This is a tale we’ve all heard a thousand times in the hotel industry… A sales team has lost several key players. The market is saturated, and competition is fierce, so finding the right candidates is a major challenge. It’s been months, and there is still no one in these key positions. This means current team members are tasked with handling the heavy workload. Balls are getting dropped, customer complaints are at an all-time high, morale throughout the sales department is at an all-time low, and it is seeping into other departments.

This is typically when GitGo gets the call. Our partners’ stories vary across the spectrum, from small pieces of this story to the most extreme cases. The good news for our partners is that we have a solution that can quickly pick up the pieces. GitGo Elite is designed to be an easy plug-and-play system. Some may think it sounds too good to be true, so we’ve decided to share the results of very typical partnership that is currently happening in Northern California.

When our GitGo was called upon by this hotel, we quickly gauged the situation and that determined the property would need our GitGo Elite service, which is a lead response program designed for properties going through turnover and transition in their sales team. This is a monthly-subscription service providing the property peace-of-mind that every inbound lead is responded to within 24 hours. Our team receives virtual access to all inbound lead sources, as well as the property management system and booking system to check rates, dates and space. Our team participates in a weekly revenue call with the on-site team, to review business opportunities and gain insight into the property pricing strategies. Our team also sends all proposals and conducts all rate negotiations on behalf of the property.

In the month of April, GitGo Elite booked $112,396.00 for this full-service branded property, who has been struggling and not meeting revenue goals all year. $66K was in-the-month-for-the-month bookings that the property likely would’ve missed out on because they just didn’t have the staff to respond to these opportunities, in a timely manner, nor the manpower to remain engaged with the opportunities through their decision processes.

As of May 5, 2016 with support from GitGo the property had $89K in tentative business that was ready to sign their agreements and another $425K in prospects that had received a proposal. Just considering booked business to-date as of April, the property received an ROI of 45:1 or $45 returned for every $1 invested.

For a lead response program to work brilliantly, we make it very simple for our hotel partners:

• A GitGo Sales Associate visits the property to gather systems information, and draw out a process for working with the property remotely, so that all of the preparation and work falls on our team. There is very little time and energy needed from our hotel partners.
• GitGo Sales Associate are well versed in all types of properties (full-service, select service, convention properties, extended stay, major markets and third tier markets), and they are proven “closers” who understand the B2B buying process, how to relate to customers and earn their business.
• Our operations center supports the GitGo Sales Associates with additional research & prospecting, much like a virtual assistant, which is how they can remain focused on the most important task: closing business.
• GitGo Sales Associates attend weekly revenue management calls to ensure the team is on top of any pricing and revenue strategy changes.
• Our team will use the property’s approved proposals and contracts, but we’ve also been known to help our partners create or update these based on what we know works for the buyers (with legal approval, of course).

If you have further questions on how GitGo Elite can support your sales efforts, let’s connect! Please fill out our pre-qualification form with your property specifics, and then we can schedule a call to review and come up with a game plan that serves you best. Or, let’s just jump right to the phone! You can schedule a getting acquainted call with me: amyi@gitgogroup.com or (312) 636-7384.