Social Media Angst
May 12, 2010 at 6:44 pm | Posted in Hotel Sales Training Issues, In the News, Information, Social Media, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: hotel, hotel blog, hotel industry, hotel sales, hotel sales issues, hotel training, hotel trends, recovery for hotels, social media, social networks
I have been traveling pretty solid for the past eight weeks. Many of those seminar programs have been for AHLA and included a program on social networks.
The participation has been amazing. Some hotels are using their Fan Pages and LinkedIn Profiles well to have conversations with their customers, some are in between but many are still unsure or having a degree of angst over building out their pages and profiles to include complete information that will give potential customers the information they need that results in lead generation.
The purpose of social media activity is to engage with current customers and generate new ones! A recent article and survey from eMarketing.com revealed B2B and B2C leads generated from social media.
45% of businesses surveyed generated B2B leads from LinkedIn and 68% generated B2C leads!
Why are these pages so important for lead generation? These pages are dynamic in that they can be updated more frequently than the web site, include a great deal more information, actively engage with customers and potential customers and thus generate leads.
Asking your teenage cousin or hiring someone right out of college to build out your presence on these two networks (not tomention Twitter) is not very helpful in that they they don’t undersatnd the intricate relationship that the hospitality industry has with these networks and industry best practices.
Example: One client that has and that has an ‘and’ in their name was virtually invisible on FaceBook. Why? The newly minted social media manager had used an ambersand (&) verus the word ‘and’. How many Fans would think to use an ambersand versus the word ‘and’? As well, there were available opportunities on the addtional pages that were not built out at all.
How many of your hotels, epecially independent and smaller hotels, are having angst over your social media presence? Let’s have a conversation post your comments and concerns below!
Unconstrained Demand: Denials, Regrets and Lost Business
April 19, 2010 at 12:13 am | Posted in Hotel Sales Training Issues, Information, Webcasts | Leave a commentNow that demand is increasing and Revenue Managers are able to begin moving rate, it’s time to revisit the area of what unconstrained demand can tell you — info about who didn’t book may be more useful than info about those that did!
One of the reasons most sales people and Revenue Mangers don’t check those reports from the PMS is that they are imperfect. The res team member has to be in the reservation screen an terminate it prior to the completion of the reservation — reservation interuptus! However, training can alleviate some of these by instituting the low tech system of hash marks under the most common denials and regret category.
You should be regreting some reservations as your rate moves higher. If you have no denials, your rate is too low. It’s delicate balance that we all have to relearn as demand increases!
However incomplete are some info is better than none. For example, how many were rate related, how many were availability related and how many were amenity related — an inability to book the desired room type, having an indoor/outdoor pool, etc.
The info can assist in rate setting for rooms & packages, training opportunities for offering different room types and asking if the customer has flexible rates, etc. If you are geting rate denials for a certain arrival/departure pattern and you aren’t filling, should you take a look at limited ‘specials’, reduce the BAR or enable another strategy.
Sales usually learns more from why they didn’t get the business than why they did. It can also assist in training. Ddi the sales person engage the propsect in conversation about their group or did they just quote a rate and fail to value add to take the conversation to another level?
You get the drift — how much business did you actually book versus how much business did you deny or lose and why?
Join us on Thursday for a webinar “Social Media Drives the Meeting
Business” in conjunction with i-Meet. We are bringing in panelists
– a hotel sales professional, a meeting planner and a
representative from PhocusWright to talk about they successfully use
social networks in their sales processes, venue selection and the
future trends in social networks.
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CarolVerretConsultin/c40634ba38/TEST/a12cc49a47/t=a&d=927889188
Google Maps to Feature Hotel Rates on Search Results
March 24, 2010 at 4:56 pm | Posted in In the News, Information | Leave a commentTags: Google Maps
Google announced on Monday that it will feature hotel rates in the ‘balloons’ on Google maps. This is currently in the Beta stage.
Currently, they will seek rate feeds from advertisers and will be flagged as Sponsored Results. They will not pick up rates from the GDS and other distribution channels but rely on feeds from the hotels themselves. Below is an example of how it will look for a Search for hotels in NYC.
Google has stated that it will not change search results. This new feature will not change the way that hotels are ranked in Google Maps, the company says. Google Maps ranks business listings based on their relevance to the search terms entered, along with geographic distance (where indicated) and other factors, regardless of whether there is an associated price. (HotelMarketing.com, 3/24/10)
With this feature, when you search for hotels on Google Maps you’ll be able to enter the dates you plan to stay and see real prices on selected listings. You can click on the price to see a list of advertisers who have provided pricing information for that hotel, indicated by the “Sponsored” text, and click through to reserve a room on the advertiser’s site. (HotelMarketing.com, 3/24/10)
My concern is that this feature will only perpetuate competitive rate cutting and discounting, making the industry more rate driven than before. It may have an impact on rate parity and integrity and also become a threat to the aggregators who may feel they are in bed with the 500 pound gorilla named Google!
Let me know what you think!
Shoes for Connor — Shoes for Haiti
January 20, 2010 at 1:59 pm | Posted in Events, Hotel Sales Training Issues, In the News, Information, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: hotel blog, hotel industry, hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel sales issues, hotel training, hotel trends, motivation
The good thing about a relatively slow summer for buisness was the opportunity to launch the charity that we founded, Shoes for Connor that was inspired by a business trip to Africa. Log onto http://www.shoesforconnor.com to get the story behind this charity.
Now we have another another mission. We have already collected and sent 1200 pairs of shoes to needy parts of the world — this is an opporntunity for everyone to do a little more — dig into your closets and find those shoes that you are not wearing or your children have outgrown. Rally your hotel or company in an effort that everyone can assist with regardless of their means. We can provide suport in the way of flyers, a recorded presentation and distribution. If you want to help Soles4Souls reach their goal of 100,000 pairs of shoes for Haiti contact us at carol@carolveret.com. See below for more details.
Shoes for Connor – Shoes for Haiti!
We have all been deeply touched and troubled by the situation in Haiti following the earthquake. Following a news broadcast last week I logged onto Soles4Souls web site http://www.soles4souls.org and emailed Morgan Evans, our contact with them. See below her reply:
Hi Carol!
It is very sad what had happened the other day and we are committing to send 100,000 pairs over there. Thank you so much for your hard work with your past shoe drive! I also want to thank you for making an extra effort for more shoes to send to Haiti. We appreciate all that we can get during a time like this. Thanks again!
Sincerely,
Morgan Evans, Donor Program Specialist
Soles4Souls, Inc.
Remember Soles4Souls does not collect shoes. They rely on organizations like us to collect the shoes so that they can distribute them through their channels – they have responded to other disasters and gotten shoes where they are needed. As mentioned on their site, when the immediate needs of food, water and medicine are addressed there will still be a tremendous need to protect little feet from the debris left by the earthquake. People are becoming ill from cuts and abrasions left untreated — we can try to protect their feet!
If you have been thinking about getting organizations that you belong to involved in a shoe donation for Shoes for Connor now is the time to do it. Let’s help Soles4Souls reach their goal – contact me at carol@carolverret.com for info and support on how if we all dig a little deeper into our closets we can make a difference for all of the little Connors in Haiti!
http://www.shoesforconnor.com http://www.soles4souls.org
How the Recession has Changed the Sales Game
January 6, 2010 at 11:15 pm | Posted in Hotel Sales Training Issues, In the News, Information, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: hotel blog, hotel industry, hotel revenue management, hotel sales issues, hotel training, hotel trends, recovery for hotels
Think back to the sales processes that you were using in mid 2007.
Perhaps you were mining the database for new business — if you are doing that now you are getting a much lower return that you were then. Perhaps you were waiting for the phone to ring as it often did with inquiries and if you closed a percentage of them– you could make your goals. Perhaps you were making cold phone calls and now and again a live human would answer the phone — not anymore.
Maybe you were using ‘reader board’ reports for prospects having meetings at competing hotels — still not a bad idea. Maybe you were using Google searches to locate the web sites of security facilities that you couldn’t personally cold call — still not a bad idea but search has/is changing big time!
Than if you got a group booking, it had to be cleared with the Revenue Manager to make sure that it fit with the rate strategy — the higher the rate the better! You paid for information on an account on a platform like Hoovers — now you can find sites that give you that info for free. The client was often grateful to get the space and was ready, willing and able to plan coctail receptions, VIP dinners, restuarant dine arounds — remember those?
In the very short time period of the recession, the sales game changed. The verticals in the database became less prominant and strapped for cash — for example, if Financial was was your vertical market there was a long dry spell but it is is starting to show signs of life. Government per diem is beginning to look pretty good and now the entire comp set is competing for goverment transient and meetings.
Advanced search is the new Google tool as are Google maps and earth — Tweets are beginning to appear on search on results. Eighteen months ago Twitter wasn’t part of the game. Facebook pages are becoming the new web site and connecting with LinkedIn is the new way to contact a potential client. Social networks now have a section in the Marketing and Sales Plan!
The recession’s impact on the sales process has made some sales people uncomfortable but for those that embrace the changes — it makes sales fun!
PS. Where did those inquiries go and did you notice, no one is planning dine arounds or VIP dinners — YIKES!
Finally Good News! PKF Forecast Revised Upward-Demand to Increase in Q1
December 17, 2009 at 9:36 pm | Posted in Hotel Sales Training Issues, In the News, Information, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: hotel blog, hotel industry, hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel trends, recovery for hotels
Have you heard the good news? PKF just revised it’s demand forecast for 2010. Demand will increase by almost 2% in 2010 begining in Q1 2010.
While this won’t mean a great flood in demand it should be enough to change our midsets from ‘survival mode’ to that of planning to optimize opportunities in this fragile but real first stage of recovery. Rates will still be under pressure but declining at a slower rate than in 2009. This should set the stage for real rate stabilization in 2010.
The increase in demand will be mitigated by new supply in the market. If your market has has seen the entry of new hotels, your results won’t be as impressive as in those markets that saw very little new supply come online.
Make no mistake — hotel sales and revenue management processes have seen changes during this recession. Use this quiet time during the holidays to reflect on how these processes have changed, how you can embrace them and prepare your sales and RM deprtments for 2010! Get training for your teams to make adjustments to this new approach to sales & RM. Yes, some things never change it is how we can conduct them faster and more efficeitnly to get the edge on the competition that will make the difference!
Happy Holidays — we have a lot to look forward to!
PS. CVCT has been selected by the AHLA to offer seminars to the state chapters on Power Selling, Revenue Management Game Changers and Social Networks as Sales Tools. Watch for them coming to your area!
Team Meetings, Training Programs — Is the Hotel Industry Hypocritical?
December 8, 2009 at 8:42 pm | Posted in Hotel Sales Training Issues, In the News, Information | 1 CommentTags: hotel industry, hotel sales, hotel trends, recovery for hotels
According to STR, groups and meetings will be the last segment to recover. The AHLA and other travel groups have emphasised to companies and other organizations the benefits of having face to face meetings. We as an industry are trying to encourage a recovery in groups and meetings.
However, how many hotel companies are bringing in their teams for meetings and training programs? Many are citing the same reasons that our clients do for not having team meetings — cost being the primary consideration.
Yes, it has been the the toughest year in memory for the hotel industry but it has also been a tough year for our customers. If we as an industry cannot lead the way in demonstrating the effectiveness of meetings, how can we convince our customers to do so?
This may sound self serving but it is not intended to be that way. In times of difficulty, team meetings are a way of supporting the people that are out there in the trenches every day — making one more call, sending one more email, knowing full well that calls go unreturned and emails are often deleted without having been read.
The first part at least of 2010 is aticipated to be as diffcult as 2009 with a fragile recovery in group demand returning in the second half of the year. Let your team know that you support them, motivate them and give them tools to do their jobs!
Join us for the web cast marathon this Friday December 11. These are updates of the three most popular web casts of 09 — sign up for all three or jsut one or two.
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2009_4th/Dec09_3WebCasts.html
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