In conversation with sales teams of our hotel brand and management company partners, we have found there are four common blind spots in business development. These blind spots impact both sales leaders and property sellers when it comes to figuring out why their new business development strategy isn’t producing results.

At GitGo, we see the need for “lead generation” as the tip of the iceberg. Providing leads for a property team to follow-up and nurture themselves doesn’t go deep enough to assist those teams in converting newly discovered leads to revenue.

There are four common blind spots across hotel sales teams we are compelled to shine a light on.

1. Process gaps specifically around frequency & cadence necessary in the follow-up for a new business lead. Hint: It’s a whole lot more frequent than most realize.
2. The content and messaging needed to truly compel and move a buyer is not readily available for the sales team to deploy.
3. False information (or lack thereof) about the customer buying and decision-making process. This leads to unrealistic expectations, missed forecasts, and a tremendous amount of missed opportunity.
4. A lack of focus on a growth and abundance mindset. A huge miss for those organizations not incorporating this into their culture. We’re not talking pep talks and motivational speeches from leadership that only half believe the woo-woo stuff they are sharing. We’re talking practical tools applied in everyday, real-world situations, that have the ability to change someone’s blueprint, which shifts their belief system and changes behavior.

Now that we’ve established the four most common blind spots for many hotel sales teams, let’s talk strategies. Putting energy and focus on these four key strategies and areas of improvement will give any hotel sales team a marked advantage to convert more new business to revenue.

Our GitGo team has developed a proven, authentic system for sellers to take new business prospects through their buying journey. In fact, we’ve used this process to close over $16M in new business revenue for our partners with our own team, and we’ve coached a host of other sales managers to use these strategies to win on their own.

Here are four key strategies GitGo uses to help sellers convert more new business, cover their blind spots, and stop the self-sabotage and thinking that proactive selling just doesn’t work for them:

Strategy 1: Understand the science & deploy a fail-proof process to follow-up with the proper frequency and cadence that builds awareness. Not only are the methods tested, but also taken direct from buyer surveys.

This is the first thing we review with a sales team experiencing low engagement from their new business prospects.

Strategy 2: Develop simple yet compelling messaging & content that moves buyers. At the property-level this is not often readily available. Sales teams are either:

• Spending far too much time creating “grass-roots” flyers and content that is missing the mark.
• OR they are repurposing content that is simply not relevant to the buyer.

GitGo has spent thousands of hours speaking with decision makers about why they choose one property over another. We know what buyers in this space need to know and hear before taking action.

A simple review of existing content pieces and a rewrite of opening messages changed one partner’s new business pipeline from lackluster movement to 20% open rate, consistent flow of marketing qualified to sales qualified leads, and in just two months a major 6-figure revenue opportunity transitioned to proposal stage.

Strategy 3: Educate the sales team on the realities of the buyer’s journey: After over 23,000 hours of conversations per year with hotel guest room and meeting space decision-makers, we’ve collected volumes of insights and verbatims from buyers sharing their real-world experiences.

We’ve been studying the buyer’s journey for over 13 years in the hospitality and have seen the changes and how that affects the sales process.

Overall, this strategy mixes data & research with common-sense & empathy for the buyer. This presents a combination that sinks in with your sales team to build confidence and drive quick results through changed behaviour.

Strategy 4: Build a sales team with an unshakeable mindset for success: By working alongside sales teams struggling to meet their revenue goals, we’ve become trusted confidants and advisors. At GitGo, we have a chest full of tools designed to help shift the energy from panic, fear and overwhelm to a higher state. So your sales team can perform at their best, no matter the circumstances of the market.

With attention and intention focused on these four key strategies, you will see your property-level or above property level sales team transformed and able to convert more new business revenues with ease and joy. GitGo would love to help you get started!

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If your sales organization needs more help understanding and implementing a solid new business development and revenue conversion plan, contact us today! We’d love to talk to you about your options working with GitGo.