Let us know through your comments what resolutions you would add.

The large franchises have not only their frequent guest programs but also national accounts that feed many of their hotels at reduced rates. Then there are the large consortia that won’t even issue an RFP to a smaller hotel!

These are usually large companies with a volume of business travel. Faced with trying to steal share from these which entails more effort than the results are worth, what strategies can smaller independent and boutique hotels deploy?

Look at the flip side of the typical source of corporate travel for the franchise hotels.

Unmanaged coporate travel by small and medium sized businesses that book their own travel account for 56% of all corporate travel according to a research study by Forrester and Best Western.

Think about it. These small to meduium sized companies don’t have enough volume to negotiate significant discounts like the big guys. But they like everyone else would like a place where they are appreciated and can get issues addressed.

What about a full court press blitz, eblasts, direct mail, sales calls, reception, for every small to medium sized business in the market. Let them know that ‘their small business is big business to you!’ and you will give them the name and contact info of a live human at the hotel that they can contact if they have an issue!

I worked with a hotel once that had no major demand generators within 3 miles of the hotel — only small to medium sized businesses.

We went afer them. After about six months, we were driving a higher ADR than the comp set, getting roughly the same occupancy levels mid week as the franchises and had a stunning REVPAR!

Also, sign up for Expdia’s VIP program that caters to these unmanagaged business travelers.

(I’ve got to get a grip on the length of my titles!)

An online strategy and execution in these areas is the fastest way to jump start short term revenue. There are stratagies in developing a presence on the online channels that can be executed quickly and effectively.

For example, have you developed a mobile only promotion on the OTA’s mobile platforms targeted to stimulate occupancy when you need it? The hotel may have a mobile site of its own but it doesn”t drive the traffic or exposure that an OTA mobile site does.

Where on the page does your hotel appear on the OTA sites? How do you move it to the top of the page? HInt: The answer isn’t rate parity.

There are other distribution channles such as the Historic Hotels of America that blasts out promotions from its members to every member of the National Preservation Society and a bunch of others including me — I dont’ belong to either association!.

These are only three of many things you can do with a distressed hotel that will almost instantly generate incremental revenue. There are many many more!

real simple Remote Revenue Management has developed a special program for distressed hotels. You can continue to open and close your inventory, we will do the Online Radical Triage. Send us a blank email with Online Radical Triage in the subject line and we will send you more information..carol@carolverret.com

The revenue management plan for 2012 should be an integral part of the Sales & Marketing plan for 2012 and it isn’t about just about opening and closing rates and inventory!  A well thought out RM plan should contain an over view by segment.  Which are performing well — which need support and the the projected increases year over year! 

The next section would be all about the distribution channels that are used, the relationship with each and which promotions are in the tool box for next year.  Don’t forget Front Desk and reservations conversions — this  is also counts as a distribution channel.  What are their conversion ratios and what is the goal for next year?  How are you going to support them to reach the goal?

The next section is a breakdown month by month — what events are in the market, what group blocks are on the books both internal and CVB generated.    How are they going to impact the plan and the distribution strategy? 

This is only the skeleton — th actual plan also needs to include web site analytics such as referring sites to the booking engine.  What is the social media strategy and how is that going to impact the distribution mix if you have a Facebook widget for example?   How are you going to use the new Google Travel to stimulate business from Hotel Finder for example? 

The fun part is that the plan is constantly changing and the distribution landscape next year won’t be quite the same as this year — new players, new dynamics!  Lots to think about but critical to RM success in 2012!

Need help with that!  Developing a Revenue Management plan is part of what we do at real simple Remote Revenue Management.   Check us out at real simple Remote Revenue Management http://tinyurl.com/3fuysft

At the very time these hotels need more of a presence on the internet through the OTAs and other distribution channels, they can’t afford to hire an expensive e-commerce company.   What if they could hire a revenue manager with the skills to get them exposure that they ned to generate incremental revenue?  The salary and payroll burden for someone with this experience would likely be more than their payroll can support.

If the economy continues to be uncertain or even goes backwards, these are the hotels that suffer first.  

Now there is a company — real simple Revenue Management that guarantees to generate incremental revenue equal to or greater than their fees.  Check it out. http://tinyurl.com/3fuysft

It has never been easier to prospect than it is today. The power of Search on search engines and social media bring you a universe of prospects. However none of these will help you unless you can sort through the multitude of prospects to locate the ones that are appropriate for your hotel.

Develop a ‘filter’ based on your current ‘good accounts’ — those that you want more of. What is the DNA of your current good accounts by market segment and/or seasonality?

Where does the booking originate geographically? Who are they demographically in terms of verticals or industry, what is the position of the person that books the business and the people that attend the meeting or function? Last of all, fiscally how rate sensitve are they, how do they pay the bill.

Without a filter to sort through the universe of prospects, your prospecting efforts will be like a scatter shot approach hoping a duck flies through versus a shot gun approach that focuses on a specific target.

If you don’t figure this out, you are doomed to wait by the phone for an inquiry, a bureau lead — kind of like waiting for a date to call!

This is an amazing opportunity for independents to have a new promotional and booking source. The price is right — after the widget is developed there are no addtional fees!

However, the best widget on the planet won’t work unless you are drving Fans and Friends to the site. Many hotels are running contests on their page to increase traffic, create more Fans and keep them returning. The large Franchise organizations are doing this but it is so easy for any hotel to do it — all it takes is imagination!

Now that Trip Advisor has an interface with Facebook as does Expedia, the battle for share of this summer’s leisure traveler is on! If the price of gas goes over $4 and stays there, many consumers are gong to be looking at ‘staycations’ and deals again this year. Air fare increases are nearly double from last year to many of the most popular destinations.

Use your Facebook page as a marketing tool. Have Fan only offers! Remember, it’s FREE and if one strategy doesn’t work — it’s really cheap to try another one.

Join us on April 20 for a webinar — Summer Promotions – The Impact of Social Media and Google
Click here for more info. http://www.carolverret.net/viral/april11.php

In a recent survey by OgilvyOne of 1,000 sales professionals all over the world the question was asked How Important is the Use of Socail Media in success as a Sales Person? 73% of the Chinese sales professionals agreed it was important while only 27% of their US counterparts indicated it was important.

Where’s the disconnect? Do the Chinese know something we don’t or are they just ahead of the curve?

Do you use social media in your sales processes and if so, how? If you don’t, why?

Log onto www.socialmediarevmaxonline.com to see if you think a better presence on social media is a good idea.

Grudgingly, many managers have accepted Trip Advisor. They usually blame Trip Advisor for bad reviews — must have been a disgruntled employee, a scamming guest,(fill in the blanks)! The reality is that Trip Advisor does a pretty good job of vetting their reviews. Most of the disgruntled managers have a bunch of bad reviews that they don’t want to respond to because there may be a grain of truth there.

These managers should go look in the mirror, take a deep breathe and accept the fact that after price and location, reviews and recommendations from friends is the deciding factor in property selection! (Epsilon Survey)

Let’s talk about those friends — FaceBook friends. If the property is not monitoring it’s online presence on social networks, does not have an effective Fan page (with Fans) AND does not respond to Trip advisor reviews — it could be in serious trouble with this new partnership between Trip Advisor and Facebook.

If you think you might need help on that Fan page log onto Social Media RevMax on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Social-Media-RevMax/144897988896255 It might be a quick, easy, affordable solution for you!

1.  Dropping rate does not create demand.  There have been studies on this by people smarter than I am, Cornell University for one, to the effect that those hotel’s that value add and are smarter about discounting generate more revenue than those hotels that jus follow the lowest rated hotel to the bottom.  

2.  Customers are now trained to expect value. Peter Yesawhich defined value as ‘ something that the customer could not otherwise afford.’  This could be the reason that the luxury segment of the industry is recovering faster than the other segments.    See — it’s not just about rate!

3.  Meetings are back but we lost 15% during the recession and are expected to only increase in this segment by 8% in 2011.   Value add- value add!  Be very careful of dropping rates especially on longer lead business.  

4.  Customers are locating, gathering information and booking hotels on different channels than they were prior to the recession.  How well does your hotel web site appear  on mobile phones, do you have a mobile app, how well is your property placed on Google maps? 

5.   It’s time to reward the warriors — those that have come to work every day and fought the frustrating battle of the last 18 months.   Say Thank You to everyone that stuck around.  While you are at it — pat yourself on the back!

The eBook The Best of Hotel Sales & Revenue Management is here!  The past two years have been among the most difficult in the industry’s history. This 55 page book contains lessons we all learned during the recession and those that will launch us into the recovery. Click below for  more info. 

http://www.carolverret.net/viral/dec10book.php