Hotel & Motel Management - August 2008 - (Page 10) 10 Sales Clinic IN THE details Sales staff may be needed More competition on the way Direct sales ideal In-house options H&MM August 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Small properties may need direct sales effort urrent economic conditions and the fuel price situation may be producing a decline in hotel use at some roadside and suburban lodging locations. The industry is coming off one of the best situations there has ever been for increased occupancy as well as rates for the smaller properties. If the next couple of years do not C By Howard Feiertag H&MM Columnist continue to provide business, what can smaller lodging operators do to maintain sales? Of course, various Internet providers of business have done well for these types of properties, but isn’t business on a decline from those sources? With more properties being built and in the pipeline, there are, and continue to be, more and more rooms coming online. This means more competition is on the way, and those properties also will be seeking business from Internet providers. So, maybe it is time to hire a salesperson. Regardless of the size of a property, a salesperson, doing an honest job with proper direction, should be able to return at least 10 times the investment made in his or her salary. There really is no substitute for a direct sales effort. All types of marketing can bring a property to the attention of the public, but it is the salesperson that delivers the product for a price. A direct sales effort means having a person on the staff who goes out to contact sources of new business that will be profitable for the property. He or she gets new business by making sales calls to prospect companies and organizations that are in a position to put guests in rooms and restaurants. These calls are made in person as well as by phone and, of course, e-mail. The direct sales effort is a very meaningful way to bring in additional business, and it could very well be the most productive way for a property to become more profitable. Who does the job? In a small property, where an operator may feel that hiring an additional person on the staff to do the job is not affordable, it could very well be the property manager who does it, even for just a couple of hours a day. The manager or lodging operator who personally handles the direct sales effort may be the best approach to setting up a sales operation, provided all of the other daily functions of operating are turned over to someone else. Another situation to avoid is hiring someone to do sales on a full- or part-time basis, only to end up having that person work as a part-time desk clerk, parttime secretary or part-time anything. Make sure the salesperson sticks to a direct sales effort. Responsibility for the sales effort ultimately lies with the lodging operator, whether that person is called the GM, managing director or even the owner. That person truly is the general sales manager. For some basic tips on locating and developing leads for new business, send a request to howardf@vt.edu. hmm@questex.com 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. CIRCLE NO. 120 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.carrier.com http://www.carrier.com
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