Marketing Ideas in Minutes

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Marketing IdeasinMinutes
Forty 5
John Manderfeld, president David Siguaw,
executive director of sales marketing
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Dominate the Competition

• 45. Know your competitors staff, features and
  policies--and recheck often.
• 44. Know your competitors rates for every market
  segment and volume account.

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Dominate the Competition

• 43. Keep your printed sales materials up-to-date
  and superior to your competitors.
• 42. Be niceyour competitors should be your
  biggest customers.

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Advertise a Little

• 41. AAA TourBook, California Tourism Guide,
  chamber newsletters and local accommodation
  guides are still good ideas. Most others are
  not.

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Advertise a Little

• 40. Look for cooperative advertising
  opportunities.
• 39.Use e-mail to keep your frequent customers and
  accounts informed and loyal.

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Use Quality Printed Materials

• 38.Every hotel should have rack brochures, quick
  reference guides and sales kits.
• 37. Market your destination (leisure and
  commercial attractions) and your hotel.

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Use Quality Printed Materials

• 36. Keep rates out of print.
• 35. Implement a written brochure distribution
  plan (visitor centers, parks, military bases,
  attractions, travel agents, AAA offices, etc.).

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Work the Brand

• 34. Contact the franchise/ affiliation sales
  organization no less than weekly.
• 33. Get their lists of national accounts, tour
  operators, volume travel agencies, etc.

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Work the Brand

• 32. Work the brands resources for marketing to
  its loyalty/frequent-traveler program members.

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Work the CVB

• 31. Get lists of tour operators, convention
  planners, meetings planners, etc. from your
  chamber or CVB.
• 30. Encourage your CVB to participate in travel
  trade shows, etc.

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Work the CVB

• 29. Volunteer your hotel for hosting
  CVB-sponsored familiarization trips.
• 28. Join CVB sales trips.
• 27. Get involved with CVB and chamber committees.

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Participate in Consortia

• 26. Know the consortias fees, enrollment
  procedures and contribution to your market, which
  are different for each brand and non-branded
  hotels. Include the fees in your annual budget.

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Participate in Consortia

• 25. Call on travel offices that are managed by
  your participating consortia.

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Manage Your RFP Process

• 24. Request participation in your brands RFP
  programs for each prospect.
• 23. Respond promptly to your brands RFP
  submissions.

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Manage Your RFP Process

• 22. Trace all the prior years RFPs to assure
  participation in future years.
• 21. Evaluate participation in RFP Express and/or
  Lanyon.

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Prospect for Business

• 20. Prioritize your accounts and prospects.
• 19. Have a written account coverage plan (ACP).
• 18. Work your in-house lists.

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Prospect for Business

• 17. Make those sales calls and sell! Your
  competitors are.
• 16. Automate (with Act, Goldmine, TCM)tear up
  those paper sales files.

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Prospect for Business

• 15. Strictly follow a written Style Guide for all
  forms of communication.
• 14. Host special guest events.

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Develop Your Volume Accounts

• 13. All special-rate and volume-account
  agreements should be in writing--and track the
  expiration dates.
• 12. Know the volume-accounts rates and terms at
  your competitors.

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Develop Your Volume Accounts

• 11. The productivity of all special-rates and
  volume agreements should be tracked on your
  property management system or do it separate
  from your PMS.

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Develop Your Volume Accounts

• 10. Exploit the full potential of your highest
  volume accounts
• Contact every department head.
• Contact their regional offices.
• Contact their off-site travel agencies.
• Contact their major suppliers.
• Contact their major customers.

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Develop Your Volume Accounts

• 9. Practice rate integrity by using a written
  guide for negotiating volume rates.
• 8. Dont forget the low- and mid-volume accounts.

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Internet

• 7. Design a Web-site that is informative and
  transaction friendly.
• 6. Partner with local services and attractions
  for Internet specials and packages.

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Internet

• 5. Improve your placement on major third-party
  distribution channels (Expedia, hotels.com,
  Travelocity, etc.).

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Internet

• 4. Manage your inventory and rates daily or
  hourly.
• 3. Use written procedures for rate and inventory
  management for each reservation engine.

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Consider this . . .

• 2. Consider outsourcing your sales and marketing
  efforts.

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And Most Important . . .

• 1. Keep the customers you have!

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Support Services for the Lodging Industry
Revenue Production for Hotels [phone]