As we put the economic downturn
behind us, we must be strategic in how we think about sales plans for our
hotels. The plan should not just be about getting heads in beds at all costs.
The following six steps are proven and can help you lay out a successful
hotel-level sales plan.
William Edmundson
|
1. Revenue goals—One thing hoteliers forget is to have specific revenue
goals for their property that consider not just a number that they would like
to achieve, but a number that is made up of components including occupancy
throughout the year, and average daily rate that considers not only your base
rates, but also your negotiated rates for both weekday and weekend business. If
your market is growing in demand, will you be able to utilize additional
revenue maximization strategies? Will rate be increasing across your competitive
set?
2. Competitive analysis—Know your competition inside and out. What is the condition
of their product? Who are their top accounts? What rates are they charging, and
what is their volume? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How is their staffing
and service? Know the answers to these questions and you will be in a good
position.
3. Current accounts—Be sure that you know who is staying with you and at what
rate. Have it catalogued. Know who the decision makers for your clients are and
have a plan to make sure that you are on top of every account and every
decision maker within that account. This is good old-fashioned account
saturation. You should also know what your property’s strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats are. It is amazing how one small open issue with an
account can leave an opening for one of your competitors.
4. Top target accounts—Which accounts do you want to steal from your competitive
set? How are you going to do that? Use the development of your sales plan to
know who your top target accounts are. Know where they are staying, what they
are paying and how you intend to get that particular account. Just like you
should have a pre-call objective when you make a sales call, you should have
top target accounts when you make a sales plan. Know that there are accounts
that may not make sense to have at your hotel – don’t waste valuable sales time
on these.
5. Plan for each target segment—Plan for each target segment. If one of your goals is to
increase leisure business, you should have several tactics that will help you
do that. If your goal is to increase revenue per available room for a
particular segment, then you will need to be sure that your pricing strategy
and the training of the front-desk staff and your revenue manager are on the
same page. You have to have a united front here or goals can slip away.
6. Measurable goals—Have measurable goals for each strategy and each tactic in
your plan. The best operators know that it is not just your annual
occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room, but how
you get there. Know what performance you need to hit by day of week and season
of the year, and don’t forget that RevPAR is the combination of rate and
occupancy. You need to know how you plan on adjusting that mix while keeping on
mind your hotel’s condition, staffing levels and a realistic assessment of what
the price value of your property is.
Follow these six proven components
to a strategic sales plan, track your progress often and remember to make your
plan a living plan by reviewing it frequently and adjusting it according to
current market and competitive conditions.
William Edmundson is a hospitality
executive with more than 20 years experience in brand building, culture
creation, innovative marketing and sales, operations, and franchise relations.
He has worked on industry leading brands for Holiday, Promus, Hilton and
Choice. William is currently consulting, speaking and writing for the
hospitality/travel industry and can be reached at williamledmundson@yahoo.com or 301-653-0506.
The opinions expressed in this column
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HotelNewsNow.com or its parent
company, Smith Travel Research and its affiliated companies. Columnists
published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be
controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion
within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor
with any questions or concerns.
