by Jana Johnson | Jun 29, 2023 | Marketing, Sales
As a hotel owner, you know the importance of marketing your property to attract visitors. But have you considered looking beyond traditional methods and focusing on your local community?
By getting to know your neighbors, you can create lasting relationships that will not only benefit your hotel but also boost the local economy. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to market in your backyard and why it’s important.
Why Local Marketing Matters
Marketing your hotel locally is essential for several reasons. Firstly, it allows you to build meaningful relationships with members of your community, who are more likely to recommend your hotel to friends and family. Secondly, it’s cost-effective since you don’t need to spend money on expensive advertising campaigns. And finally, it helps strengthen the local economy by encouraging people to stay, shop, and eat within the area.
Strategies for Marketing Locally
Here are some effective strategies for marketing your hotel in your backyard:
Host Local Events
Hosting events is an excellent way to get your hotel noticed within the community. You could organize a charity fundraiser, a wine tasting, or even a community clean-up day. By collaborating with other local businesses, you can promote your event to a wider audience and create partnerships that benefit everyone involved.
Leverage Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your hotel locally. Ensure your hotel’s social media profiles are up-to-date and active, and engage with other local businesses and customers. You could also consider running social media contests or giveaways to encourage people to share your content and visit your hotel.
Collaborate with Local Businesses
By partnering with other local businesses, you can cross-promote each other and create a network of support. For example, organize a team sales blitz and go door-to-door with printed flyers of your hotel that outline your specific features and benefits. Mention the idea of cross-marketing services to the local businesses. You could offer discounts to customers who have visited a nearby restaurant or store, share coupons for display, or collaborate on a joint marketing campaign.
Marketing your hotel locally is an effective way to build meaningful relationships with members of your community, boost the local economy, and attract visitors. By hosting events, leveraging social media, and collaborating with local businesses, you can create a powerful network that benefits everyone involved.
by Jana Johnson | May 31, 2023 | Sales
Most hotel sales success stories are based on techniques that include the close in the sales strategy from the start.
To seal the deal for group and corporate bookings, you’ll want to make sure during the sales process you provide good advice, add value, and utilize your hotel’s unique amenities and services.
Solidifying the following strategies will help you generate revenue, and make your client feel like they are cared for from the first point of contact until the contract is signed.
Personalize Each Pitch.
Prospects receive many calls and emails each week from hotel sales managers just like yourself. Quality communications that speak directly to the meeting planner’s needs will get the most attention. It’s likely you’ve qualified the client before reaching out to determine that they are your ideal guest. Maybe you’ve determined they hold events that would often require rooms for out-of-area travelers. If so, your initial email shall include information related to the events and event dates that will show that you’ve done your research and that you have a basic understanding of their needs.
Showcase Your Hotel’s Uniqueness.
You can count on the fact that event planners and travel managers are seeing many pitches each week. After awhile they may start to sound the same. That’s why it’s critical to stand out providing your hotel’s unique selling points that revolve around location, comfort, and value.
Be sure to provide the benefits with that first communication to grab their attention and show that you can meet their needs. Is your hotel located within close proximity to an airport, restaurants, or sporting venue? Paint a picture of what it would look like and how convenient it would be for their guests to stay with you.
Every guest is looking for comfort. Business travelers often need access to free Wi-Fi or a business center. Or maybe it’s a fitness center where guests can unwind after a stressful day at work. Whatever your idea of comfort is will also resonate with your guests. Be sure to incorporate these selling points into your pitch.
Adding value and saving your potential guests money, can be extremely desirable for large groups. Consider the value your hotel can bring to their group, whether it’s complimentary breakfast or shuttle service, your guests would like to hear about it.
Provide a Vision of Your Staff’s Customer Service.
A group is typically interested in more than just rooms or a meeting room. They are interested in the customer-focused culture you offer at your hotel and that starts with the first communication made by you.
Other hotels may have amenities you don’t offer, for example, an on-site restaurant, but you can demonstrate the high level of service you offer in other ways. Maybe your hotel has a rewards program you can offer for booking a large group. Other ideas to consider are accommodating a cancelation polity or providing a complimentary room based on a minimum number of paid guest rooms.
Lock in that group booking with electronic contracts that will enable your hotel to secure a signature quickly and easily. Showing how you can offer the best customer service through the booking process is a savvy way to let them experience how you will take care of their guests at check-in and beyond.
Keep an Eye on the Competition.
With many competitor hotels, it sometimes happens that the competition outshines you. Experienced hotel sales managers will want to know what competitor hotels are offering and how they may be snagging business from your hotel.
How do they position their offers? What concessions are they offering in their proposals? Understanding your competitors can help you better position your hotel to achieve your group revenue and room night goals.
Inform and Assist.
Overall, meeting planners want to work with a hotel that understands their goals and can help them meet those goals.
Respond quickly to questions and inquiries and include detailed information keeping the process as uncomplicated as possible. You want them to be able to visualize the experience for their guests. Reiterate the amenities you offer, including all complimentary services and even guest room layouts or floor plans so they can be confident and honored to be partnering with your hotel.
by Jana Johnson | Apr 21, 2023 | Sales
If booking more weddings is a focus for your hotel, you are likely attending one or more wedding vendor events this spring.
There are many kinds of vendor events in your community where you can set up a booth or a table and showcase what your hotel has to offer.
Options for events include bridal and wedding expos, local venues that host weddings and sometimes even wineries.
Why Should My Hotel Participate in Vendor Events?
Setting up a small table at a local event is a great form of advertising for your hotel and gives you the chance to talk to people in your target market. You will also be able to collect contact information from the bride and groom that you can follow up on later. It also allows you to reach more couples and answer questions or even book on the spot. If the event is a success, you should see a nice return on investment for room bookings.
Prepare for the Event:
Once you have found an event to participate in, next prepare for the event by getting yourself and your vendor table ready.
Craft an Elevator Speech
You may be invited to introduce yourself and share highlights about your hotel, so come prepared with an elevator speech that you can use to sell your hotel’s features and benefits.
Focus on what is important to brides and grooms such as your expertise in booking wedding blocks, exceptional service and staff, hotel honors or awards, upgraded suite with blocks for the couple, restaurant, and bar on-site, etc. Also, include a reminder to sign up for a free giveaway!
During the Event:
Have Awesome Giveaways
Set your hotel apart by setting out items you can raffle off or give away, such as an upgraded room, complimentary stay, and food and beverage vouchers. Have the couples write their name, date of the wedding, email address, and phone number to place in a container for a drawing. Let them know you will notify the winner via email.
Standout Vendor Table
Presentation is everything, especially for brides and grooms planning their special day. Make your table shine by dressing it up with a tablecloth that corresponds with hotel brand colors and hotel signage to bring attention to your table.
An event book or framed photo with pictures of the hotel, hotel rooms, banquet room, and outdoor space is also a nice touch.
Also, adding beautiful flowers to your table to match the hotel brand color, or gift boxes filled with a few Hersey kisses sets a nice impression. If you want to add a giveaway in one of the boxes this would add additional excitement.
Vendor Networking for the Win
It is important to visit other vendor tables before and after the event, spending focused time with wedding planners. Use this time to get ideas, exchange business cards, share information, and invite them for a site tour. Remember, these vendors work with multiple event venues and are a great resource and referral to other venues and brides and grooms.
After the Event:
Attendee List for Follow Up
The wedding event isn’t over after the wedding event is over.
Be sure to check with event hosts to see if they will provide a list of brides and grooms in attendance. Having a list of names and email addresses is key so in case you are not able to speak to everyone at the event, it will be easy to reach out to inquire about needs. Also, you will want to send out personable follow-up emails soon after the event for those individuals you met with.
Thank the hosts of the event and bring along extra flowers, candy, or another small token of your appreciation for the invite. This really is appreciated by the hosts!
The wedding industry can be a big revenue source for your hotel considering wedding industry statistics reported a $21.43 billion global market in 2022. Vendor events can be a great way to build your wedding revenue and with a little creativity and know-how, these events can be a fun way to boost your wedding business today.
by Jana Johnson | Mar 9, 2023 | Sales
Every hotel is unique along with the strategies that work to fill the hotel. When considering the options that will drive the most revenue, group bookings should play a significant role in your revenue management strategy.
What is Group Business?
Simply put, group business is a signed contract selling rooms and meeting space to corporate or leisure groups. Group rates are typically discounted since the group is purchasing the rooms in bulk guaranteeing X number of rooms or more per night for an agreed date. Targeting group business is the best way to maximize your occupancy with one low negotiated rate.
Why is group business beneficial for your hotel?
Group bookings are about offering the best package rates to your potential guests. This is advantageous to your hotel specifically for the following 4 reasons:
Reduce Operational Costs
When you are running a hotel, every dollar matters—especially when operating with a lean staff or no on-site sales manager. Increasing group revenue for the hotel means that you can spend less time sourcing your hotel and save money on negotiated room rates. By developing a plan to book and rebook group business, your staff will not have to focus much-needed time and effort on marketing and sales for single room transactions.
Predictable Revenue
If the experience was a success, the group or business travelers often return to the same location. Meeting planners and travel managers appreciate consistency and the advantage of having negotiated rates and discounts with hotels. Discounted rates allow travel managers budgets to stretch farther and affords them the ability to rebook with ease the following year and avoid the hassle of shopping for new hotel rates. Also, group business typically books far in advance, bringing you less stress and revenue planning for the coming months.
Trip Add-Ons
Unless the group is traveling just for one day, they may be thinking of extending their trip into a mini vacation. Often travelers extend their trip or come a day early. With the flight paid for by their employer, it’s a great opportunity for the business traveler to invite family and extend the trip to make the most out of their travel experiences without incurring a lot of extra travel costs. This also gives you the ability to upsell additional services that your hotel may offer.
Lower Cancelation Rate
Individual travelers may often cancel travel plans last minute due to illness or change in plans, but it is less likely that a sporting event or business meeting will be canceled. By including group business in your hotel’s revenue management strategy, you can more accurately forecast room bookings.
Considering group business for your hotel will require you to do a deep dive into the data to consider future demand projections along with room inventory. You are going to want to ensure that you book the right piece of business for the right guest at the right time and for the right price. The goal is to make sure that group bookings don’t jeopardize revenue growth but boost revenue and add the potential for future business.
by Jana Johnson | Feb 8, 2023 | Marketing, Sales
We’ve all had that “aha” moment. You know this is the time when something seems so obvious after the fact. In sales, it’s often said, if only I knew that before, I could have landed that deal!
The question is, would we really change the way we do business if we experienced that “aha” moment? I’m sure the answer would be yes if it led to making more money and bringing in more business.
But how can we make these “aha” moments more of a reality and less of a dream? The way to do this is by understanding when to make the most important sales calls and what to get out of these calls.
Follow up on Business You Didn’t Land
Once you have been turned down, it’s easy to give up on that potential customer. But this is the time you need to build a trace system and follow up with these potential customers. It really is the best time to learn and can help you tailor your future approach to talking to potential clients.
Technology has made it simple to organize client information and remind you when it is time to place a call. Consider using one of the best free CRM software programs as reported by Business News Daily, like Hubspot CRM, Zoho CRM, Insightly, or Salesforce.
These programs will help you organize your lead data for your follow-up calls.
Ask Your Potential Guests for Feedback
There could be many reasons your hotel did not align with group needs for a particular event and so you lost the business. If this happens you need to ask your customers for feedback. This is probably one of the hardest things to do in your business, but you will be glad you did.
Was it your pricing? Was it due to lack of meeting space? Maybe your hotel is not close enough to restaurants or entertainment. There may even be something you could change next time. For example, if your hotel was lacking shuttle service, maybe you could price out transportation and offer it as a one-time service.
The potential customer has nothing to lose by providing constructive criticism and you have everything to gain. Especially if “no” is a common word you are hearing from potential group bookings.
Re-Engage with Lost Leads
Leads go dark for many reasons. Your contact may be overwhelmed at work but remain interested in your hotel. Chances are, they will still remember you and you don’t want these leads falling off the grid after all.
The follow-up call shows you are interested in their future business. If you know they selected to go with another hotel, maybe the hotel they selected missed an important detail or they didn’t enjoy their stay.
Your follow-up will make an impression. If their event at the chosen locale wasn’t successful, then this could set you up for possibilities in the future. You may not get a commitment during this phone call, but nurturing that lead over time can turn a “no” into a future booking.
Turn Rejection into Opportunity
Create an action plan for future follow-ups. Your goal here is to stay at the forefront of their mind when a potential client is considering where to hold their next meeting.
Trace out another call in a few months. Maybe you have completed a renovation at your hotel. Or, maybe you just hosted a group meeting and you have a success story to share that is a potential idea for your lead.
You want them to remember you and your hotel so that your hotel is at the front of their mind the next time they are planning the next group event.
Communicate with Multiple Mediums
The bottom line is potential business doesn’t come knocking. You must work for it. Your business is the business of sales and while we can consider a small percentage of our business to come from direct phone calls, most of the time you are going to get your business by the effort you put into your follow-up.
Lead nurturing is all about following up. Sometimes it may take multiple calls to make contact, but the point is to keep trying. And, if your phone calls aren’t working, consider email.
Find other ways to keep your hotel in the running for future events. Connect on social media with popular apps for business such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Continue to promote your unique competitive advantage to stay at the forefront of their mind.
by Jana Johnson | Jan 18, 2023 | Sales
Providing superior accommodations is what hoteliers strive for when opening a hotel. But at the end of the day, running and filling a hotel is a business, and that means you need to sell the most rooms you can to be successful.
As you implement sales strategies to increase the profitability of your hotel, you may be exploring new methods to bring in guests and increase occupancy. There is no magic bullet to optimizing hotel revenue, but you may want to consider increasing your base business as the number one sales strategy on your list.
Your hotel needs base business to survive the ups and downs of the ever-fluctuating economy and to continue to rise above the competition. Here are a few of the benefits you will realize when you emphasize sales strategies designed to increase base business at your hotel.
Income You Can Count On.
Repeat business means money you can count on weekly, monthly, and yearly. Maybe your hotel has those perks every business traveler likes, such as outlets in multiple locations in the room or charging stations and luxurious bath amenities. Whatever the reason, customers return if they like what you have to offer. Monthly bookings by loyal customers allow you to plan on sales revenue coming in the door, which has a positive effect on your entire business.
Combat a Fluctuating Economy.
Your repeat customers will pay you regularly allowing your business improved cash flow. Also, repeat customers care about their reputation. Remember, you’ve already built the relationship. They care enough to make sure you are paid and paid on time. These are the customers you can count on.
Spend Less Time on Guest Administration.
Just like an old married couple, you begin to know how a repeat customer thinks, and what makes them happy. If this customer stays often and is part of the rewards program, you don’t have to spend time on the amenities that make them happy. The system data should already be in place so when this customer makes their reservation, it will trigger staff to do something to make their stay more enjoyable, like having bottled water delivered to their room. These systems are already in place, which means a time-saver for management.
Word-of-Mouth Referrals.
Consumer research shows that 89% of consumers are likely to use a business based on its online reviews. Build the ultimate experience for your customers and they will tell all their friends, colleagues, business partners, Facebook followers, and… you get the picture. If they like your hotel, they will refer everyone they know, and that is the easiest way to get new business.
Improved Insight into Guests’ Needs.
It always comes back to one keyword: communication. Train your team to communicate with guests to reduce errors and learn more about their travel needs. Learn to bond with your guests and strive to make sure each stay meets and exceeds their expectations. Gathering feedback shows that you listen to your guests and value their input. This leaves a positive impression which keeps them coming back to stay time and time again.
Overall, revenue can be increased by building your base business. It’s great to have your hotel full during the summer months, but you can’t make money booking four months out of the year. Building on your base business is what feeds the hotel and makes it profitable for the rest of the year.
