Creating a customer-centric sales strategy, Marriott has launched a new centralized sales initiative. This article presents an in-depth description of the initiative - Sales Force One - including its foundation, goals and implementation strategies.

Marriott International has launched a new sales structure - Sales Force One - a companywide customer-centric initiative, aimed at simplifying the sales process for customers and penetrating untapped markets. The structure of Sales Force One allows the customer to work with one primary point of contact, who represents all brands and properties, enabling Marriott, theoretically, to accommodate all of the customers¡¯ needs in a one-stop fashion.

Recognizing the increasing complexity and variety of channels through which customers book rooms and meetings, Marriott International conducted extensive research to ensure that current sales strategies resulted in efficiencies and elevated levels of sales performances. Conducting both internal and external research, Marriott International interviewed sales associates, hotel regional and national sales leaders, in addition to surveying travel managers and meeting planners.

This is the time for bold strategies and actions - when everyone else is 'hunkered down' it is time to get aggressive - if you go on the defensive in this economy, you're toast! Despite the dire predictions that are hitting us every day, there are hotels out there that are making money, on track with last year - a position that every hotel would welcome at this point.

In the latest forecast from PKF, they are predicting that REVPAR will decline by 7.8% nationwide next year. "The expected 2.5 percent fall off in demand, combined with a 2.9 percent increase in supply, will result in a 2009 year-end occupancy level of 57.6 percent. This represents a 5.3 percent decline in occupancy, and is 5.1 percentage points below the long-term average occupancy level for U.S. hotels tracked by STR of 62.7 percent. "The combination of above average net increases of supply occurring simultaneously with dramatic declines in demand is something we have not seen in recent industry recessions. This is what makes this downturn so severe," Woodworth said. (December 9, 2008)

For travelers wary about the cost of taking a vacation to the Caribbean or other distant points this winter, economic relief may be in the offing. In addition to a flurry of discounts from hotels and resorts, many companies are rolling back cancellation penalties, slashing booking deposits and promoting money-back guarantees to encourage hesitant clients to put something on the books. Grupo Posadas, the Mexican hotel operator, has extended a 25 percent-off sale at its Aqua and Fiesta Americana resorts through Dec. 21 for bookings made by Dec. 15.

In the Bahamas, Nassau Paradise Island is offering a $500-cash-back rebate to guests who book an air-and-hotel package at participating resorts for seven consecutive nights or longer by Nov. 30 for travel through February. Guests who stay three to six nights can receive $250. And ResortQuest Hawaii properties are offering discounts of up to 20 percent to guests who book by Dec. 1 for travel between Jan. 2 and Dec. 21, 2009. In the Caribbean, hotels on St. Kitts and Nevis are promoting Worry Free vacations by waiving cancellation fees on bookings made by Dec. 14. Book the Fall in Love package and save 25 percent off a four-night stay or 30 percent off a seven-night stay.

Creating a customer-centric sales strategy, Marriott has launched a new centralized sales initiative. This article presents an in-depth description of the initiative - Sales Force One - including its foundation, goals and implementation strategies.

Marriott International has launched a new sales structure - Sales Force One - a company wide customer-centric initiative, aimed at simplifying the sales process for customers and penetrating untapped markets. The structure of Sales Force One allows the customer to work with one primary point of contact, who represents all brands and properties, enabling Marriott, theoretically, to accommodate all of the customers’ needs in a one-stop fashion.

I’ve been racking my brain for the last few weeks over what to write about. The interesting thing is that it’s not lack of choice that’s been the trouble…it’s too much of it! From the excitement caused by US underdog Barack Obama’s win and the promise of a brighter political future… to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer causing a buzz with his first-ever “holographic” interviews in the newsroom, there’s been plenty going on to keep techies and armchair futurists abuzz. And while CNN’s holograms weren’t really holograms when you cut to the chase…one development is very real…the advancing global recession that we’re slowly coming to grips with. 

Hospitality media has been filled with reports about dropping profits margins, especially in hard hit areas and suggestions to hoteliers on how to best tackle the market situation, i.e. tough it out, work smart and dust off your selling shoes. What surprises me, though, is that while the hotel industry continues its distribution war with online 3rd parties with super-deep advertising pockets, it still continues to ignore its most lucrative booking distribution channel…its guests!

Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.   
                         Arnold Palmer,  American Golfer

The economic uncertainties facing the hospitality industry in 2009 are very real, but there have been cycles of reduced demand before and the industry has addressed them successfully in the past.   Not all hotels have staff totally dedicated to sales, but every hotel has motivated and concerned staff that care about the success of their employer.

Too few hoteliers pay enough attention to front-line staff and their ability to sell for our hotels.  People who work at your front desks, van drivers, bell staff, telephone operators, doormen, cashiers, night auditors – they are the front line for many potential guests.  And “potential” is the correct word, because if those people mentioned above do not receive the proper information, knowledge and attention to meet the needs of those potential guests, many of them will likely keep on looking for other lodging options.

The role of field sales in the past focused around selling products to customers. The role has shifted rapidly to developing solutions and programs for customers that, once sold, allow product to flow through the business-to-business relationship. Today's professional sales person has an obligation to employ all the company resources necessary to create and maintain competitive advantage in their market place.
The company, when developing process management tools for support of the field sales management function, should carefully consider the following necessary requirements for success by the field sales representative.

In a tough market, every room night counts.

These days, as we struggle with how to best market our hotels, do we continue to create promotions and spend money on advertising when customers simply aren't traveling? Do we advertise the way we normally would? Or do we lay low, ride out the storm and spend when things pick up?

We saw negative cycles during the Gulf War and after 9/11, when those hotels that were active in sales were the first to feel the positive impact of the upturn. Maybe they cut their advertising spend or specific areas of marketing budgets, but sales and promotional efforts remained active as they introduced new opportunities for clients.

While this downturn may seem more painful, business goes on and you need to be out there. Here are several ideas to keep your sales efforts strong:

DIRECT SALES & THE PERSONAL TOUCH:

Start calling customers to thank them for their stay and to see if there's anything you can do to enhance their next visit.

    * Hotels can learn a great lesson in customer service from other industries, which make courtesy calls and practice personal outreach. "We noticed you returned something in September and just wanted to make sure you were happy and had the items you wanted. And...remember all our replacements for returns get free shipping, so when you want to reorder, just let us know and we'll waive the shipping." Your customers will certainly spread positive word of mouth about you when you make an effort like that.

    * Build personal relationships with your customers. Stop emailing and pick up the phone to have an actual conversation with clients. Talk about what worked or didn't in the past and how you can gear up for next year. They'll appreciate the unexpected personal outreach.

    *  Now is the time for operating departments to put their sales hats on. Every manager in your hotel should contribute to the sales effort. Coach them on how to ask vendors where their company's managers stay when in town. Where do they hold meetings and holiday parties? Offer incentives for each piece of business that operations managers generate.

INCREASE PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS:

The hotel business will always be a people business that relies heavily on personal relationships. With members of the media being bombarded with pitches from all sides, you may think that setting up face-to-face media visits is a public relations tool that has passed its time. But press visits are still a valuable tactic that can set the stage for building relationships and garnering significant coverage.

    * Consider inviting travel writers to stay overnight and experience (or re-experience) your product first-hand - and reap the benefits of the resulting publicity. The Doubletree Hotel in Annapolis organized a press trip when it opened under a new flag and with an extensive renovation. Ultimately, the effort resulted in substantial editorial coverage in the hotel's feeder market cities. Hotel owners worked closely with the local CVB to organize activities for the media guests and the city reaped the benefits of press coverage as well.

    * Various convention and tourist offices also organize press efforts each year - either with visits to media in different geographic markets, or targeting specific niche media. Partnering with them is always a good idea.

CREATE PACKAGES THAT HIGHLIGHT YOUR AMENITIES:

As travel patterns change, sales, marketing and public relations hotel activities need to be modified to appeal to travelers' specific needs. The media is not only interested in covering seasonal promotions that offer considerable savings, but packages that tie into a particular lifestyle or trend.

    * For example, consider the popularity of traveling with pets. Various hotel brands have rolled out doggy welcome mats with creative amenities and packages. Components run the gamut from pet welcome amenity bags and special dog-friendly guestrooms, to pet entrees available from room service and other creature comforts.

DEVELOP PROMOTIONS TO REWARD YOUR GUESTS:

Create promotions and packages with value-adds worthy of a press release to post to your website and distribute with a wire service. It may even garner more results than a print ad.

    * The Ramada Mall of America in Minneapolis and the Holiday Inn Express in Boynton Beach are each offering an "in-state resident rate" to encourage locals to visit on the weekends. In addition, the new Hotel Indigo Chicago-Vernon Hills, a suburban property, has positioned its indoor pool as a weekend escape for the local market. The hotel has also used local radio to get its name out there, create a "local resident rate" and encourage locals to visit.

    *  The new High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid helps air travelers by picking up their baggage fees to encourage them to stay at their hotel and not worry about the number of bags they travel with.

BE CREATIVE WITH YOUR WEBSITE AND ONLINE MARKETING:

Social blogs enable hotels to communicate to clients more frequently, obtain higher rankings, spend less money and have a higher ROI.

    * Use social media to increase your website foot print. Create your own blog with newsworthy items posted on websites which link back to your hotel. If guests link back to your hotel, they can learn about packages and take advantage of special rates offered. This will also enable the hotel to increase its database, which can, in turn, be used for email marketing campaigns.

    * If your hotel is located in a destination which may have experienced a hurricane, tropical storm, or other act of nature, use this medium to communicate updates on your hotel so guests understand that the hotel is in good shape, or in the midst of clean up, etc.

CONDUCT SALES CALLS TO BUSINESSES IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY:

Reach out to your local community to book wedding, family reunion and church meeting business.

    * A limited service hotel in the South East U.S. recently sent its General Manager, Director of Sales and Executive Team to visit more than 200 retail stores, real estate and professional offices within a 3-day period. Every store or office manager that the hotel team met with received a basket of cookies and flyers promoting various rates and packages. They were also invited to attend a poolside cocktail party at the hotel the following week. Nearly 40 people attended the party and one guest immediately booked a wedding room block for an off peak month!

KEEP YOUR SALES TEAM MOTIVATED:

Motivating the sales team is important, particularly during a tough market when sales managers tend to receive more rejections than signed contracts from clients who have cut back on meetings and business travel.

    * A franchised hotel in the Midwest recently instituted this incentive: The individual sales call quota for each month is 100 telemarketing calls. The Director of Sales challenged the team to increase their telemarketing calls by 25%. Each person who met or exceeded the goal would be awarded a 4th day off during the Memorial Day weekend. Everyone exceeded the goal, booked additional business and enjoyed an even longer holiday weekend!

Whether your hotel is located in a major metropolitan area or smaller suburban locale, is a resort or airport property, and whether you enjoy the benefits of cooperative marketing from your franchise or flag (and particularly if you are an independent hotel), be sure to use your creative selling thinking cap to stay vocal during this down cycle.

You'll be right up there at top of mind when the cycle turns. Let HVS Sales & Marketing Services assist you during these challenging times to prepare you for the up cycle.

with contributions from Eydie Shapiro, Barbara Fischhof and Eve Harris

About Leora Lanz

Leora Halpern Lanz joined HVS as its Director of Marketing in February 1999. She is responsible for coordinating the global marketing and external promotion of HVS' worldwide office network and comprehensive hospitality services. Additionally, she coordinates the internal communications for the firm as well as contributes to the production of the firm's weekly e-newsletter, website and intranet. Her efforts have earned her Awards from the prestigious Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) as well as awards from within HVS itself. Leora also serves as Director of HVS Sales & Marketing Services -- providing sales, marketing, revenue management and public relations expertise for the hospitality industry. Specialties include: operational reviews; marketing plan development; sales and marketing assessments; and reviews of hotel marketing strategies, sales organizations and operations; public relations; sales and marketing coordination with the property's flag; sales action planning; pre-opening marketing; sales direction and training; publicity; and promotions including web marketing.

There is no doubt that hotels across all market segments have invested heavily in reservations sales development. Besides scheduling outside training, most hotels have a regular telephone mystery shopping program in place, and the majority seem to factor results into frontline staff, management and General Manager incentive programs.

Yet all too often the quest for the 'perfect shop' score turns front desk and reservations agents into robots who routinely spew-out a scripted list of the same features for each and every caller, regardless of their needs or travel plans.

For example, many of these programs require agents to ask certain probing questions, such as 'Are you familiar with the hotel?' and 'May I ask what is bringing you to the area?' which conceptually is a good starting places for investigating the caller's needs. The problem is that most agents you call these days haven't been trained to use the information they find by asking these questions, and they don't follow-up with additional investigative questions to find out what's really important. Instead they proceed directly into listing features that are essentially the same for every caller.

The list of features most agents are mentioning these days tends to be generic, vague, and don't at all differentiate one hotel from its competitors. For example, agents at these hotels laundry-list features of the hotel itself: 'We have a business center, a work-out room, high speed Internet access, a restaurant, room service and a heated indoor pool with Jacuzzi.' Some even make a weak effort to tie-in these features to a benefit by adding 'for your convenience' after each feature listed. Most don't listen interactively, so even when a caller expresses interest in a feature mentioned, such as by responding to a mention of a health club or business center by saying, 'Oh, really?' they respond only with more features by saying something like: 'Yes we do, it's on the 3rd floor and it's open 24 hours with room-key access for your convenience.'

Frankly, I don't care and won't remember what floor the health club is on until I get there, and although some guests might want to know they can work out in the middle of the night, I think most are surely like me and much more interested in hearing about the workout they will experience there, that both free weights and weight machines are available, that Pilates balls/mats can be found there, and other details such as windows with views and individually controlled TV's that might be available.

Similarly, in describing rooms these days, agents are frequently saying something like: 'It has 300 square feet, a king size or two double beds, an iron and ironing board, coffee maker, hairdryer.' I have personally heard these same descriptions used at mid-market hotels through ultra-luxury, regardless of their brand flag and average rates, so what agents are effectively doing is making their hotel sound just exactly like every other one in town.

Besides not accomplishing the goal of differentiating a hotel from its competitors, agents I speak to report that this type of system actually annoys and turns-off many callers, especially when the agent sales training is requiring them to re-list these same features for caller who respond that they have stayed before.

Unfortunately, many of the agents themselves are adverse to having to follow such a scripted process, and yet when there is a $100 incentive for a 'perfect shop call' riding on it, and 25% of your GM's annual bonus, most simply have no choice but to follow a reservations process their instinct and customer feedback tells them makes no sense.

In today's world of over-informed callers who are one click away from viewing dozens of lodging options, and who are often highly distracted and multi-tasking while on the phone, it takes more then a politely spoken laundry list of features to convince a first time caller to pick your hotel. After surfing through countless hotel reviews at consumer-generated media sites such as TripAdvisor, what today's callers want is personalized reservations experience that is caller-centric, customer focused, versus being built around some antiquated, linear and sequential sales process.

That's why more and more hotels these days are looking for a new paradigm for reservations training and are ready to move beyond rigid scripting and canned reservations pitches.

In presenting reservations training and mystery shopping services personally for top performing hotels across all market segments, it seems to me that the key to a more conversational sales approach starts with training agents to ask more and better questions about the caller's plans in a friendly and interactive way. While it's still good to ask if a caller is familiar with the hotel and what's bringing them to the area, the real key is to use the information provided to focus on relevant benefits versus listing features.

I've also had success in training agents to continue to investigate as the call progresses, not just at the start of the call. For example, before giving the caller details about a health club or fitness center, it's better to first ask them if they are interested in fitness! Before talking about complimentary shuttle service and/or free parking, why not first ask if they have a car? Before describing features such as a full service spa, golf, tennis, skiing, water sports, sightseeing, or other area activities in detail, why not first ask if they are interested in these services?

Good investigative probing questions are great conversation starters and are the key to engaging callers versus having transactions. The majority of callers will appreciate the extra attention and that someone at a hotel actually cares and is interested in their needs. By the end of the phone call, this approach ensures that guests and other third party callers have found out more about your hotel than that it has the same basic features of any mid-market through luxury hotel these days. Instead, your future guests will be allured and enticed with personalized descriptions that paint just the picture they want to envision and will end the call with a positive first impression that differentiates your hotel experience from being just another clean place to stay.

By Doug Kennedy

Copyright 2008 - Kennedy Training Network

Doug Kennedy
Doug Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry.

His articles have also appeared worldwide in more than 17 prominent international publications including the HSMAI Marketing Review, eHotelier, 4hoteliers, Hotel News Resource, Hotel Online, Human Assets - Dubai and Hong Kong, Hsyndicate worldwide, BAHA Times - U.K., Hospitality - Maldives, and the Hotel Expert Magazine Hong Kong.

Visit www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com for details or e-mail him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Some companies have an inherent understanding of discounting and promotional strategies. These companies are able to create a strong sense of value for their products and services, even when they are on sale. Their customers feel thankful when they get a given product or service at a low price, yet they still see great value in the brand and would indeed pay more for the product or service in the future.

Other companies, however, struggle with the concept and execution of discounting and promotional strategies, and thereby end up devaluing their brands with each communication and sale. Poorly planned and executed online discount promotions can come off as desperate fire sales that forever scar a brand's reputation in the eyes of consumers. One-time sales very well may become permanent price cuts when companies realize that their customers will no longer tolerate their regular pricing.