3. The 2 rates — `Send Rate` and `Rec Rate`
**Send Rate** is what you are about to send. **Rec Rate** is what revhero recommends.
The gap between them is the decision in front of you. A small gap usually needs nothing. A large gap deserves the rest of this lesson.
### 4. The change — `Send vs Last`
`Send vs Last` compares what you are about to send against what you last sent. `Last Send` holds the actual previous value.
This column is your protection. A €40 move that you did not intend shows up here before it goes out, not afterwards.
{% hint style="info" %}
Sort the table by **Send vs Last**, largest first, before every send. The biggest changes come to the top, and those are the rows worth a second look.
{% endhint %}
### 5. The restrictions — `LOS` and `Close Out`
**LOS** is your minimum stay for the date. **Close Out** stops sales for that combination on that date.
A restriction is a decision too, and it stays until you remove it. A 3-night minimum set in January is still refusing 1-night bookings in June unless somebody takes it off.
### 6. The market
Open the [KPI drawer](/revhero-docs/setting-your-rates/yielding-board/kpi-drawer.md) at the right edge, or check [Market Rates](/revhero-docs/roompulse/market-rates.md). Read the market **last**, not first.
Read it first and you anchor on your competitors before you have looked at your own position. Your own occupancy and pace are the stronger signal.
## Worked example
The 50-room hotel. Today is Thursday 4 June. You are looking at Saturday 15 August, in Base mode.
| Column | Value |
| ----------------------- | ----------- |
| `Date` · `Day` | 15/08 · Sat |
| `Tot` · `Onl` | 27 · 27 |
| `Init Rate` | €145 |
| `Min Rate` · `Max Rate` | €110 · €190 |
| `Send Rate` | €145 |
| `Rec Rate` | €162 |
| `Send vs Last` | 0 |
| `LOS` | 2 |
| `Close Out` | off |
Now read it in order.
1. **Can you sell it?** Yes. 27 rooms available and all 27 open online. You hold 23 of 50.
2. **The range.** You may move between €110 and €190. Your structure starts the date at €145.
3. **The 2 rates.** You are sending €145. Revhero recommends €162, which is €17 higher.
4. **The change.** `Send vs Last` is 0, so €145 is also what you last sent. Nothing has moved since.
5. **Restrictions.** A 2-night minimum is in place. On a peak Saturday that is usually deliberate.
6. **The market.** Check the drawer. Suppose the market median for the date is €170.
**Say it in 3 sentences.** *This Saturday in peak season is 46% sold with 72 days to go. I am at €145, the recommendation is €162, and the market median is €170. I am the cheapest of the three, on a date that is still filling.*
That is a complete reading. You have not decided anything yet — lesson 6 does that — but you now know everything the decision needs.
## Try it on your own hotel
1. Open the [Yielding Board](/revhero-docs/setting-your-rates/yielding-board.md) in **Base** mode, **Next 90 days**.
2. Set your columns up. A good working set is Date, Day, Tot, Onl, Send Rate, Close Out, Rec Rate, LOS, Room Type, Board, Rate Plan and PAX. Pin Date, Day, Room Type, Board and PAX.
3. Add `Init Rate`, `Min Rate`, `Max Rate` and `Send vs Last` if they are not already on.
4. Pick 1 weekend date about 60 days out.
5. Read it in the 6 steps above, out loud, and then say your 3 sentences.
6. Do the same for 1 midweek date in a quiet week. Notice how different the 2 readings are.
**Change nothing today.** This lesson is reading only. Editing starts in lesson 7.
## Check yourself
**1.** A row shows `Onl` 0 and a Rec Rate €40 above your Send Rate. What do you do?
Answer
Nothing to the rate. Nothing is open online, so no rate change can sell a room. Find out why availability is closed first — a close-out, an allocation, or a genuinely full date.
**2.** `Init Rate`, `Min Rate` and `Max Rate` are all blank on a group of dates. What is the cause?
Answer
No published pricing structure covers those dates, or the combination on that row is missing its supplements. Open [Pricing](/revhero-docs/setting-your-rates/pricing.md) and publish a structure that covers the period.
**3.** Why should you read the market last rather than first?
Answer
Because reading it first anchors you on your competitors before you have looked at your own occupancy and pace. Your own position is the stronger signal, and a competitor may be pricing badly.
## What you learned
* A row is a combination, not a date, and your Yield Mode decides how many rows a date has.
* Read in a fixed order: availability, range, the 2 rates, the change, restrictions, market.
* `Send vs Last` catches an unintended move before it leaves.
* A restriction is a decision that stays until somebody removes it.
## Next
* [Lesson 6 · Which dates need your attention](/revhero-docs/learn-revhero/learn/06-does-this-date-need-you.md) — turning a reading into a decision.
* [Table View](/revhero-docs/setting-your-rates/yielding-board/table-view.md) — every column in detail.
***
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