Leading a business in the hotel industry is incredibly rewarding.  We get the pleasure of working with some of the most hospitable, service-minded, go-givers in the world!  If I could have conversations with these trailblazers all day, every day, I would be in my zone of happiness.

On the flip side, running a lead generation business in the hotel space also comes with its challenges.  There tends to be a lot of misperception around what a “lead” truly is.  Oftentimes our leads are simply lumped in with the hundreds of other “leads” from third-party vendors who provide transactional information for hotels to send a proposal or sample contract to.  I will say it until I’m blue in the face, our industry has become much too reactionary and transactional.  Plan B Consultants, Inc. & Sales4Hire™ provide services that are meant to change that for hotel sales teams who want to win in a very competitive environment, and who can stomach putting focus & effort into long-term, proactive solutions that create consistent revenue and a much smoother sales funnel.

With that said, I wanted to put together a list of my top suggestions & tips for hotels that work with us (or any third-party lead generation firm for that matter), on how they should go about implementing a follow-up & lead nurturing process for the proactive leads we generate.  As you read through these suggestions, keep in mind that we provide these services both on a temporary or full-time basis, as well for hotels that do not have the manpower or experience necessary.

1. Track all of your leads, contacts and accounts by source throughout its entire lifetime. Do this religiously!  This provides incredible future insights on the success of any proactive lead generation campaign.  Most CRM’s allow you to create a lead source and assign it to any new lead.  If you are creating an account or contact and you don’t have a “lead” (as per your CRM’s definition of a lead) to load, you will want to track in your notes or somewhere in the system that the information came from a specific campaign.  At the very minimum, track it in an excel spreadsheet that you can continually go back to and update with the latest news & findings as you conduct your follow-up.

2. Plan for the long game. Many hotels mistake a proactive prospecting campaign for a short-term gains project.  They follow-up with leads a few times after receiving and then stop when the client doesn’t respond, or tells them they don’t have any immediate business.  This is the death of all proactive sales.  Statistics show that it takes between 5-12 additional touch points after the prospect is uncovered before they will get to know, like and trust you and conduct business.  These 5-12 touch points can take anywhere from a few months to over a year.  (Obviously this depends on the type and size of the business, and at which level the lead was uncovered).  I always tell our partners to plan for the long game, but be prepared for the short game.   The clients dictate the timing of their opportunities.  You need to be there, and be ready when it hits.  Many of our partners successfully close opportunities within the first few month of a campaign, and pay for the engagement several times over.

3. Read the turnover notes carefully and follow all instructions on next steps. Our team sends over quite detailed notes on the conversations we have with prospects.  If a prospect asks for information to be emailed first and then a call in 2 weeks, follow those instructions.  I realize there can be a lot of pressure to close business quickly when a campaign is in motion, but not following the prospects requests of how they prefer contact is the quickest way to never see their business at your hotel.

4. When it is time to call the prospect, do a bit of research and be prepared. Review the notes from the lead source, check out the organization’s website, have additional questions prepared, and have a next step in mind.  Calling to “follow-up” on the information that was gathered in the initial research call wastes the prospect’s time.  They’ve already shared what they felt was relevant in the initial call, so you must have compelling reasons to reconnect and an overall goal for the call.

5. Come from a place of service. As I mention above, the reason I love working in this industry is the service-minded individuals.  Sometimes when pressure sets in to meet revenue goals and quotas, the energy shifts to that of lack, panic, anxiousness and sales teams become more transactional and that energy comes through to the prospects.  If you approach the process with a “go-giver” attitude it shines through and prospects are drawn to that.  Before you place a call, send an email, or connect in any way, remember what is in it for the prospect.

6. If you’re struggling to reach the prospect, try various forms of contact. Just because the initial research may have been done via phone does not mean you must call the client repeatedly until they respond.

• Link with them and send a note to engage on social media.
• Include them in your hotel’s B2B email campaigns, sharing latest news and promotions.
• Visit their office while out on backyard sales appointments.
• Send them a handwritten note.
• Send a video email message.

Want more advice on how to best follow-up & nurture new business leads from proactive lead generation campaigns?  Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for free and timely insights for your hotel sales team!  Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.

Or, are you thinking about starting a proactive lead generation campaign?  Schedule a no-obligation discovery call to determine if Right Fit Lead Prospecting might be a good fit, and see how we can help you implement the most effective follow-up & lead nurturing process for your hotel, either through Plan B Activation™ or your own program.