Backyard Sales Efforts
A game only the persistent hotel sales manager will win
I recently posted something on the 5 Audience Groups For Business Travel Sales. #4 on the list was The Local Office Liaison (or Feeder Market Contact). Whenever I mention the local/feeder market offices, it gets a lot of heads-a- nodding and shaking in agreement. Then, when we get down to the nitty gritty, we realize oops…we have a lot of information gaps to fill with this group! Have you ever heard someone say “hotel sales is like being a private investigator”? Well…this is the area of business travel sales that makes that statement true. Connecting with a local office contact often requires a lot of digging, searching and rooting around. It’s a game that only the persistent hotel sales manager will win.
Let’s scratch the surface here and take a quick peak at the top 3 roadblocks I see from our hotel sales partners in connecting with this tough audience group:
ROADBLOCK #1: There isn’t a travel department or travel booker in the local office.
RESPONSE: You don’t need to speak with a travel manager or booker. You could talk to an office manager, field rep, HR, security, director, etc. All you want to know is why are people traveling to this office? Are they coming in for meetings, special projects, are they supervisors, trainees? Just ask a few key and basic questions that most anyone could answer, and be on your merry way. Relax…this is probably the easiest day of sales calls you’ll have all week! We’re in level 101 right here. Just gathering, fishing, searching. Easy breezey.
ROADBLOCK #2: This is a global account for my company, and I’ve been told not to contact them!
RESPONSE: You’ve most likely been asked not to contact the Travel Manager or Key Decision-Makers. They work with global sales, because they don’t want 5 million hotels contacting them asking the same questions. Understandable. Contacting the local office is different. You need to understand your market better than your national or global sales representative so you can share insights and create the most compelling case. The global/national account rep can’t possibly be expected to know every market that their accounts have offices. Trust me…they will thank you for doing your homework! Connecting with local offices is critical, and you shouldn’t get in trouble for doing your job. Just make sure to do your research before you approach the local office. Nobody wants to talk to an unprepared solicitor. Confidence gets you in the door and education keeps you there. Networking in the local market with groups like The Chamber of Commerce, Association of Administrative Professionals, or other civic organizations is a great under-the-radar way to connect with these offices. It doesn’t have to be “knock knock…will you please give me the time of day and answer my questions and don’t kick me out for soliciting in a no soliciting building?”
ROADBLOCK #3: There isn’t a local office in my market, but we see travel coming in!
RESPONSE: Chances are that company is doing business in your market and visiting their own clients. This happens often with consulting companies like Accenture, McKinsey & Co., Deloitte, IBM, etc. Are there some large headquarter offices physically located in your backyard that would be doing business with other large companies from outside the area? For example, I currently live in Bentonville AR which is world headquarters for Wal-Mart. As the world’s largest retailer, they have constant inbound travel from their vendors and business partners. Those other companies may not have an office here, and if they do, they are probably more apt to be visiting the Wal-Mart offices and spending more time there than their own locations. You’ll want to figure out where the travelers are coming from. Then, contact those feeder offices and ask some relevant questions pertaining to their travel into your market. Again we’re talking low pressure call.
The outcome directly relates to how you approach this audience group. First, realize that this office in your backyard is most likely not going to have hotels at the top of their mind, on their radar or even on their priority list. Just assume that and let it be a surprise if I’m wrong. You will need to explain exactly what you are doing reaching out to them and why. Second, build the relationship through time. Don’t propose marriage in the first introduction. Take it easy, Tiger! You may not get all the answers to your questions immediately. Connecting with the local office is a process just like everything else in business travel world.
I’d love to hear about your challenges and/or success stories of connecting with a local office (especially as it pertains to those global/national accounts). What has worked for you? What has been your greatest challenge? What bothers you about approaching the local offices?
