Hotel & Motel Management - April 21, 2008 - (Page 10)

10 Sales Clinic IN THE details Working the ﬂoor Find the right show Maximize prospects Figure ROI H&MM April 21, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Get return on investment at a tradeshow t is amazing how many sales people attend trade shows, purchase exhibit space, and do not maximize their time effectively enough to measure their return on investment. Figuring the ROI is simple enough once you understand the cost involved, then estimate actual business that could be developed during the year after the show. I By Howard Feiertag H&MM Columnist To begin, salespeople must get involved in basic training on how to work a tradeshow to maximize productivity. In attending many industry conferences and observing how tradeshow exhibit booths are managed, it is easy to see how productivity can be improved. Before any investment in a show is made, do research to de- termine if a particular conference and tradeshow makes sense for the property involved. If the show draws participants from the market segment in which a property is interested, it might make sense to get involved. Further, it is important to learn of the ratio of prospective buyers to sellers. It might not make sense to purchase exhibit space if it ap- pears that buyers may be very much outnumbered by sellers. For the most part, attending and participating as an exhibitor at industry events does not guarantee deﬁnite sales. The real opportunity sales personnel have is to maximize developing real prospects for business. It is in the best interest of a property to have salespeople complete an information sheet as they get attendees to come by the booth. Just asking a few critical questions—who, what, when, where, why, how—would identify possible prospects. The follow-up with prospects needs to be done once the salesperson returns to the property. Once the number of prospects has been identiﬁed, it would be fair to estimate that one out of 10 prospects could be booked for business within the ﬁrst year (probably more depending on a salesperson’s proﬁciency). In looking at the particular market segment represented at the event, it would be easy to determine the dollar value of the average revenue generated by just one of these meetings during a year. If, for example, the year-end report reﬂecting all group business by market segment indicates that, for the corporate market, one meeting brought in $25,000, then booking one definite meeting by a prospect in this segment is valued at that amount. It would be safe to ﬁgure that seeking 10 times the amount spent would be a good return. There are a few shows that provide the opportunity of matching up buyers with sellers, such as HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings (www.hsmai.org) and the two MPI conferences and tradeshows (www.mpiweb. org). However, in order to participate in MPI conferences, suppliers need to be members of the organization. For a tip sheet on attending tradeshows, send me an e-mail at howardf@vt.edu. Howard Feiertag is on the faculty of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va. He can be reached at howardf@vt.edu. SDCI 0169_HFB CIRCLE NO. 119 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.hsmai.org http://www.mpiweb.org http://www.mpiweb.org http://www.sndcoffee.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - April 21, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - April 21, 2008 Contents Vista Affirms Fair Franchising Doctrine HOTEC Panel Explores Green Procurement Spa Revenue Drives Overall Profitability Perspective Legal FAQ Sales Clinic Travel Trends Guest Column Trends & Stats Owners and Operators Feel Pressure to Switch to HD Protect and Clean Stone Floors Coffee On Demand Fitness Equipment Experts Weigh New Builds Vs. Conversions Transactions Ad/Edit Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - April 21, 2008

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