Hotel Sales & Marketing

Tips For Monitoring and Evaluating Marking Plans & Activities

To measure the success of a marketing plan done by the sales and marketing teams, all marketing efforts need to be carefully measured. This will help to identify if such marking efforts were successful, cost effective and also the data can be used for future marketing activities.

All marketing activities or plans need to be evaluated regularly so that any corrective actions can be taken time to time throughout the marketing cycle. Below are some of the key monitoring methods used for assessing the marking plan.

1) Market Segment Report: All reservations generated via particular market segments need to be tagged correctly to the reservation. For example, bookings generated by corporates, leisure, relocation etc. are tagged to the each reservation in order to identify which market segment the bookings were generated.

2) Source Segment Report: All reservations generated via particular booking source segments need to be tagged correctly to the reservation. For example, bookings generated by email, phone, website etc. are tagged to the each reservation in order to identify from which source segment the bookings were generated.

3) Log and Compare Restaurants Covers: For F&B outlets after a marketing activity, the sales or marketing team should compare the number of covers sold on a daily basis before and after the marketing activity. If the increase in profit or revenue is less than what you have been spending for the marketing activity then you need to re-evaluate the marketing strategy.

4) Use of PROMO codes: Using unique promotional codes for each marketing activity can help the team to track the number of conversations happening directly with the result of such marketing campaign.

5) Use of special telephone numbers: By using a special contact number for certain marketing initiatives can help the marketing team to track calls or enquiries generated via marketing activities.

6) Use of Voucher codes: Using vouchers for each marketing activity can help the team to track the number of conversations happening directly with the result of a marketing campaign. 

7) Tracking online advertisement: If you are using Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Linkedin Ads, Twitter Promoted Tweet, email database marketing etc. then you should also effectively track them using Google analytics or other similar analytics tools. This will help you to setup Goals, Campaign codes, Campaign Medium etc. for effective visits tracking and also helps you to track your Return of Investment (ROI) for such online promotions.  

8) Attach a Source Profile: For tracking room or hotel bookings it is ideal to create a special rate code or a package rate for each marketing activities. These special rates are then attached to profile type source. 

All bookings generated via marketing activities can be either automatically mapped to these special rates and source profile; either manually by the reservation team or automatically mapped with new age property management solutions. Later the marketing team or top management can pull out productivity and forecast report based on source profiles or rate codes. 

9) Keep track of sales team productivity: Director of sales should pull out productivity and forecast reports by market segment, by the sales manager, by booking source code, by source profile, repeat business percentage etc. to regularly track and monitor the productivity and performance of sales and marketing team members.

10) Track Goals by sales persons: On every quarter the director of sales should evaluate the performance of each sales team members. For example, if a sales manager was assigned to 1000 sales contacts or leads then he should at lease contact 70% of these leads by the end of that quarter.

Hotel Fact Sheet Sample / Hotel Fact Book Sample

Property Fact Sheet should contain collection of information about a hotel / resort, contact details, email address, website address, direction to hotel, near by attractions or places of interest, products and services, meeting and banqueting facilities, management policies etc. 

The Fact sheet should be designed to help potential guests, bookers, travel agents, media persons and new staffs to get general information and to be familiar with the hotel.

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Sample Hotel Fact Sheet / Fact Book

Hotel Name [Hotel Setup My Hotel]
Hotel Address [ Cloud 9 Sky Line, Moon Towers]
E: email@example.com W: setupmyhotel.com
P: +12345678910 / +0123456789 F: +12345678910 

LOCATION: Centrally located in downtown Cloud 9; Three (3) blocks from Penta Shopping Mall, Sky Cars District. 

AIRPORT TRANSFERS: Hotel has scheduled door to door public shuttle bus transfers to / from International Airport. Airport is located 45 Km away, 1.5 Hours by car / bus. Limousin pickup and drop are charged at $100 two way.

ROOMS: 510 rooms in total, which includes 100 suites, 210 Lake View Rooms, 100 Mountain View Rooms and 100 Pool View Rooms. Accommodations are with amazing views of the Lake, mountain or the pool.

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ROOM FEATURES: 

* Spacious desk with ergonomic chair and mobile furnishings that allow guests to create their own living space.

* In-room laptop safes.

* Open-air atrium with a signature water feature.

* 24-hour complimentary Business Center access.

* Dry cleaning and in-house laundry services.

* Use of the pool and fitness centre- complimentary.

* Treat Yourself cabinet with a selection of health drinks, snacks, chocolate treats and beverages (charges apply).

* Infant cribs for infants aged 0-2 years available on request on complimentary basis.

* Rollaway or Extra Beds are available on additional charge on a per night basis.

* Iron & Ironing Boards (On Request)

* Non-Smoking room available.

BED AND BATH:

* Bath amenities are Forest Essentials made from natural ingredients - complimentary

* 100% cotton robes - complimentary

* Egyptian cotton towels - complimentary

* Wall-mounted makeup mirror, hair drier - complimentary

INTERNET ACCESS

* Wi-Fi services for resident guests (terms and conditions apply)

* Basic access – complimentary

* Premium access – at a nominal charge

ENTERTAINMENT

* Television – 32" LCD TV.

* Home theater system and surround sound to personalise your entertainment.

* Satellite Channels (250+).

SERVICES & AMENITIES

* Complimentary personal tea/coffee makers, packaged water and newspapers.

* Rest Easy menu with choice of pillows - complimentary.

* 24-hour in-room dining – on charge.

* Housekeeping service twice daily – morning cleaning and evening turndown - complimentary.

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HOTEL FACILITIES

* Indoor pool, whirlpool and sun deck.

* Enlarged 24-hour fitness center featuring leading-edge cardio and resistance training equipment.

* “Requests Upon Arrival” program.

* Complimentary, cooked-to-order breakfast.

* Complimentary Evening Manager’s Reception (Subject to state and local laws. Must be of legal drinking age.)

* Complimentary wireless Internet access in all public areas.

* Complimentary parking.

* International Airport Pick up and Drop - (On Charge)

* Complimentary shuttle service to City Center.

WELLNESS AMENITIES:

* Spa offering both Massages and aromatherapies- on charge

* Yoga - complimentary

* Steam and Jacuzzi - complimentary

FITNESS SERVICES:

* Open 24 hours a day.

* Equipped with Techno Gym and cardio machines.

* Free weights.

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OTHER FACILITIES AND CONVENIENCES

* In-house shops for gifts.

* Cake Shop.

* Casino Slot's.

* Concierge.

* Business Center (On Charge).

* Currency Exchange. 

* Multi-lingual Staff.

* In-Room Movies (On Charge).

* Guest Service Hotline.

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 FOOD AND BEVERAGE:

RESTAURANT	HOURS OF OPERATION	COVERS / CAPACITY
Coffee Shop	24 Hrs	250
Room Service	24 Hrs
Fish and Fork (Sea Food)	1800Hrs to 2300Hrs	300
Dragon Warrior (Chinese)	Lunch : 1130Hrs to 1430Hrs Dinner: 1800Hrs to 2300Hrs	200
Roof Top Bar	1100Hrs to 2200Hrs

BANQUET / EVENT HALLS:

NAME	DIMENSION	HEIGHT	LOCATION	NATURAL LIGHTING	ENTRY POINT
Board Room	120 sq. rt.  / 11.15 m2	10ft / 3.05m	1st Floor	No	1 Door
Ball Room	650 sq. ft / 60.39 m2	806.ft / 2.62 m	Lobby Level	Yes	3 Doors
Pool Side	10000 sq.ft / 1000 m2	---	Lobby Level	Yes	Open Space
Party Hall	1014.0 sq. ft / 94.2 m2	8.6 ft / 2.62 m	Lobby Level	No	3 Doors

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KEY PERSONNEL:

GENERAL MANAGER: Mr. James Bond

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING: Ms. Cindy

EXECUTIVE CHEF: Chef LEWIS

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER: Mr. David

Types of Profiles used in Hotels | Resorts

Profiling of Guests, Company and Travel helps the sales and marketing teams to instantly access the account and an unlimited amount of material to each of these profiles. These profiles generally consists or name, address, contact details, historical transactions or bookings, future bookings, revenue generated, invoice details, details of sales activities, marketing tags, details of sales calls etc.

Additionally the Sales and marketing software or the hotels management software helps the sales team to get detailed information on any sales account instantly. In the new age systems there are dedicated tabs or functions which shows company booker details, sales call activity on the account, summary of negotiated room nights vs actually produced etc.

One of the most important ways in which the profiles are used by the sales department is for Database marketing, current Hotel software provide complex set of quires and functions to analyzing information about guest, company, travel agent, source profiles. Marketing lists can be pulled from the system by types of functions booked, average room rates, average food revenue, average length of stays, preferences ( smoking / non- smoking) etc.

Profiles are generally categorized into five different types: 1) Guest Profiles 2) Company profiles 3) Travel Agent Profiles 4) Group Profile and 5) Source Profile.

1) Guest Profile : Contains below information and used for entering details of real guests who would be staying in the hotel.

• Guest Name and Salutation
• Address
• Nationality
• Communication Details (Email, Phone, Mobile Etc.)
• Social Media Details  ( Twitter, Facebook Etc.)
• Passport, Visa or Government ID
• Preferences, likes and dislikes
• Preferences for marketing or newsletter ( Newsletter allowed or Not, Likes promotional or special offers from hotel etc.)
• Remarks or special notes
• Credit Card and Member Card / Frequent flyer details
• Past and future booking details
• Details of No-shows and Cancellations
• Invoices and revenue generated
• Details of Confirmation letter send or any other correspondence like for eg: Welcome Letter, Thank you letter, Retention Letter etc.

2) Company Profile: Used for recording details of companies which does business with hotel, past business and also future prospects. If the company has sub company or branches in different city then a Master Company Profile is created and multiple sub profiles are created for other branches or sub companies.

The Master -> Sub structure helps the sales team to generate productivity for the whole company by selecting the Master profile and also separate productivity for each sub profiles. Below information are stored on a company profile.

• Company name
• Department name
• Contact Name for Booker
• Communication details of the Booker (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Contact Name for Invoices
• Communication details of the Invoice (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Sales call details
• Sales Activity Details
• Negotiated Room Nights
• Produced Room Nights
• Future Business (room and Events) from this company
• Past materialized booking details
• Details of No-shows and Cancellations
• Preferences for marketing or newsletter ( Newsletter allowed or Not, Likes promotional or special offers from hotel etc.)
• Remarks or special notes by the marketing team.
• Marketing Account manager or Sales manager who manages this account
• Details of Negotiated Rates or Corporate rate code with the validity
• Past and future booking details
• Invoices and revenue generated
• Details of Confirmation letter send or any other correspondence like for eg: Welcome Letter, Thank you letter, Retention Letter etc.

3) Travel Agent Profile: Used for recording details of Travel Agents which does business with hotel, past business and also future prospects.

• Travel Agent name
• Contact Name for Booker
• Communication details of the Booker (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Contact Name for Invoices
• Communication details of the Invoice (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Commission Percentage / Commission Slab
• Commissions Cleared and Pending
• Sales call details
• Sales Activity Details
• Details of Daily agreed room allocation
• Produced Room Nights
• Future Business (room and Events) from this travel agent
• Past materialized booking details
• Details of No-shows and Cancellations
• Preferences for marketing or newsletter ( Newsletter allowed or Not, Likes promotional or special offers from hotel etc.)
• Remarks or special notes by the marketing team.
• Marketing Account manager or Sales manager who manages this account
• Details of Negotiated Rates or Special rate code with the validity
• Invoices and revenue generated
• Details of Confirmation letter send or any other correspondence like for eg: Rate Contract Letter, Welcome Letter, Thank you letter, Retention Letter etc.

4) Group Profile: Groups bookings are normally from either a company or a travel agent, so the group profile normally contain only the name of the group or conference or tour series even though most of the available fields are similar to the company or travel agent profiles.

For all group bookings or reservations there is either a Company profile or a Travel Agent profile is attached to the reservation. Below information is available on the Group profile.

• Group or Event / Conference or Tour Name
• Contact Name for Booker
• Communication details of the Booker (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Contact Name for Invoices
• Communication details of the Invoice (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Details of Daily agreed room allocation
• Produced Room Nights
• Rooming list which contains list of all group members
• Future Business (room and Events) from the travel agent
• Past materialized booking details
• Details of No-shows and Cancellations
• Details of Negotiated Rates or Special rate code with the validity
• Invoices and revenue generated
• Details of Confirmation letter send or any other correspondence like for eg: Rate Contract Letter, Welcome Letter, Thank you letter, Retention Letter etc.

5) Source Profile: Are used to record the details of any third party booking agents for example online travel agents (OTA's) Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, lodginglists.com etc.

Additionally hotels use source profile to attach any special promotional rates like Summer Discount, Winter Sales etc. This helps them to track the productivity from these special promotions and packages. Below information is available on the source profile.

• Online Travel Agent name / Promotion / Event Name name
• Contact Name for Booker
• Communication details of the Booker (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Contact Name for Invoices
• Communication details of the Invoice (Email, Phone, Extension number, Mobile and Fax)
• Commission Percentage / Commission Slab
• Commissions Cleared and Pending
• Sales call details
• Sales Activity Details
• Produced Room Nights
• Future Business (room and Events) from this Source profile
• Past materialized booking details
• Details of No-shows and Cancellations
• Preferences for marketing or newsletter ( Newsletter allowed or Not, Likes promotional or special offers from hotel etc.)
• Remarks or special notes by the marketing team.
• Marketing Account manager or Sales manager who manages this account
• Details of Negotiated Rates or Special rate code with the validity
• Invoices and revenue generated
• Details of Confirmation letter send or any other correspondence like for eg: Rate Contract Letter, Welcome Letter, Thank you letter, Retention Letter etc.

·         Corporate Rate Application Letter Sample For Hotels

·         Corporate Rate application letters are used for Companies, Travel Agents and other bookers to avail special rates in hotels. Such letters are submitted by the sales / account manger to the hotel management to get the approval for special rate and credit facility for these establishment.

·         The letter contain details like Company's Full name, Address, email, fax, contact number, Main contact person for reservation, Contact person for invoice, Type of account etc.

·         After the corporate letter is reviewed by the hotel management then a 'Company Volume Guarenteed letter / CVGR ' is issues to the company.

·        

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·         [HOTEL LOGO]

·         CORPORATE RATE APPLICATION FORM (Sample)

·         Company Name:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Address             :_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·                                    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·                                    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Main Contact    :_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Designation      :_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Telephone        : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ext. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         FAX                   :  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  Mobile:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

·         Business Nature  :  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Type of Account  :  [  ] Travel Agent   [  ] Government              [  ] Corporate

·                                       [  ] Airline            [  ]  Event Management   [  ]  Embassy

·                                       [   ] Convention    [  ]  Direct 

·         Required Credit Limit:  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Potential Room Nights: [  ] 10 - 50   [  ] 51 - 100  [  ] 101 - 500  [  ] 501 - Above 

·        

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·         OFFICE USE

·         Rate Code Applied:  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Other Discounts _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

·         Sales Manager / Account Manager: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Marketing Plan in Hospitality Industry

An effective marketing plan for hotel can take a number of ways, below are some of the key steps in a marketing plan.

1.     Conducting Marketing Audit.

2.     Identifying Market segments.

3.     Marketing objectives and medium.

4.     Analyzing and evaluating the marketing plan.

Conducting Marketing Audit:

Marketing audit is considered as the foundation in any hotel marketing plan. It mainly consists of three core parts such as 1) Property Analysis, 2) Compset or Competition Analysis and 3) Market place analysis.

Property Analysis helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your hotel. A check list is made by the sales team which consists of the strengths and weakness of revenue generating and non-revenue generating areas. The checklist should also consider the location, brand value and reputation of the hotel.

Competition Analysis helps to position your property and also to identify profitable market segments like Groups, FIT, Corporate etc. with your hotel and competitors.

Market place analysis helps the hotel to establish hotels current position in the market and also to identify the potential opportunity to promote the hotel.

Identifying Target Market Segments:

Sales team should not concentrate on one single market segment, because a hotel is a series of business which caters to different markets. Eg: Guests rooms are primarily sold to business customers during weekdays but the same rooms can be also in demand to leisure guests during weekend.

The key point is to identify the most profitable and satisfiyable market segments and then target on the same. The best way to identify the correct marketing mix for the hotel is to prepare a marketing mix chart.

Establish objectives and Marketing Plans:

Once the marketing objectives are completed the next step is to define specific marketing objectives. Marketing objectives must be easily understandable, realistic, challenging and also measurable.

Identify the best mediums to reach the targeted market segments eg: Online promotions, Social media, Billboards, direct sales calls etc.

Clear marketing budgets to be defined for advertising, consulting and promotional expenses.

Monitor Analyse and Evaluate:

The Marketing plans need to be reviews periodically so that if required corrective measures can be taken immediately. These data also helps future marketing activities and programs.

Control is and essential part of any marketing cycle, periodic evaluation should be designed into the plan. This will help to reduce the cost by stopping non productive marketing efforts or channels.

Job Description for Sales Manager

Position Title:  Sales Manager

Reports To: Director Of Sales / General Manager

Position Summary:

As a Sales manager you are responsible to develop and foster business through pro-active direct sales, marketing, telemarketing, direct mail, appointment calls and tours of the hotel. Also develops strategic action plans for hotels to drive measurable, incremental sales revenue.

Identify areas of opportunity in performance and recommend tools and sales training to optimize performance of sales team. Additionally work with individual hotel teams to identify skill development areas and properly deploy sales and marketing resources.

Sales Manager Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Responsible for Corporate and Travel Agent Room Sales for the hotel.
2. Clear understanding of the hotels business strategies then set goals and to determine action plans to meet those goals.
3. Update action plans and financial objectives quarterly.
4. Identify new markets and business opportunities and increase sales.
5. Represent Hotels in various events and exhibition.
6. Implements all sales action plans related to my market areas as outlined in the marketing plan.
7. Conducts daily sales calls and arrange site inspection trips to hotels by corporate clients.
8. Able to provide Quick and timely responses, immediate communication to the properties, develop professional long term business relationships.
9. Provide the highest quality of service to the customer at all times. 
10. Participates in sales calls with members of sales team to acquire new business and/or close on business.
11. Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g. CVGR, generating proposal, Corporate Rate Application letter,  writing contract, customer correspondence). 
12. Able to supports hotels service and relationship strategy, driving customer loyalty by delivering service excellence throughout each customer experience.
13. Work closely with Revenue Manager to ensure proposed rate negotiations meet the financial needs of the hotels.
14. Develop strong relationships with on property front office team to ensure working in unity and always striving to achieve the same goals.
15. Accompany sales team on sales calls to potential clients to assist in development of the account and to access the effectiveness and sales skills of the sales person.
16. Assess additional training needs based on data gathered and interaction with sales team from property visits. 
17. Attending all department and hotel meetings as necessary.
18. Targeting key accounts potential for the company.
19. Builds and strengthens relationships with existing and new customers to enable future bookings. Activities include sales calls, entertainment, FAM trips, trade shows, etc.
20. Develops relationships within community to strengthen and expand customer base for sales opportunities.
21. Manages and develops relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
22. Acquiring and developing new business accounts and preparing sales proposals for clients.
23. Closely following up on all business leads within a 24 hour response time line to clients.

Prerequisites:

• Proven success in a similar role and environment.
• Empathy towards your customers and colleagues.
• Pride and attention to detail.
• Polished personal presentation with Warm, confident and hospitable personality.

Education:

3 year degree from an accredited university in Business Administration, Marketing, Hotel and Restaurant Management, or related major.

Experience:

3 to 4 years experience in the sales and marketing or related professional area.