Crib sheet #2
We find that guidance and coaching as to how to prospect is needed in almost every department that we task force into. We all need help crossing into PROSPECTING land. No one said that it was easy. Here is the Crib Sheet #2 that we use – keeping it really simple.
The Schtick – preparation to get to work What’s the “shtick”? What approach does your team have other than “my name is, my hotel is – do you have meetings?” Is the team using attractors or are they feature dumping? Stand-out Schtick What is it that makes the team’s approach stand out bigger and brighter than the other ten hotels that have called on that client today? If the team does not have a unique “schtick”, it needs to develop one. SuggestionFigure out how to make the conversation memorable. Try it out on co-workers and be open for feedback. Remember, sales is still about relationships; they may have started via email but in order to maximize the relationship and not be just another email address, your client needs a face with the name and, moreover, a personality that they can engage.B Now Engage Develop the sequence of questions to ask a new contact or to revive one. What is the hook for that business, that person? Research what’s happening to the person that is being contacted, research the business using all the tools that we have now – Search Engines (Yahoo comes up with different references), Linkedin, Facebook, Manta, Hoovers, Dow Jones, Financial News sources. The research is applied back to the needs of the contact; the conversation itself shows that the hotel knows the client needs and can anticipate them. C Now - probing deeper. Find out about other departments, other contacts and, critically, where else are they meeting. Assist and advise. Your sister property or sister brands will appreciate any business that you can help locate. D Create a bond with the contact person who has NO business NOW; build for the future. Rather than being a “sales person” to the client, become the advisor. What can you do to assist them with their needs, whatever they may be, irrespective of immediate need for the property? E Corporate Travel Maximization Where is the rest of the business going and why? Group travel - probing for the relationship for group business while doing the corporate travel calls. With downsizing, many Corporate Travel folks are handling group as well.F Social Connections: research to gain connections before the call Social Marketing – the buzz word! Reading the periodicals and extracting contacts and information out of the articles is a daily job. Does the team know what they are looking for in the DNA of the hotel’s business? Or are the business journals and meeting planner magazines creating a mess of their in-box? Is everyone a member of the valuable LinkedIn groups? How often are they being worked? Just joining is not enough, one needs to get in there and start “talking”. G Get Seen The old ways work, even better now that so few sales managers use them. How often does the team get out to see the local contacts? Versus emailing your proposal or contract – how about hand delivering it to your local contact? Or utilize your other hotels to assist in the delivery should your client be out of state. Sounds like simple suggestions….but for some reason we’ve been busy trying to take the personal contact out of sales. Not every client can fit into the ‘box” that we’ve created. How about we try fitting into their box? We know it’s not easy. =================================== Cindy Perkins, VP Panetiere Marketing Advisors Panetiere Marketing Advisors http://www.panetieremarketi Have a look at our Charity - Panetiere Partners |
Monday, December 20, 2010
New Business Development Crib sheet #2
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Business Development for Hotels and Resorts - actually, just about any business
Business Development for Hotels and Resorts -
#1 of a series of 3
- How to be more effective and gain more revenue
We at Panetiere Marketing Advisors are fortunate enough to assist a number of our clients with Business Development. Weekly, we discuss and determine what gives the most revenue for time and effort.
So here is our crib sheet to plan for success and then get some
Laying the Foundation for New Business Development
Start where the most opportunity is just sitting there, waiting for the skills of a sales manager…..possibly as close as your back yard….or hidden within your own database, eager to be uncovered.
All of the following will create leads with the levers of emotion, of connection.
Real connections that can bring real revenue.
Think beyond just having the Sales Managers find business for the hotel.
Use the whole hotel as a New Business Creator.
Use the whole hotel as a New Business Creator.
Develop an SOP for reward plans…bonus systems…incentive programs – whatever you want to call it - for the whole hotel to feed leads to the sales team.
- Vendors - for all parts of the hotel. Vendors have a strong incentive to use your property so they are good prospects.
- Get your outlet managers, supervisors and front line employees involved in creating leads for the Sales Team.
- Friends of management
- Friends of the staff
Find “like” clients to those which already come to you
How do you do that?
Visit your outlets and talk to your guests...and do it beyond the hours of 8-5PM, M-F.
Visit your outlets and talk to your guests...and do it beyond the hours of 8-5PM, M-F.
Develop a lobby concierge (better known as lobby lizard) program and talk to your guests…be visible and customer service focused
If you have a club floor, create a schedule of who attends every day for breakfast and drinks? Your club floor concierge is a wealth of knowledge…..they know who’s enjoying the benefit. Fertile ground for new business.
Develop local roots - deep roots.
- Become a partner to your community and engage in fundraising and promotional events that are community based.
- Sit on boards
- Be useful TO the community - not just a room night receiver FROM the community.
Believe us, the community will reward the hotel with many more dollars than the gifts and trade deserve.
When we do an analysis we see those "Community Support" discounts as costing less than 1% of the business eagerly brought to you, handed to you. That is real ROI and good ROI as it comes from your backyard.
If you want to chat with us about this, just call.
Of course you are working the daily arrivals, looking for all potential audiences for your property.
But who is doing it?
How well?
Should it become part of Business Review for you?
Give all this a try and we guarantee that revenue will come.
We welcome calls and e-mails to explore the ways to make this happen.
Contact us via Panetiere Marketing Advisors.
We welcome calls and e-mails to explore the ways to make this happen.
Contact us via Panetiere Marketing Advisors.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
in
7 and a half
-Not So Easy Steps
It's a revenue killer to have a bad rep on-line.
If you're having anxious Revenue Optimization Meetings, a good and bad reputation are the flip sides of Revenue Optimizers. Within the review poles, lies the volume of what there is to "optimize".
Everyone knows that now.
Hoteliers know that the buyer is in control now with user generated reviews forums and blogs.
We want you to know that you can gain the control back. To know is to understand.
- If you want to delve deeper into the following, just send Eric or Cindy an e-mail via Panetiere Marketing Advisors - Internet Reputation management Program for Hotels & Resorts
and Optimize Your Revenue
1. Find out what's being said - do it yourself or buy a reporting service.
Typically the service will look at 5 to 8 review sites and cost from $45 to $85 a month.
They report only.
The actions needed to create revenue are then in your court.
We recommend looking at 36 sites. Read the list below.
Why so many?
Because there are many sites, forums and blogs that have small yet meaningful niche markets.Is this possible? Yes. You can do it.
Because they all offer ways to take over more web real estate for search returns.
If a looker is after small trendy hotel that takes dogs in Wyandotte, how much greater is the likelihood of getting a click if your hotel has 4 of the first 10 results?
It takes time but how much more return do you get than throwing money away on "one-hit" PPC that is not even supported by a dedicated landing page?
2. Now, don't let it go to waste.Use what is being said to develop remedies for or bravos to your team. Make it par of the team meetings, part of the executive meeting. Every week. Not just now and then. Build a progression. The best route to more revenue lies through attending to our business - to hospitality.
Better hospitality than your comp set will get you more ROI than anything. Truly. Hospitality = Revenue Optimization.
Nothing new here.
The reviews will help you address hospitality.
Even the rants will have trickles of truth with which to water hospitality.
3. Respond to every review.All the time, whenever you get a new one.
With passion. Don't let a bad one go to waste or "waste' the hotel.
The response says as much about who and what you are as the review itself does.
Your graciousness under fire - what does that say?
Your willingness to learn and make atonement - what does that say?
If you are emotionally involved DON'T write the response. Hand it off.
Responses are easy, when you are neutral.
- Absorb graciously: learn, use, don't justify.
- Give a free night - yes publicly. That costs you $20 bucks, the bad reviews cost you many thousands and for many weeks most likely.
Not just shifting a rate.
No value in rate shifting if there is less demand. And who has demand now? Who will have demand for the rest of this year? For next year? The next two years?
Respond in Tripdavisor and Google, which just started allowing responses to their own rather than the aggregated reviews. Expedia is complicated but worth the effort, of course. We can explain how you do it: Go to our website contacts page anbd send an email from there to Cindy .
4. Go through this list of review sites, forums and blogs.Every month.
Find out what is NOT going on and what is. In time you'll learn where you can make impact or correct the repercussions of an impact.
:: have a look at the list that we use - it is at the bottom of the post.
5. In the forums and blogs, place questions and responses that are valuable for your audiences.
Be real. Be sincere. Be flip. Be irreverent.
SEO the writing. Tripadvisor forum is combed by the Search Engines. You can get five listings on a page that all lead back to your hotel. Yes, it can be done. You can own "Manhattan", corner the real estate. Write real heartfelt stories referring to needs of the lookers/searchers in the audience that you are writing for. Don't fake it. Get real and get revenue.
6. Set up a training program with the Front Desk to get good reviews and stop the doozies.
Prepare "Listening Letters" to hand out to the guest that are less than happy.
Ask them to write their issues down right now, or better yet, the FD person writes for them. Give them an on-line Guest Comment system to use that goes right to the owner and the letter - well that will be on the GM's desk tonight.
Empower the team to offer discounts, free internet, a free night, a free upgrade, whatever. Have coupons ready to hand out.
Get that person into a state of grace - a state where that they don't need to lash out a BAD review. Neutralize.
This is Revenue Management that leads to Optimization.
The Flip Side: a happy guest?
Give that guest the "Happy Letter" that asks them please to take a moment to write a review on Tripdavisor or Google. Give directions as to how to do it.
Find the ways to connect emotionally with a story about the hotel, the people who work there, their needs and passions - a story.
This is Revenue Optimization.
7. Just do it. Don't wait. Let this program be your Revenue Optimization Meeting this week.
Can you make an impact?.
Sure. One client of ours went, in Tripadvisor, from #76 to #16 in just a year.
There are a series of related actions that can set your work up to have deeper impact.- to make it more visible.
7 and a half:
Call us and we'll walk you through where you are stuck.
Panetiere Marketing Advisors - Internet Reputation management Program for Hotels & Resorts
List of Review, Forum, and Blog Sites as of September 2010-
tripadvisor.comhotelresortreviews.org
bing.com
booking.com
cheaprooms.com
cheapostay.com
citysearch.com
epinions.com
expedia.com
fodors.com
frommers.com
getaroom.com
gusto.com
holidaysuncovered.com
holidaywatchdog.com
hotels.com
hotelscombined.com
hotelshark.com
Hotelguide.net
igougo.com
local.google.com
local.yahoo.com
bing.com
mytravelguide.com
ohwy.com
orbitz.com
priceline.com
realtravel.com
superpages.com
thehotelmarket.com
travbuddy.com
travel.yahoo.com
travel-library.com
travelocity.com
travelpost.com
travelweekly.com
trekaroo.com
trivago.co.uk
virtualtourist.com
yelp.com
Zoomandgo.com
FORUMS/BLOGS
tripadvisor.com
craigslist
fodors.com
holidaywatchdog.com
hotelchatter.com
igougo.com
realholidayreports.com
realtravel.com
travelblog.com
travel.yahoo trip plan comments
travel-rants.com
TravelPost.com
travelweekly.com
trekaroo.com
virtualtourist.com
yelp talk
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