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Making New Year's Sales Resolutions - Part 2 of 2.
By Dr. John Hogan, CHE CHA MHS
Monday, 19th January 2009
 
This I do know beyond any reasonable doubt; regardless of what you are doing, if you pump long enough, hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward.
Zig Ziglar

The calendar now says January, and looking back at lost opportunities for last year is a wasted effort.  It is now time to think how you will be conducting your sales efforts this week, this month and the balance of this year, in measurable components.

If you have a flexible, effective sales and marketing plan developed for THIS year - congratulations!   The key word here is FLEXIBLE, because the market is changing. It is important to assess where your market is – the "sky is falling" syndrome reported by so much of the media can be overwhelming and yet not necessarily accurate.

Now it is clearly time to hunker down and focus on execution of the plan.

Successful execution for most of us is that we when we build in reminder systems, we track our progress. Those systems usually include monitoring our efforts and formally reviewing with others monthly or quarterly progress.  Those systems may include submitting monthly reports on actual compared to plan in leads, conversions, revenue, bookings, calls, trips, etc.

Regardless of where you are in planning, TODAY needs to be the day to committing yourself to a fresh start.   .

In our book LESSONS FROM THE FIELD – a COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES, Howard Feiertag and I offered practical approaches to selling in the last big market downturn.

This is the 2nd part of an update of those strategies.

1.  Be a Self-Starter:  Don't wait for your manager or your home office to" wind you up'' every day.

2.  Be Honest:  Don't sell what you don't have, and be honest about your hotel's facilities.

3.  Keep Your Word:  Whatever you promise, you must deliver.  In fact, over-deliver on personal attention and service. This is what sets apart the ordinary from the special.

4.  Talk and Deliver Quality:  Quality is what people need and want, and it is especially important in these trying days. Whether it's the quality of your hotel's services, its food or its staff- quality sells!

5.  Write it Down:  Reconfirm, in writing, everything upon which you and your prospect have agreed

6.  Be Enthusiastic! :  Nothing's as contagious as enthusiasm, whether it's with your staff or a client.

7.  Educate Yourself Continuously:  Keep learning as much as you can about our business. There are too many salespeople out there who don't know enough about hotel operations.

8.  Don't Gripe About Work:  If you're unhappy with your job or your boss, straighten it out. Or quit.

9.  Do Not Use Canned Pitches: Yes, you need to practice your presentation but canned pitches appear to be rehearsed and frequently less than straightforward, so don't use them to sell your hotel. Know your product. Be convincing in a normal, conversational manner.

10.  Forget the Word "can't".  You "can't" a person to death or your negativity may cause them to book elsewhere. Say, "Yes, we can" instead, assuming of course that you can deliver. You're part of a team, so keep "can't" out of your conversation and all communication.

11.  Use Action Calendars:  They're needed to plan the work ahead, and they allow you to adjust your schedule as necessary.

12.  Dress the Part:  Don't go overboard on clothes styles. The classic look is still the best for sales.

13.  Be a Joiner:   Be active in your community; join professional groups like MPI, HSMAl or your local hospitality associations.

14.  Talk to Your Manager or Owner Regularly:  Keep him or her advised of what's going on daily; it'll improve communications and productivity.
  
There is nothing magical about the 28 points mentioned, except that they do work.  Why 28? The best answer we can say is we didn't want to have too many or too few.  Add your own success factors, but follow those that work for you.

The economy will always be up in some parts of the world and down in others.  In 2008, oil and energy were hot mid year but had fallen off by year end to record lows. The future may be alternate energy sources, construction, government stimulated reinforcement of infrastructure or some other physical product or a return of the dot.coms in a different fashion.

Regularly assess your market potentials and determine you are pursuing the right ones.
If you part of a brand, capitalize on the collective strengths of the cohesive programs and support them.

For those of us who have been in the industry for more than 15 years, this downturn is a cycle that will be only temporary.  The length of that cycle in your hotel can be shortened by enthusiastic and focused efforts.

Feel free to share an idea at johnjhogan@yahoo.com anytime or contact me regarding consulting, customized workshops or speaking engagements.  Autographed copies of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD – a COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES can be obtained from THE ROOMS CHRONICLE  www.roomschronicle.com and other industry sources.

All rights reserved by John Hogan and this column may be included in an upcoming book on hotel management.   The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication
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