What Do You Do When You (Think You) Don’t Have Anything To Do?
Thinking outside of the box is a task for everyone in our business. Even sales people who think they don’t have anything to do – do have something to do. It is important to remind yourself that you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. Imagine you are reviewing your end-of-the-month production […]
Hotel Sales: “I Think I Canna”….
“I think I canna, I think I canna”….. Remember that childhood story about the little train that could? The story was about teaching children to believe that they can do anything they set their mind to and conquer their fears by trying. “I think I Can” is the mantra used by the “Little Engine That […]
Storytelling: Your ‘Once Upon A Time’ Story
In my previous blog Storytelling: Salesmanship or Fantasy, we explored the Value Story for your company. In this blog, we will continue to understand why the Founder’s Story is important and how entrepreneurs use story to attract money, customers, and talent. According to Kindra Hall, author of Stories That Stick, every business has a story […]
Ingredients for Hotel Sales in the “New Normal”: Care, Compassion and Hospitality
In the “new normal” our sales techniques will need to be modified. In the short-term, we need to refresh our “menus” and put ourselves on a “low-calorie diet of healthy messaging”. Hotel sales people seem to be struggling to understand the fine line between communication and active sales. While we have the “old normal” ingredients […]
Don’t Fall for it. It is the Season for Sales.
My Daddy always said, “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” I am taking advantage of this “first day of Fall” to focus on salesmanship and getting your customers to choose you over the competition. And, since there are many “fall” references and play-on-words opportunities from quotes, motivational sayings, and fun […]
The Benefit of Cheating and Value of a Cheat Sheet
I’m an Army Brat. My Dad was a Colonel and served our country for 32 years before retiring. So, given my upbringing, it’s likely that when it comes to learning and understanding standards, procedures, and organization, that I draw on my childhood and my Dad. It’s funny, because there are many things that come naturally […]
2019… The Year of the Pig
Let’s talk turkey, resolutions, and organization as we begin 2019:Turkey:You were probably not born in a Year of the Pig, so don’t waste time trying to analyze your own personality characteristics. You may however, encounter “Pigs” who are customers so be on the look out for these traits and use your fabulous sales skills to […]
‘Tis The Season For Thanks And Giving
In the hotel industry, we are always thanking and we are always giving…. especially in November and December. Unless you are a winter destination or resort, this is the time of the year when business drops off a cliff and we scurry to scare up anything we can to help our occupancy, ADR, RevPar. It is […]
May Day: Day to Celebrate or a Cry for Help?
On Tuesday, May 1st we celebrate May Day. It’s a sure sign that warmer weather is upon us and that summer cannot be far behind. May Day is a happy day. We pick and give flowers, we dance around May Poles, we dig out pastel colored clothes, and we start thinking of beach days. Why then, […]
Trends: Jump on the Bandwagon or Jump off the Cliff?
In our industry, trends are often shared about anything and everything to try to impress the customer. Some are great! Some are, well, a bit over-the-top (i.e. installing sensory deprivation tank for wellness treatments…1,000 pounds of Epsom salt, free of sound, free of gravity, total darkness, just you and your thoughts, floating in the water, […]
You’ve Quoted Too High. Now What Do You Do?
You went for the moon and priced high. You wanted to show the market who’s the boss. You made your stand, but the customer hasn’t called you back and won’t return your call. You are frantic because you want and need their business. What do you do now? Oh boy. What does a salesperson do when […]
Is Selling Just Marketing, or is Marketing Just Selling?
There is often confusion as to whether a good salesperson is actually selling or whether they are just wandering around the community marketing their hotel and hoping a sales contract drops in their laps. In order to try to specifically define the difference, I called on my old friend Wikipedia to help me with the […]
Love Is In The Air. Or Is It?
The Beatles say “All You Need Is Love”. John Paul Young says “Love Is In The Air”. The Captain and Tennille say “Love Will Keep Us Together”. It really doesn’t matter how we define Love or why it works – we just need to create a “Love Story” for our guests and help our loyal customers […]
Creating a Social Strategy and Social Calendar for Social Media Posts
Several of our portfolio hotels employ a company for social media postings. Some of you do your postings in-house. And, some hotels I am responsible for your social media. No matter the vehicle, it is imperative that whoever is doing your social media posting thinks logically, has a written social media plan and creates an […]
Google Alerts… Free Sales Prospecting Tool
Do you have Google Alerts set for all your customer companies? What about companies you want as your customers? One of the biggest advantages a salesperson has is his/her knowledge of the market and customer base. Knowing everything about your clients is imperative to relationship building. If you know the “latest and greatest” about your […]
Be A Star When Analyzing Your STR Report
You’re in an owner’s review meeting, and your hotel owner asks, “Why did our comp set beat us? What did they have that we didn’t have?”. What do you respond? Continually saying “I don’t know” is not star behavior. We must be great “star analyzers” of STR (Smith Travel Research) reports, and hotel GMs and […]
Direct Bookings: Why Anything Else Is Like Flushing Money Down The Toilet
Every hotel manager wants every guest to make direct bookings on either their hotel/brand website or by calling the hotel/brand. So why do we consistently shoot ourselves in the foot by making it too easy for them to book on indirect websites…. primarily third party websites? Yes, we want all the supermarket shelves to be […]
Leaders of the Pack – Motivating GSRs to Gather Wool
Every person who walks through our front door is a potential customer and our Front Desk staff is an integral cog in the sales conversion process. Face it, there is someone at your desk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and if we are not training these very valuable associates in the lead […]
Lettuce Turnip the Beet and Sell!
Selling is a very broad-based activity. Everyone’s style is different – kinda like listening to the different music genres. Because June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, tomorrow (June 16) is Fresh Veggies Day, and Friday (June 17) is Eat Your Vegetables Day, wouldn’t you stand out from the crowd visiting a client with […]
Body Language. Getting The Upper Hand In Sales
Your body language is an important and integral piece of the salesmanship puzzle. The right body language will exude confidence. (Please watch this Ted Talk about Body Language and it’s role in the sales process.) The wrong body language will put off buyers and send the wrong message. It’s not all about what we say, but […]