Through my recent connection with my competitions Sales People, I realized that they were sitting in the office booking inquiries and not making outside appointments.  Every one’s occupancy is down.  Some larger chains are laying off staff.

The Sales Position is a “Revenue Producing Position” and revenue needs to be produced.  It’s that simple.  How the Sales Person does it, is up to them.  Every Sales Person knows what they are lacking and knows what they need to do. 

They need to focus and get connections that generate revenue.  Steal the competitions business, that’s the game.  Since the economy is down and companies are cutting back on travel, the Sales Person must steal the business from their competitor.  No new business is moving into the area.  The market is stagnant.

Here are some examples or idea’s on how to identify what business is at their competitors:

1.) Make an appointment to tour your competition and meet with the Sales Person.  If at all possible, set a lunch tour and get to know the Sales Person.  You would be surprised on how much information could be dumped in your lap.  And you can use this to your advantage.  Sometimes they will even give up account information.  Remember this is business and it’s their business you want.

Set traces to email or call these Sales People just to maintain them.  Stay in touch for referrals.

2.) Check out their Reader Boards every day if possible and on weekends.  I have asked other Manager’s to help.

3.) If you are daring and wanting to go to the extreme, hit their bar at night with your partner and get chatty with the bartender.  One technique could be to mention that you are not from the area and that you are job hunting.  Do they have any recommendations?  Don’t be fooled on how much these bartenders know. They will only talk about companies that they are familiar with that stay at their hotel.  They might even give you a contact name and phone number.

4.) Parking Lot Drive-thru – drive through their parking lot at night when you believe that most of their rooms are checked in.  Let’s say after 9pm.  It is a lot on the Sales Manager but they will generate leads from reading company names on vehicles that are parked.  In the past I have asked a night auditor on their way home to drive through a couple of selected lots.  Make sure you hit weekdays and weekends since most hotel’s business source changes from weekday to weekend.

5.) Check out the Hotelligence Report.  This is a great report to assist in knowing who is at your competition.  There is a monthly membership fee so check with your Franchiser for any discount opportunities.

6.) Check out the competitions web-site.  Check for “Local Companies” listings.  The hotel will usually post their most precious corporate accounts and venues.  They do this for the client and to attract these companies travelers to their hotel.

7.) If you check out google or yellowpages, you can pull up listings of major companies in your area.  Check out their web-site for a hotel listing.  See how your hotel can get on there.

8.) Cold Call.  Select a targeted area and cold call it.  Bring materials, your business card and a smile.  Comb the area and I guarantee you will learn something and find someone who is using your competitor.  Don’t let the “No Soliciting” stop you from your mission.  Go in anyway.  Bring a treat, be sincere or comment on how great her nails look.  Don’ let the “gatekeeper” keep you from getting the information that you need.

There are many sales technique for cold calling. I have found that getting a contact name from the receptionist and a business card, is good enough for this first contact.  It could be wasted time with no needs, or a potential lead that the Sales Person will need to qualify. 

I take my days information and go back to the office and email or call to follow up on the lead.  My requests are simple; what needs do they have, how much and who is my competition?  With this basic information I can surf the net and shop call the competition to get their rates before my appointment.

My next step that I plan is to get an appointment at their location first.  I always bring treats and a small token for the receptionist who gave me the contact name.  Remember, they are the gatekeeper and you may need to work through some of them to get to the decision maker.

From there I qualify the account, find out their hot points and begin my preparation on stealing the account.  I invite them for a hotel tour.  We have established a relationship and they are going to make the appointment.  If they don’t then they may not be interested or maybe they simply don’t have the time.  Ask them for their business if it makes sense for your property.  If they do not commit ask them why.

I have given out a couple of complimentary rooms to get them to the property if I had to.

This face-to-face connection is extremely important and it in most cases the Sales Person will succeed in stealing the account.

9.) Talk to the employee’s especially the ones that have been there a long time.  You can identity accounts that you used to have “years ago” or even last week.  Create a connection with the Front Desk Staff and your Night Auditor.  Night Auditors talk to other Night Auditors and they know a lot.  Pick their brain and teach them how to get information. Give employee’s that help you close on new business an incentive.

10.) Keep an eye on your reservations.  I check an arrival list every day to see if I notice anything particular about a reservation or a new company name that I haven’t seen before.  Maybe their preferred hotel was full and they wound up at your hotel.  Now is the crucial time to find out why they are there. 

Is there a problem with their preferred hotel?  Do some of their travelers prefer your hotel over their preferred?  Now is the time to act. 

A good idea that works sometimes is that I will leave a welcome message in their voicemail and I thank them for staying with us.  Quick, sweet, then I mention if they could let me know what brings them to the area.  I get about a 60% return on this 30 second gesture.  Most guests were impressed by my interest.

I recommend that the Sales People take action, take the economy seriously and get out on the road or come up with a realistic plan to increase the revenues.

Good luck and go get them!

Pure Energy