Jul
21
Do you work in hotel sales?
Do you want to know how to start increasing sales at your hotel?
Here's a tried and tested approach. I first learned it from a fascinating hotel sales guru in 1994. Before the Internet.
It is still every bit as valid today. And it still works.
It works for room sales, banqueting sales, restuarant sales, leisure club sales.
So if your general manager or regional sales manager is hammering you to improve your sales figures. This is what you do. In the order specified.
1. Convert enquiries
The internet has taught us to be rather glib about enquiries. Customers are encouraged to be price led. That's no excuse for not converting enquiries, whether it's a phone call, an email, a website enquiry or a letter (ahhh, letters. Remember those?). The advertising, awareness and other promotional work you've done to date is causing enquiries to happen. Are you converting them? Are you measuring how many there are and how many bookings they bring? If the telephone rings how is it answered? Are people in customer facing/sales roles incentivised to convert enquiries? If someone sends you an enquiry email what happens to it? If you're responding to a brochure request will it go out the same day? First class?
2. Get more from existing customers
What is a customer worth to you? Think of their lifetime value, not just the value of their last purchase. Can you sell them something else? Have you made them aware of other services you have that they might be interested in? Why do people buy from you? Do they know somebody else who is in the market for what you provide? Who?
3. Bring old business back
Most hotels have customer records and files going back years. Don't let anyone throw them out until you've had a good look through them. Who used to come to your hotel? What events were held? If they're not still being held, where did they go? Identify the people who haven't been back for a while and CONTACT THEM with a nice, friendly, valuable offer. If they haven't been back because of a bad experience, do something about it.
4. Attract new customers
Only when you've exhausted all of the above do you make efforts with this. Attracting new customers is expensive and time-consuming. You'll notice that the first three items on this list are pretty low cost and are focused on identifiable people. Reaching out for new customers is expensive because you can't deal directly and exclusively with people who are familiar with what you do. You need to filter through your target market. Of course, reaching out for new customers is much more exciting and sexier than spending hours trawling through dusty old files or putting an effective conversion system in place. But I bet if you let me do it I can outperform your ROI on your efforts to attract new customers. I'll get better results.
And so will you if you follow this simple approach.
So the next time someone calls you with a special one time only advertising offer just think about this: What could you achieve spending the same resources on items 1, 2 and 3 above?
(Derek - I'm indebted to you for hammering these sales and marketing lessons into my skull nearly 20 years ago)
Do you want to know how to start increasing sales at your hotel?
Here's a tried and tested approach. I first learned it from a fascinating hotel sales guru in 1994. Before the Internet.
It is still every bit as valid today. And it still works.
It works for room sales, banqueting sales, restuarant sales, leisure club sales.
So if your general manager or regional sales manager is hammering you to improve your sales figures. This is what you do. In the order specified.
1. Convert enquiries
The internet has taught us to be rather glib about enquiries. Customers are encouraged to be price led. That's no excuse for not converting enquiries, whether it's a phone call, an email, a website enquiry or a letter (ahhh, letters. Remember those?). The advertising, awareness and other promotional work you've done to date is causing enquiries to happen. Are you converting them? Are you measuring how many there are and how many bookings they bring? If the telephone rings how is it answered? Are people in customer facing/sales roles incentivised to convert enquiries? If someone sends you an enquiry email what happens to it? If you're responding to a brochure request will it go out the same day? First class?
2. Get more from existing customers
What is a customer worth to you? Think of their lifetime value, not just the value of their last purchase. Can you sell them something else? Have you made them aware of other services you have that they might be interested in? Why do people buy from you? Do they know somebody else who is in the market for what you provide? Who?
3. Bring old business back
Most hotels have customer records and files going back years. Don't let anyone throw them out until you've had a good look through them. Who used to come to your hotel? What events were held? If they're not still being held, where did they go? Identify the people who haven't been back for a while and CONTACT THEM with a nice, friendly, valuable offer. If they haven't been back because of a bad experience, do something about it.
4. Attract new customers
Only when you've exhausted all of the above do you make efforts with this. Attracting new customers is expensive and time-consuming. You'll notice that the first three items on this list are pretty low cost and are focused on identifiable people. Reaching out for new customers is expensive because you can't deal directly and exclusively with people who are familiar with what you do. You need to filter through your target market. Of course, reaching out for new customers is much more exciting and sexier than spending hours trawling through dusty old files or putting an effective conversion system in place. But I bet if you let me do it I can outperform your ROI on your efforts to attract new customers. I'll get better results.
And so will you if you follow this simple approach.
So the next time someone calls you with a special one time only advertising offer just think about this: What could you achieve spending the same resources on items 1, 2 and 3 above?
(Derek - I'm indebted to you for hammering these sales and marketing lessons into my skull nearly 20 years ago)
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