Tag Archives: rooming list

Hotel Sales Manager and Tour Buses

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Tour & Travel Groups are fun,  easy to work with, easy revenue and crazy all in one.  These days Sales Manager’s don’t have coordinators or secretaries to assist with the follow up and maintenance of the group.  There is a lot of leg work for a Sales Manager.

It is important for the Sales Manager to gather all of the clients information so they can communicate that with the Management Team.  Some things to make sure they get is the rooming list, payment, arrival and departure times,  do they need baggage service, where are they eating, what is the age group, where are they going (is there more business?), what is their schedule, how many per room and are their chaperons.  If you can get the name of the bus driver and tour guide that is even better.

The Sales Manager needs to communicate all this information to their Team.  Make sure that the Front Desk Agent is aware that a bus in arriving and help them with any questions.  The Front Desk Manager especially must be informed of every detail.

If baggage service is needed, as a Sales Manager you will need to know what your market is charging for this service.  Is the charge per person or per bag?   I have seen pricing in my area of $4.00 per bag ~ round trip and $6.00 per person.

Most all tour buses will pay for room and tax on a master folio.  On the groups day of arrival, the Front Desk Manager can charge the master, pre-key their rooms and even check them in.  Piece of cake.  You want to have the room keys ready to go when the bus driver or tour guide walks up to your front desk.   There is nothing more embarrassing then the hotel operations not being ready.

Of course, for early arrivals it is understood that chances are the hotel may not be ready.  If the bus is to arrive prior to your check-in time, the Sales Manager should clearly communicate the check-in time with the client and make sure they know that all of the rooms may not be ready.  The Sales Manager should not promise an early check-in.

Where permitted, it is the Sales Manager’s role to meet and greet the bus, chat with the guest’s and provide information such as where your business center is, where they can go to eat, help them if they are not happy with their room or their room key didn’t work and make them feel welcome and at home.  Just think, these people may have been on that bus for 5-6 hours. Kids, Seniors or whoever they are, they want to head to their rooms, wander around the hotel to stretch their legs and simply relax.

When baggage service is required, it is important for the hotel staff to get their bags to their rooms as swiftly as possible.  I find it easier if someone marks the luggage with the room number and the remainder of the team to start getting them to their rooms.  It is a common rule that their luggage is never left without supervision.  Some hotels will place their bags right in their rooms.  Some will leave the bags outside of their rooms.  Personally, I would rather the bags go right into their rooms for safety and security issues.

There are no rules to how long it takes to get the bags up to the rooms.  It is common to know that it is important to get the bags up to them as fast as possible. Some hotels are more efficient and get a system down.  Other’s struggle and take a long time.  The longer you make them wait, the more impatient they get and the more annoyed they are.   Every minute is 10 minutes to them.  And the one thing you don’t want is for them to start taking their own bags.

Have you ever had someone say their bag was stolen?  Well, I can promise you that experience isn’t any fun at all and can cost you your account.

So good luck with your tour buses!  Make sure you take good care of them or someone else will!

Pure Energy

Sales Managers and keeping up with the follow up

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Follow up plays a very important role to every Sales Manager in every industry.  You follow up on inquires.  You follow up on generated leads.  You follow up on plans that your bosses are asking you to do.  You follow up on your kids school work.  Everything requires follow up. 

Many Sales People fail to provide the proper follow up thus possibly losing the sale.  Remember, a Sales Person is to build relationships.  Sales People that establish the relationship, wins the sale.  If the Sales Person does not “follow up” they will lose the sale. 

Follow up consists of client traces – potential, repeat or referred, collecting contracts and deposits, rooming list, inquiries and maintenance calls and more.  I find that I am on the phone a lot and I do miss some of my incoming calls.  They leave a message, I am to call right back.  If you make the client wait too long, they will assume that their business is not important to you and THEY WILL CALL SOMEONE ELSE.

This is why it is very important for you to keep a close eye on your incoming calls, no matter who they are, and to call the right back.  It’s bad enough that they couldn’t reach you and now they have to wait.

Most hotel sales offices consists of a sales software program to enter in client data and set the client traces.  Take advantage of this system, learn it’s features and do it.   This is a very efficient way to increase your calls and the more you get out, the more you will get back. 

Remember the old “index card trace cards”, pulling files and papercuts?  Well, if your property is not using a sales software program then get with your owners and purchase one.  It is best to purchase a sales software program that interfaces with PMS (Property Management System) however that could be costly.  Instead take a look at Goldmine, Hotel Sales Pro and other programs. 

As I make my trace calls throughout the day, handle inquires and do things, I put it all in my sales software program which currently is Hotel Sales Pro.  When I’m done with my call, I put in my notes, then I trace it.  Although the client may not have needs currently, as you qualify you may identify something that you would want to follow up on.  Any leads for 2010 I trace at least 3 other times to keep in touch with the client.  When a need arises, I want them to call me first. 

The beauty of email – these days you don’t even need to call the client.  You can email.  I will email them simply to say hello and let them know that I was thinking of them and here if they need anything.  With the super highway accessible to everyone there is simply no excuse not to follow up.  Your 30 second email can turn into revenue. 

When you get an inquiry these days be very grateful and make sure that you thank the potential client for taking the time out of THEIR busy day to call you. 

Be sure to take the time to trace your clients appropriately and be sure to make your calls and follow up!

Good Luck

Pure Energy

Curb appeal…kickin’ it up a notch!

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Wow!  What a difference.  The new outside lighting has finally been installed down our driveway.  Not working yet but in a day or so it will be.  Looks absolutely awesome.  Great job to all of our staff involved who conquered the project!  I will personally make it my duty to shake their hands and congratulate and thank them. 

Ok, so I’m calling, faxing and practically begging for one of my regular group accounts to send their rooming list in for ……their arrival for tonight.  By early afternoon I finally received it but of course I had no nails left.  Now – all of a sudden – the issue with the rate.  I received a message from their Owner complaining about how they advertise free for us etc….want some cheese for that wine?  Where, where is the advertising and if you are then shouldn’t the hotel approve it? 

I’ll tell you, it’s better not to offer introductory rates if you don’t have to cause when you go to raise them it’s a royal pain.  They don’t care about inflation, gas prices, multi-million dollar completed renovation plans….or new parking lot lighting.  The haggling is enough to make you scream.

The new transient account is producing well already.  And so far so good.  Although they are not my client, I still plan to drop off a thank you package later this week.  It’s important to nurture new business, especially since they will make a difference to our bottom line.  And take a moment to educate the Front Desk Staff about them.  Knowledge is power so give it to them so they don’t look like fools….thus complaints, thus lost account.

I found a ton of leads in the Book of Business.  Certainly worth the $99 a year for the Business Journal.  They will send you a Book of Business each year that you are a member and monthly news prints.  I feel like I’m holding a million dollars in leads and if I work them, I will book them and succeed.  If your property doesn’t have it in the budget, then you can get daily news and information emailed to you for free by creating a free account. 

As far as the direct billing accounts, I’m finding that:

A. Most of the contacts are gone and the new contacts have no idea that direct billing is established.

B. Their needs have changed.

C. And the worst scenario, they are using a competitor.

Just because direct billing is established doesn’t mean that they will choose your hotel first as a preferred although, in the Sales mind, they should.  I require at least $10 grand in revenue before I even bother to send up information about the account that is requesting direct billing.  I have made a FEW acceptions.  It’s just too much work for accounting.  What about the requests that expect immediate billing?  Give me a break.

Good luck selling tomorrow!  Don’t let nothing get in your way.

Pure Energy