One of the goals of a Hotel Sales Manager is to get clients to come to Site Inspections and take a tour of the hotel with you. Once you get the commitment, get ready to work. When I commit to come on a tour, with a date and time, the first thing I do is make a list of questions and decide what I want to get out of the appointment.
From there I Google their organization and browse their pages to get a sense of who they are. This knowledge is also good for when they come over, so you have something to talk about that is of interest to them. What do they come for? Some will come on tour before signing a booking agreement. Others for future business.
When I get an enquiry, say for a wedding block, I always ask them out and make time for them. Most hotel salespeople won’t just ask you to come and meet them. They prefer to quote a rate, hang up, and then send an email. This is not “SURPRISE” the caller.
When you are sincere and welcome them to your “home”, you will have a much better chance of booking them. Always invite them to conduct a site inspection of your hotel. Not to mention, your General Manager will keep seeing you on the road. This looks good for you.
From there, I run a site survey form noting their information and how much I think the client is worth. I always call the day before to confirm the appointment. I don’t email them, I call them. This shows that yes, I have time for you. I think customers like it better.
On the day of the inspection, I will choose the rooms that I want to show. To make sure there are no surprises, I walk the route I’m going to take with them to pick up trash or do something before they arrive. And I take the time to inspect my rooms. If I don’t like them, I pick more and keep checking until I find what I’m looking for.
On a good day, it might only take me 15 minutes to find a good room, and I always find something I don’t like that I need to take care of. On a bad day, it has taken me over an hour to find the perfect room and the perfect path. Based on occupancy the night before, I don’t always get the best room choices.
I recommend getting show rooms if possible. A showroom must look perfect. Just as perfect as the room looked when it was first opened. It must smell good too. I must say that if I am not satisfied with the showrooms my management team chooses, I always bring it up at the next staff meeting.
We put the showrooms in a decommissioned state, but we sell them if necessary. We try to keep our showrooms down, but with the previous hurricanes and bad weather, we’ve got pretty good occupancy, so they have to use them. We are an airport property with many “distressed passengers” and airline crews.
If you have showrooms, don’t add a bunch of extra items, flowers, etc., that aren’t in every room. Show them a clean room that smells clean and fresh. Don’t tease too much. During the site inspection, I have a list ready for the client with my questions and I tell the client that I have questions for him. Then I ask for approval to take notes.
Once they leave, I make it a priority to finalize the proposal or contract to get it to them as quickly as possible. Clients are impressed when they receive their documentation shortly after leaving the property. It shows that YOU, the hotel sales manager, are interested in a partnership and will be committed to them and hopefully they to you.