REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Potential revenue can be left on the table at convention hotels due to weak standards when handling sales inquiries, sources said.
According to a recent “mystery shopper” survey from consulting firm BDRC Americas, 70 hotels in nine cities showed a broad range of performance within brands on responses to inquiries. One shocking result, according to BDRC, was in telephone follow-up, with no brand calling back any more than 50% of inquiries to close the business. In many cases, hoteliers failed to send a proposal.
When examining the survey’s results, it’s clear that hotel sales employees need to step up their game, and sources shared some best practices for doing so.
What works
“One reason that we as a company do well is that it is a priority for us,” said David Lewin, GM of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, which ranked at the top overall in the survey as far as responsiveness and in dealing with customers.
“We spend a lot of time deploying against it, talking about it, testing it. The reality is that if you spend time on it you will have results,” Lewin said.
Training is key at the high-ranking Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel & Executive Meeting Center, according to Christina Candler, director of sales and marketing.
“Our entire team goes through annual training; then we have monthly training where we concentrate on one aspect—maybe personalization or different ways to establish rapport with a customer in email or in person,” Candler said.
She said the team also conducts a monthly mystery shopper call for a sales manager, which is audio recorded. An extensive report is created based on the call, and there is a one-on-one meeting with the manager.
“We do not see that as a ‘gotcha’ moment but as a coaching opportunity,” Candler said. “We find that some managers do 90% or better consistently on their shopper reports but most start at 75% and improve with coaching.”
Two top-ranked hoteliers said that their phones do not go unanswered.
“Our goal is to get you on the phone live and get back to you with follow-up,” Lewin said. “Other hotels might have an administrative assistant take a call and relay it to a manager. We are focused on serving the call or inquiry when it comes in and getting information into the hands of the customers as quickly as possible.”
As a Hyatt brand, Lewin said the practice is “first and foremost a philosophy.”
“Next, it’s goal-driven,” he said. “The goal is to get back to people immediately if not within three hours of the call. After that, we consider it a fail if it’s in business hours.”
“No messages go to voicemail,” Candler said. “We always try to close the business on the first call because it’s so difficult to get somebody back on the phone.
“As a team we have a policy that no lead goes unfollowed. Somebody will always be in the office to cover the phone,” she continued. “If a person takes a call and it’s not their piece of business, they will treat it like it is but at some point you tell the customer who will be handling it and then they will take over.”
Candler said that electronic requests for proposal create a barrier between a customer and a salesperson.
“We try to personalize our responses,” Candler said. “Even if an RFP says ‘do not contact,’ I may tell the salesperson to reach out anyway. We try in any way we can to break down the electronic barrier. That might be by attending shows or annual meetings, especially those held or attended by third-party planners. …
“Once you have some kind of personal relationship you are more comfortable in shooting them an email even if they have said they don’t want that. We also make trips to cities like New York or Chicago to meet with clients and establish that personal connection.”
Confronting challenges
“Many times salespeople fall into a mindset that meeting planners can’t afford to meet at their hotel,” Lewin said. “In general, people rationalize their way through not following up, why this lead is not as important as that lead. But I have managers who come in new and get 30 to 50 leads a week right away.”
Salespeople in the hotel industry often can find it difficult to organize their time, Lewin said.
“Every hotel in every city spends hours and days bidding on meetings that have no intention of coming,” he said. “Some hotels get the same bids every year and it’s natural for salespeople to think it would never even be coming to that city. But you can never say never.”
Lewin said one challenge is that salespeople get so caught up in day-to-day issues that “they fail to fill the sales funnel.” The solution, Lewin said, is to return to the phones and move on to the next call.
Candler gave similar advice.
“Salespeople must organize their days,” she said. “They have to make a note about when they said they would respond and do so. Technology helps with that, but in the end it comes to how determined the salesperson is. I have one old-school salesperson and a simple ‘don’t contact me’ will not get in her way.”
The BRDC survey showed a consistently poor record of following up that was described as “broken promises.” Hoteliers at the best-performing properties said they work to avoid those situations by monitoring electronic RFPs.
“I can ask the sales manager how long it took to respond to an inquiry,” Candler said. “Our goal is to respond to online RFPs in four hours. That used to be 24 hours, but now you want to be first in the door.”
“There was a time when responses were expected within a few days and then later within 24 hours,” said Gus Vonderheide, VP of global sales in the Americas at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “Today, very often a two- to four-hour window must be met for us to secure the business. We have to juggle and then prioritize the many leads being received at the hotel level.”
The push for personalized communication and response flies in the face of studies of the millennial traveler, who some believe shies away from personal contact.
“I have sales managers in their early 20s who do a phenomenal job of making connections, and not necessarily with the executive but with a gatekeeper, who is also is their 20s,” Candler said. “They might use Instagram or Snapchat to maintain that relationship. … At the end of the day there is nothing new under the sun. The core principles are there—being responsive, answering the phone and doing what you promised.
“If you do those things, you will be successful.”