Marketing Review - Spring 2008 - (Page 62)

rooms on these dates—how much?’” he says. “That’s it. What is taken out of the process are the insights and nuances that the professionals in the hospitality industry can bring to that association, corporate, or third-party meeting planner.” The other thing the Internet has done, Nour says, is reduce a hotel’s once revered brand equity to nothing more than a commodity. Worse, he says, it might be too late for hotel brands to resist the commoditization. “That would be an option if what I am describing was periodic or isolated incidences, but it is becoming much more prevalent,” he says. “You can walk away from one or two pieces of business, but you can’t walk away from eight or ten pieces a month.” Such a reality, Nour says, is a direct result of the Internet and its depersonalization of the sales process. “Unfortunately, what a lot of key decisionmakers in the hospitality industry—including our clients—have neglected to realize and prioritize is the strategic value of their relationships,” he says. From his own observation, what percentage of hospitality sellers try to build strategic relationships today? “Less than 20 per cent,” Nour says. “The other 80 per cent of the market is fueling the commoditization. When a meeting planner calls a hospitality seller and says, ‘I want X, at Y price,’ very few of those salespeople ask, ‘Why are you having this meeting? What are you trying to get done?’ And if all they do is give them back a price based on what the planners say they want, they’re contributing to the commoditization. They’re not building a relationship based on strategic value.” A PRESCRIPTION FOR BETTER LONG-TERM HEALTH DAVID NOUR, president of Atlanta-based consulting firm Relationship Economics, whose clients include InterContinental Hotels Group, Disney, and Marriott, offers a clear remedy for what he says ails many hospitality sales organizations today. I Identify your ideal customer profile. “Not every piece of business is good business. So, what’s ideal for you?” I Identify your ideal buyer profile. “A customer profile is a profile of the com- pany. This is an individual buyer profile. Who is the individual within that organization who has the problems that you can solve?” I Identify your ideal relationship profile. “What’s an ideal relationship that you’re willing to invest in for the short, medium, and long terms? Look at the lifetime value of that customer and prioritize your top 50 prospects that you will actively invest in.” I Leverage technology when technology can be an asset. “A case in point is social networking technologies like LinkedIn, Jigsaw, Spoke, ZoomInfo, and SecondLife. They are actually relationship enablers. You can leverage those to create access and get in the door.” Editor’s Note— See the 2008 HSMAI Foundation Special Report, “The Travel Marketer’s Guide to Social Media and Social Networks: Sales and Marketing in a Web 2.0 World.” I Get back into consultative and relationship-based selling. “Get away from the commoditization and the ‘How much for heads-in-beds?’ question.” I Consistency is more important than creativity. “Be consistent, whether it’s a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, in how you value and manage your relationships.” I Go back and train your sales organization. “Teach them when to take a transaction and when to go for building a relationship.” Solving the Problem Hospitality providers who want to prosper past the current seller’s market must make a choice, Graham explains. “They have to determine whether they want to establish accounts, or just make sales,” he says. “There is a difference. Developing accounts means developing relationships and getting repeat business. That lowers your cost of sales. That is a strategy. If you’re just going after the almighty dollar, to sell the space, everything is about efficiency. That’s an entirely different process.” Mike Fegley, vice president of global sales at InterContinental Hotels Group in Atlanta, embraces the growing trend toward preferred vendor programs as a 62 win-win situation that can help turn back the current tide of depersonalization and commoditization. “That’s a very smart way to do business, for both parties,” says Fegley, who oversees 84 salespeople representing more than 3,800 hotels worldwide. He thinks that trend, now being spearheaded by innovative corporate clients such as Lockheed Martin—an IHG customer—will grow. For each client, Fegley expects, the “short list” of properties will get shorter, and those hotels will get solid, profitable business—and the client will get better service. “If somebody is giving you 2,000 room nights a year, versus 200, there’s a very different level of treatment there, a different kind of relationship,” Fegley says. Schmidt says he would also like to see a continuing trend toward preferred vendor programs, which reward individual brands for performance and help avoid commoditization. Massari notes that there must be a new level of open dialogue between sellers and buyers, not just terms and conditions. “Sellers need to understand what is important to buyers, and buyers need to understand what is important to sellers,” he says. “That way, we can come to an agreement.” “If sellers are thinking it’s our time to rock and roll on prices, they are wrong,” says Branciforte. “You have to get a fair market price, but you also have to build a relationship that will last a long time.” Adds Schmidt, “Everything comes back to relationships. We’re in a symbiotic relationship. Hospitality sellers need meeting planners, and they need us. We need one another.” I HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • SPRING 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review - Spring 2008

HSMAI Marketing Review - Spring 2008 Contents COLUMN: The Online Marketer COLUMN: Success Stories COLUMN: Guest Column Ten Trends Now Shaping the Future of Hospitality Turning the 2008 Consumer Tax Rebates into Hospitality and Travel Sales 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality and Travel Sales and Marketing The Lure of Lore: Connecting with Customers Through a Unique Brand Story A Careful Balancing Act A Meaningful Relationship: How Technology Affects the Connection Between Hospitality Marketers and Meeting Planners SPECIAL SECTION: The 2007 HSMAI Adrian Awards Building Five Star Imagery

Marketing Review - Spring 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.