You know how it is when you have a great sales conversation with someone… You think this partnership is ready to move forward, you’ve covered all your bases and you’re excited. Then… Crickets… Suddenly the conversation goes completely silent, and as much as you try to reach out the prospect just won’t respond. All sales people have experienced this at some point in their career, I’m sure.
Now, let’s turn the tables.
One of the biggest complaints I hear from B2B travel managers is the lack of response or lack of timeliness from hotel sales managers. This was recently confirmed by yet another industry professional, in response to one of my recent blog posts 5 Easy Steps to Evaluate Your Hotel Sales Pipeline. I had the exact same thing happen to me recently, and I was inquiring with luxury hotels in a major market. I was shocked… And yet I wasn’t.
Response time is a problem industry wide. I’ve even heard 3rd party planners say that there is a certain select service brand they won’t send leads to because of their poor response time or complete lack of response to their inquiries. Just think about that. Customers are trying to do business with hotels, and the hotels are basically saying, “Nope. I don’t need you. Go find somewhere else.” Yet, they are not even responding! Or, they have such lack of regard for the client’s timetable that they wait excruciatingly too long to respond and likely miss their opportunity anyway. Yet, I know hotels need business. I get calls every single day asking me to help them find business.
So what gives? Well, I’m not sure exactly. Lots of excuses. Here are the top:
“We have a lean sales team and can’t keep up.”
So what. Be a proud dragon slayer and do what you have to do to respond. My mentor likes to say, “When you’re only interested you do just what you have to do. When you’re committed…you do whatever it takes. “
“We turn down 80% of the leads we get because they don’t fit our hotel.”
Then turn them down with a warm, friendly note that gives your hotel an opportunity to still do future business. No response is just rude! Then EDUCATE your 3rd party lead providers on what makes a good piece of business for your hotel, so that you get less junk and more ideal opportunities. Stop blaming & start solving.
“We don’t have a sales manager dedicated to our hotel. Our General Manager or Front Desk Manager handles sales.”
This is a very common issue for select service hotels. Wouldn’t you know… We have a solution for this at Sales4Hire™, but it does require a commitment to pay someone to take over a piece of the business that is CRITICAL for revenue gain. What is the cost to the hotel to lose the easy business opportunities? HUGE! Find someone to professionally handle your inbound inquiries that can close business. Sure, not every hotel needs a dedicated sales person, but if you’re this far into this post you probably need one. 🙂
“Our property doesn’t have a CRM.”
It’s important to take the time to find and implement a system that can track sales opportunities effectively and a person that is accountable to that process. If it’s truly about cost savings, then there are several very affordable systems and some even free.
“Our property doesn’t have a standard proposal, so it takes a very long time to put together anything to send off. “
Look, I’m a business owner and I get that sometimes the simplest things take much time & effort, and may be out of your unique brilliance, but this is where I am blunt to say… Be resourceful! Create one! Borrow one!
“There are no set standards for lead response times.”
You just have to set a response time rule. Depending on your sales team size, the number of inbound leads, the nature of those leads… Your response time can be anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours maximum. I don’t recommend anything over 24 hours. If you can’t get the information they are looking for right away, then at least send a note letting them know you’re working on it.
“Noone is checking the inbound lead systems consistently.”
Got turnover? Haven’t found the perfect sales manager yet? Just set up a system for accountability for someone to check the inbound leads consistently. At Sales4Hire™ we do this on behalf of our clients, with their inbound inquiries and it works beautifully. One of our team members checks the system twice a day, with a maximum 24 hour response time although, most of the time it’s two hours or less… Just because we are committed.
In 2016, let’s stop putting up with this issue! I challenge every hotel leader to evaluate your response time to inbound inquiries, and implement systems & solutions to ensure you don’t have failures. You can chose to look at this with the energy of frustration, or bring solutions and commitment.
Yes, we have an amazing solution that solves the challenge of lack of sales response at select service hotels… Sales4Hire™ Premium is an incredibly affordable inbound lead processing program for hotels without dedicated sales teams. Or, we can just chat and brainstorm a solution that best fits your hotel’s specific needs. I’m here and ready to connect! Click Here to schedule a call now.