Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008 - (Page 12)

12 Sales Clinic IN THE details Local sales effort required Set up market research plan Give sales a personal touch Dedicate time to sales H&MM November 3, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Smaller properties need distinct sales plans here is no question that more hotels are being built each year. While the rate of construction varies by market and location, competition is growing almost everywhere, and the pressure is on to ﬁnd and keep customers. Owners and managers of smaller properties must look at time and effort as a realistic cost T By Howard Feiertag H&MM Columnist of ﬁnding success in their hotels. Because many smaller hotels don’t have a full-time (or even part-time) sales person, the owner or manager must undertake that responsibility. Leaving it to the brand alone to bring in profitable sales is not sufﬁcient— there also must be some local, hands-on sales effort. Smaller hotel management must be able to identify meaningful market research, determine avenues for effective public relations and promotions and still ﬁnd the time for some direct sales effort. To accomplish this effectively, there must be a plan in place. A basic plan can identify the kinds of business segments that currently exist at a property, such as corporate overnight We understand. $33,000,000 Embassy Suites Georgia Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $19,000,000 Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $18,633,336 Holiday Inn Texas Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $17,371,745 Element by Westin Colorado Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $11,840,000 Hilton Garden Inn South Carolina Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $10,100,000 Fairfield Inn & Suites Texas Refinance $9,420,000 SpringHill Suites Florida Construction / Mini-Perm Financing $4,990,000 Holiday Inn Express Texas Construction / Mini-Perm Financing Not only do we understand your business, our lending solutions are flexible, scalable and tailored to provide you with the best solution possible. Our company was founded on the principle of helping our clients reach their challenging and ever-evolving business goals. We accomplish this through timely decisions, wellstructured transactions, and superior customer service coupled with the highest level of confidentiality and ethical standards. We really understand. For more information, please contact Jon Wright President & Managing Director jwright@silvertonbank.com 770.805.2350 Greg Friedman Senior Vice President gfriedman@silvertonbank.com 770.805.2365 Kevin Luyendyk Vice President kluyendyk@silvertonbank.com 770.805.2396 CIRCLE NO. 156 guests, youth sports groups, motor coach tours, leisure vacationers, truckers, etc. The plan also needs to identify which of these segments would be the most logical and proﬁtable business to go after. Once the markets are identiﬁed, the strategy can be developed to promote the segments that are meaningful from a volume (occupancy) and proﬁt perspective. Another area of involvement for owners and managers to get business is to become active in local community activities and to make a certain number of sales calls by phone and in person on a daily basis. Involvement in local activities gives one the reputation of being the local hotelier or go-to person. It will require some volunteer work on committees or public service projects, but it reﬂects one’s interest in the community and is a valuable public relations tool. If a manager/owner will commit enough time to make ﬁve to 10 calls per day, that would equal between 250 to 500 personal contacts per year. This personal networking, while cost effective, should likely yield substantial business. One of the problems with this is management/owners at many small properties become so involved in operations that they end up working the desk, housekeeping or other areas of operation so frequently that they seldom have time for community involvement or sales. This may be some saving of labor costs; however, it is at the risk of losing the longterm proﬁtable effect of marketing and selling. Effective operators of smaller properties will dedicate at least 25 percent of their time (weekday, prime contact hours) to networking and selling. Hoteliers who do not either handle this critical responsibility themselves or ensure it is handled by someone competent run the risk of their investment failing. It is an unnecessary failure. 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. http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

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Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008 Contents The Rate Debate Accor Defines Motel 6 Prototype Rollout Holiday Inn Eyes Upscale, Timeshare Perspective Economy Sets Tone at The Lodging Conference Mellow Vibe Meets Bold Design at HD Boutique Expo IH/M&RS to Focus on Going Green Legally Speaking Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Cornell Insights Franchise Law HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Energy Star Update Energy Star Update An Industry Connected People on The Move Annual GM Survey Point-of-Sale Systems IH/M&RS Product Preview Outdoor Lighting Refrigeration Marketplace Ad/Editorial Index Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008

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