Archive for the ‘Revenue Generation’ Category

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Lock and Load: The Basics of Triggered E-mail Campaigns

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Event-based and behavioral triggers are a great way to continuously communicate with your prospects and customers and extend the lifecycle of any campaign, traditional or interactive. As long as your messaging points respondents to your Web site and you can get them to opt-in, you’re in business.

Triggered e-mail campaigns send out messages based on:
· Specific events, such as a birthday
· An action taken by a customer or prospect, such as a whitepaper download
· Information they’ve provided you with, such as where they plan to go for their next vacation

It’s important to understand that the information you have in your database and how it’s organized will largely determine the success of your campaign. When planning a lead generation campaign with an event-based or behavioral trigger component, be sure to take the time to think about:

1. What information do you need to capture so you can send relevant, timely and personal e-mails?
2. How are your prospects and customers already interacting with your company and/or Web site?
3. What are the critical moments during your sales cycle that determine whether or not you are going to make a sale? How can a strategically timed e-mail help?
4. How might a recipient respond to each triggered e-mail? Think of follow up trigger emails based on these actions.
5. How often can you communicate with a prospect without causing them to opt-out?
6. What actions will stop the triggers altogether?

Once you’ve gone through the above exercise, select two or three questions that will enable you to send prospects relevant, timely and personal e-mail communications. Add them to your lead capture forms so that you can base your e-mail triggers on the information you capture.

And your existing database is just as important. However, the information you might want to gather for your prospects could be slightly different from your customers. You can capture new information for your existing database by sending an e-mail survey or asking customers to update their information when they log in to their account.

Now what? The next step is to develop a communication strategy for the different segments of your database: existing customers, existing prospects, past or inactive customers, new leads, etc. Though the end goal for all of your campaigns may be to generate sales, the strategy, messaging, offers and frequency of the triggered e-mails could be quite different depending on who you are talking to. Once your communication strategy is in place, it’s time to create targeted e-mail messages for your campaigns based on the answers to the questions in your lead capture form, which campaign is being responded to, and the actual interaction with your product / service.

Let’s say you are offering a free 30-day trial to test drive your project management software. You create a series of benefit driven e-mail messages that encourage prospects to upgrade to the paid version of the software and program these e-mails to go out once a week.

Then, take it a step further by including a question in your trial sign up form asking what industry they work in. Then, instead of triggering a generic e-mail, the industry they select triggers a message that illustrating the benefits specific to their industry.

While planning this campaign, you also determine that unless they actually use their trial account to test drive the product, the chances of them upgrading are very low. As a result, you create another rule that sends a different set of e-mails to those who are not using their trial. These focus on getting recipients to use the trial, offering them assistance to help them get started. Once they start using their trial account, the industry specific e-mails kick in. Last but not least, you set up a rule to stop these triggered e-mails completely when a prospect converts into a paid customer.

The beauty of event-based triggered messaging is that you can make it extremely relevant to the person receiving the e-mail. It also enables you to automate a large portion of your marketing campaign, even while coordinating efforts with a sales team.

And remember, it’s dangerous to never look back once you’ve implemented a strategy. Continuously monitor every campaign.

Yael Penn is the founder of Imagine 360.

The above article comes from Chief Marketer, an excellent publication on sales and marketing techniques. To subscribe to Chief Marketer:

http://subscribe.chiefmarketer.com/subscribe.cfm

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Nagib’s Corner: Front Desk Training Is The Key To Capturing More Walk-In Business

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Who generates the most room nights in your hotel?

The article below speaks to a critical component of our sales processes – the Front Desk. Some hotels focus on this realization – that the FD is your biggest contributor of room nights and hence your hotel’s most valued sales ally – while others look upon this team as more operational. From the standpoint of channel contribution, in almost all cases, few compare to the power of the FD team to generate/capture more traffic.
Whilst the walk-in guest listed below is a very important opportunity for all of us, the implication to other segments is what is even more significant, from my perspective.

The Power Play - A Sure Win.

If you view your FD team as a primary and critical cog in your sales apparatus, then they should be trained and encouraged to
1. Engage the guest in conversation about which company they are with
2. What brings them to the area – remember, they may tell you a company that is large in your area when they are actually a vendor to that company. Very important to recognize the difference.
3. Are there others team members who also come to the area
4. Obtain a business card (use some competition or draw type of program to stimulate this tried and true program)
5. Offer them an upgrade because …. they are so nice and we sure know how to take care of nice people!
Incent your desk for their efforts. More leads and opportunities can be obtained by data mining your own in-house guests than most realize. However, this is not an easy, simple or sporadic exercise. You need a systematic and focused approach by multiple team members to effectively utilize this information to your advantage. This takes thought and discipline to convert into an effective program to drive sales.

It can be, and most often IS, your MOST powerful sales generating opportunity. I do not say that lightly.

So what’s next?
Try it ……. You’ll like it!

Nagib Lakhani
RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866 C: (425)445-7750 F: (866)508-7866
nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
Front Desk Training Is The Key To Capturing More Walk-In Business - By Doug Kennedy
Date: 2009-06-01
Industry: -Gaming-Hotel- Category: Features

While many hotels have focused attention in recent years on helping reservations agents increase their sales effectiveness, many are still overlooking the numerous other sales opportunities that front desk sales associates encounter everyday.
One such opportunity is the walk-in inquiry. Depending on your market segment, brand, and especially your location, walk-in sales can represent a significant source of additional revenue.

Unfortunately, the hotel industry overall does a less than adequate job of selling to walk-ins. Typically, the car pulls up out front and someone gets out; sometimes it’s the mom, sometimes it’s the dad, sometimes it’s the 12 year old kid. Regardless of who it is, they all ask the same question: ‘How much are your rooms?’ All too often associates simply say ‘$99 a night.’ Nothing more is mentioned other than price. And what’s the worst mistake you can make in sales? Quoting a price without demonstrating value.

When you stop to consider it, the walk-in sales opportunity provides the hotel with some significant advantages over other distribution channels. For one, the sales person can visually evaluate the guests needs and wants. Are they dressed as if on a business trip, or on vacation? What is their age? Are they traveling alone or with family? What is their level of commitment; do they park the car and walk-in with luggage, or do they just run in to find out the price?

A second advantage is that the sales prospect can see the product firsthand and is able to formulate a first impression. (This is why it is critical for hotels to maintain curb appeal.) Another significant advantage in selling to walk-ins is that it takes more effort for the prospect to shop around. It’s harder to get back in the car and drive down the road than it is to click on the next Internet link or to dial the phone number of the next property.

If you’re looking to capture and convert more walk-in inquiries into bookings, here are some training tips to review at your next front office meeting:

• Connect With The Customer. Fundamental guest service principles will help you gain a competitive edge. Greeting the guest before they greet you, establishing eye contact, smiling, and using positive body language will set you apart from competitors.

• Offer A Menu Of Options. Depending on your inventory of rooms and packages, you’ll want to offer two or three choices when possible, versus only quoting the lower rate. For example, offer a traditional guest room and then an executive level room, or non-view and view rooms; or a room versus a suite. Or if your hotel has a limited number of room categories, you might still be able to offer a menu of ‘rate’ options such as a ‘room only’ rate and a second rate option that includes other services (such as breakfast, parking, or Internet.) Offering a menu of options migrates guests into a ‘which should I choose?’ versus ‘Should I choose to stay here?’ decision making process.

• Describe The Room And/Or Rate Option. Common industry terms like ’standard room’ and ‘continental breakfast’ do little to convey value and to entice guests. Instead, help them take psychological possession by fully describing the furnishings, views, concierge level lounges, and/or continental breakfast presentations. Remember to use the knowledge gained from reading the guest to point out features that might provide a benefit; instead allure and entice them with visually and emotionally descriptive language.

• Avoid positioning last-sell or higher rated options in the negative. When the only rooms available to walk-ins are either the highest-priced or least desirable, which is frequently the case in high-demand situations, it’s important to make them sound as appealing as possible. Rather than saying ‘Oh, we only have our suites left’ instead, create a sense of urgency with ‘Oh good, we still have some of our suites, which feature…’ Instead of saying ‘All we have left are our limited view rooms,’ reiterate value by saying ‘Although this room does have a limited view, you still have all the same amenities and services as with all our rooms, and I have to say this room really is a great value at this time.

In addition to training your front desk to utilize these and other sales techniques, it’s also important to measure the results both individually and on a department-wide basis. If your property management system allows, assign a special source code to walk-ins. Otherwise, create a form to manually record your results. Of course, you’ll also want to challenge your staff’s competitive spirit by posting the results on a ‘daily,’ MTD, and YTD basis, and then to celebrate your success via staff recognition and/or incentive programs.

By employing the basic sales principles for capturing walk-ins, your front desk team can help your hotel maximize it’s market share even in a down market.

Doug Kennedy

Visit www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com for details or e-mail him at: doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.

This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com

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Tom’s Take: Smart Phone Marketing Opportunities

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Many people are using smart phones instead of computers

How can hotels use this technology to drive revenues?

1. Advertise evening specials in your lounge, restaurant, or spa. Make sure your message is very short. Think of the Twitter concept that only allows 140 characters in a message.

2. Advertise room night specials or weekend specials.

3. Advertise products from your gift shop that can be easily shipped. Brand some of your amenity products to build brand loyalty.

Smartphone usage skyrocketed 187% from July 2008 to July 2009.

IPhones and Google Android-enabled devices offer ads on large screens. You can use display and banner ads.

Remember, majority of SmartPhone users are twenty somethings. While younger, they are very tech savvy. About 65 million of Facebook’s 300 million members are mobile users. Eight months ago, it was 20 million. Of MySpace’s estimated 125 million members worldwide, about 25 million use mobile devices. A year ago, it was 6 million.

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Tom’s Take: Using Facebook to Drive Business

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of time to spend researching all the social networking sites. I want to use them to drive business…now, not three years from now.

Following is one of the first articles I’ve seen that gave me specific ideas.

Excellent ideas on how hotels, restaurants, lounges, spas and recreational facilities, etc., can use Facebook to quickly, easily drive revenues without increasing costs.

Businesses turn to Facebook for word-of-mouth advertising
Updated 8/5/2009 11:33 AM
Bartender Beau Dieda, hanging with Michelle Hicks, helps drive traffic to Baja Sharkeez through Facebook. He lets 650 of his closest friends in on drink specials, discounts and events.
Enlarge image Enlarge By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
Bartender Beau Dieda, hanging with Michelle Hicks, helps drive traffic to Baja Sharkeez through Facebook. He lets 650 of his closest friends in on drink specials, discounts and events.
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — Bartender Beau Dieda does more than mix and serve drinks every night at popular nightspot Baja Sharkeez: He is also instructed to sign up friends and fans for his company’sFacebook page, as well as his own. Before he leaves the restaurant, he sends bulletins to his collective fan base inviting them back in for specials, discounts or events.

“It’s one of the best ways we can reach a vast audience,” he says. “After my shift, I can blast it to 650 friends in 30 seconds. I don’t have to go around to each person, or call them up.”

Facebook, with 250 million members, has gone beyond being just a place where you can alert friends about the music you’re listening to, who you’re dating or what movies you like. The social network’s expanded Pages feature lets businesses, organizations and public figures in on the action. They can create profiles that let them sign up fans, issue status updates and send messages. Businesses like Baja Sharkeez that cater to young people and big companies like Pizza Hut and Coca-Cola are finding it’s profitable to be your Facebook friend.

What also is enticing marketers: 120 million Facebook users log on at least once a day, and 30 million of them access Facebook on mobile devices. And those with major purchasing power — ages 35 and up — represent the fastest-growing demographic.

There are more than 100,000 small-business pages — 300,000 total business pages — on Facebook, says Tim Kendall, the company’s director of monetization.

Some large companies have attracted huge followings. Coca-Cola and Starbucks have over 3 million fans; Adidas shoes has 1.9 million. Pizza Hut is closing in on 1 million fans, whom it regularly updates about specials and new menu items.

“It makes us very relevant to the audience, and lets us communicate with them where they are, in a way that our website can’t do,” says Bernard Acoca, Pizza Hut’s senior director of digital marketing.

Sprinkles, a small chain of cupcake bakeries, is itching to get to 100,000 Facebook fans. Co-owner Charles Nelson started in April sending quizzes, free cupcake offers, contests and other enticements on Facebook to bring people in.

Back then he had 8,000 fans. Now he’s at 27,000 and is staging a contest to get to 100,000, offering free cupcakes and a trip to Beverly Hills to the winner.

“A website is you speaking out, but a Facebook page lets our customers come in and give their feedback,” he says. “It generates business, and it’s also a great community builder.”

Targeted advertising

In addition to a free profile page, Chicago-based T-shirt marketer Threadless uses Facebook’s advertising program. Advertisers can choose pay-per-click ads similar to Google’s auction-based ad program, bidding on words and paying when someone clicks on their ad, or traditional ads based on “impressions,” or the number of times an ad is presented.

Cam Balzer, director of marketing at Threadless, bids on words relating to video games, music and zombies. “This works phenomenally well,” says Balzer. “You can target your ad better on Facebook than anywhere else. I know my customers’ age, where they live, what their interests are, and only the people who fit my target see the ads.”

Facebook declined to disclose financial specifics, but Kendall says the local ad program is “ahead of expectations,” and the number of advertisers has tripled since 2008.

Marketers increasingly are gravitating to Facebook because they can advertise to a targeted audience, says Emily Riley, an analyst at Forrester Research. She says marketers can pick and choose consumers based on public information they share on their Facebook profiles, such as the city they live in, the college they attended, their group affiliations and their fan pages.

“You can literally find a book lover in New York who is a fan of Stephen King,” says Riley. “That is gold for a local book seller.”

To sign up (facebook.com/advertising), advertisers commit to spending a minimum of $5 per day. An ad campaign can be turned off and on with no monthly minimum. Kendall says businesses using the ad program successfully are those who depend upon word of mouth, like real estate agents and wedding photographers.

“Brides tell their friends they’re engaged, and wedding vendors can run ads specifically targeted to them,” he says.

Sharkeez doesn’t spend money on Facebook ads for its five Southern California restaurants. Jeffrey Tyler, director of marketing for Sharkeez, says Facebook attracts enough customers for free.

His restaurants — with 50 TV screens playing the latest sports, low-priced drinks and a young singles crowd — are usually busy, but Facebook has helped “tremendously” in the soft economy, he says.

Restaurant patron Amber Mather of Hermosa Beach came into Baja Sharkeez on a Thursday afternoon specifically because Tyler sent her an invitation with a 2-for-1 Happy Hour special. “You let your clientele know every day if something is going on — new deals, new specials. That’s how I know what’s happening at Baja Sharkeez,” she says.

Tyler agrees. “We can drive sales so much more. It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to us in the past 10 years.”

Contributing: Jon Swartz in San Francisco
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Nagib’s Corner: Packaging Added Value

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here’s an interesting list of value added benefits to add to build excitement and distinction!

The pressure is certainly high to drive traffic into your hotels. However, while price is the easiest and quickest approach, it has no sticky factor or distinction that will give you any form of real or lingering impact.

Now VALUE is where it’s at. I’ve sent many articles on this topic and you’ve, no doubt, read much more.

Imagine:

·         Corp Guest: Complimentary ironing services! Now that is such a great idea! If you’ve had to do this every time you check in, you know what a drag this is!

.         Imagine if you could offer this service with one of your room attendants. Low cost, high value and you’d only have to do this for a select period in the day for basic clothing. WOW!

·         Families: “Wii Are Family Package” – can you imagine using one of your meeting rooms with an LCD and large screen projecting a couple of Wii games for kids to play?? Again, WOW! What a great marketing opportunity to bring in families! Offer it for a set period every weekend or some other periodic session, include popcorn, some lemonade and you’ve got yourself a fabulous feature for families!

Some repeat ideas from my email of May 13th – they’re just as valid now:

Happiness and Smiles:

-  Value offerings for families – include

  • Receptions (partner with restaurants to offer some sample foods and coupons, you provide the drinks)
  • Certainly breakfast for families
  • WiFi if not already in your offering
  • Attraction related coupons or deals
  • Area retailer coupons and sale information
  • Car wash or interior car vacuum (you know how messy cars get when you have kids in tow!). Include service (or at least provide for access to hose and vacuum cleaners).

-Packages, Packages, Packages

  • Family movie with pop & popcorn - package
  • Attraction entry passes, where possible
  • F&B related deals with neighboring restaurants or your own outlets

-Note the sweet spot of $300-$400 over the two – three night stay

  • Package full deals so families can budget for meals and known cost
    §  You have at least $150+ per day, total for, say 4 people.
    §  Room, breakfast, WiFi – typically included in limited service hotels
    §  Lunch: fast food coupons @ average $20 per family (they can use these coupons anytime)
    §  Dinner: in house restaurant values can be strong. In absence of that option, include a certificate, preferably from a chain they can recognize the value with.
  • Depending on your market, and the demand over the weekend, you can price your rooms with a more comprehensive package that covers the basics – that makes you more attractive than others.

-Provide a reason for travelers to be at your location:

  • Use your websites: 80%+ of the traveling public starts their search on line.
  • Tell them why they should be at your hotel and your location: remember, people can easily drive around 2-3 hours in a radius from their home. You want to offer excitement that makes your location stand out.
  • Consider Pay Per Click to get higher exposure – feature your attractions in metatags and in paid search key phrases.
  • Newsletters – if you have a database, now’s the time to send out offers, if you haven’t already.

If any of you have ideas that have worked, please do share!

Nagib

Nagib Lakhani- RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866     C: (425)445-7750      F: (866)508-7866

nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
4313 245th Avenue SE
Issaquah, WA 98029

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Nagib’s Corner: Cornell Study on Rates

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

Below is an interesting study from Cornell. It has, essentially, the same results as a study they conducted earlier showing that maintaining rates resulted in higher RevPAR performance levels.

Whilst this is obviously the case based on a very large sample, the challenge is that it does go counter to intuition. However, a critically important component, in my opinion, is to be very acutely aware of your immediate surroundings and the response that your comp set has chosen to take. That, coupled with knowing who your guest is, will always allow you to make a highly informed decision about the responses that work in your location.

· A corporate client, for the limited service segment, is likely to respond more favorably to the added service levels and familiarity you can offer rather than sacrifice that for a minor differential in rate. That means knowing them to deliver on this promise.

· A leisure client, in a similar segment, will likely be more swayed by a package that makes the experience more meaningful and memorable than a slight differential in rate (which is less apparent when bundled anyway).

Thank you.

Nagib.

Cornell Study Finds that Lower Hotel Prices Cost Hotels Money in Good Times and Bad

Contact:  Glenn Withiam, 607.255.3025, grw4@cornell.edu

Ithaca, NY, June 24, 2009 – When close competitors cut their prices, the temptation for hotel operators is to follow with reductions of their own. While that strategy may increase occupancy, it reduces revenue per average room (RevPAR), when compared to a hotel’s competitive group. This is the key finding of a new study from Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research, “Competitive Pricing in Uncertain Times,” by Cathy A. Enz, Linda Canina, and Mark Lomanno. The study is available at no charge from the center at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2009.html.

“Our goal was to compare the effects of pricing strategies among close competitors, first during a weak economy and then during boom times,” said Enz, who is the Louis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management at the School of Hotel Administration. “Using the database provided by STR, we were able to analyze relative pricing, occupancy, and RevPAR in over 67,000 hotel observations, from 2001 through 2007.”

“Our findings were consistent, despite the economic situation,” explained Canina, an associate professor at Cornell. “Hotels that maintained average daily rates above those of their direct competitors experienced lower occupancies compared to those other hotels, but they recorded higher relative RevPARs. This was true in all market segments.”

Added Lomanno, who is president of STR: “Our overall results suggest that the best way to have better revenue performance than your competitors is to maintain higher average rates.” Lomanno pointed out that the researchers were careful to analyze only comparable hotels in each competitive group. Most hotels that charged relatively lower rates than their competitors had relatively higher occupancy, but that did not mean stronger RevPARs.

Thanks to the support of the Center for Hospitality Research partners listed below, all publications posted on the center’s website are available free of charge, atwww.chr.cornell.edu.

About The Center for Hospitality Research
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the center’s 77 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. To learn more about the center and its projects, visit www.chr.cornell.edu.

Nagib Lakhani     RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866       C: (425)445-7750      F: (866)508-7866

nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
4313 245th Avenue SE

Issaquah, WA 98029

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Nagib’s Corner: Hotel Industry posts record revenue in 2008, other metrics slide

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Some interesting key facts from the statistics below:

Full Service GOP:
·         2008: 34.3%
·         2007: 34.4%
o    Pretty good, all things considered!
Limited Service GOP:
·         2008: 51.2%
·         2007: 55.4%
o    A little worse than full service but pretty respectable, overall.
All things considered, this was not as bad as we may have anticipated. After all, 2007 was amongst the very best years the industry has had so the declines should not be considered precipitous or, as many of us felt, disastrous when viewed from the perspective of the entire year.

What did, however, contribute to the perception of ‘falling off the cliff’ was the following reality (from the article below):

The decrease in room revenue during the last four months of 2008 was US$1.7 billion when compared with the final four months of 2007. As a result, the total profit loss in the U.S. hotel industry in 2008 was US$2.0 billion, which illustrates that the room revenue loss post-Labor Day was essentially pure profit loss.

Hope this will help you reflect over the year with a more ‘perspective’ and less ‘depressive’ memory. More importantly, I hope your hotels did not experience results worse than those ‘averages’ listed above.

Take care

Nagib.

Hotel Industry posts record revenue in 2008, other metrics slide
Date: 2009-06-23

The U.S. hotel industry average daily rate reached a record high, ending 2008 at US$106.55, but Pre-Tax Income Profits for the year were down 7.9 percent to US$25.8 billion, according to STR’s Hotel Operating Statistics (HOST) Study.
According to the HOST Study, the hotel industry generated US$140.6 billion in room revenue, a 0.9-percent increase from 2007. However, the ongoing economic slowdown affected the hotel industry considerably. The decrease in room revenue during the last four months of 2008 was US$1.7 billion when compared with the final four months of 2007. As a result, the total profit loss in the U.S. hotel industry in 2008 was US$2.0 billion, which illustrates that the room revenue loss post-Labor Day was essentially pure profit loss. The Gross Operational Profit (GOP) percent as a percentage of revenue was 38.2 percent of the total revenue.

‘The hotel industry was hit hard by the decreases in leisure and business demand,’ said Mark Lomanno, president of STR. ‘Unfortunately we will be operating in an environment of declining demand and increasing room supply for a while, which will put additional pressures on room rates and profits. We just have to remember that this is a cyclical industry, and things are expected to get better towards the end of 2009. But, operators need to watch their cost structure and continue to maximize ADR where ever possible.’

The study included results from more than 5,800 hotels, the most participants ever to contribute to the HOST Study.

Other highlights of the HOST Study:

• Full-service hotels reported an average occupancy rate of 67.4 percent and ADR of US$164.31 in 2008, compared with 2007 when occupancy was 70.0 percent and ADR was US$166.69.

• Full-service hotels’ GOP in 2008 was 34.3 percent, compared with 34.4 percent in 2007. The GOP was equivalent to about US$21,972 per available room.

• The study showed the bigger the full-service hotel, the better the occupancy. Full-service hotels with more than 500 rooms reported an occupancy rate of 71.3 percent compared to hotels with under 150 rooms, which reported an occupancy rate of 63.5 percent.

• Among the limited-service hotels, the Middle Atlantic region had the highest occupancy rate (72.3 percent) and the highest ADR (US$147.50) among the geographic regions for the year.

• Limited-service hotels’ GOP in 2008 was 51.2 percent (compared with 55.4 percent in 2007), which amounts to US$12,842 per available room.

• Limited-service hotels’ Income from Fixed Charges (Gross Operating Profit after deducting franchise and management fees) was US$47.65 per occupied room night-up from US$84.15 in 2007. That represents US$11,406 per available room.

The HOST Study is the most extensive and definitive database on the U.S. hotel industry revenues and expenses. The study includes operating statements from more than 5,800 hotels. HOST contains information on hotel revenues and expenses, as well as presents information by department including rooms, food & beverage, marketing, utility costs, property and maintenance, administrative & general, and selected fixed charges. HOST is available in electronic, PDF or excel files, or printed versions. For more information and details about HOST e-mail ideas@smithtravelresearch.com.

About STR & STR Global
For more than 20 years, Smith Travel Research has been the recognized leader for lodging industry benchmarking and research. Smith Travel Research and STR Global offer monthly, weekly, and daily STAR benchmarking reports to more than 36,000 hotel clients, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide. STR is headquartered in Hendersonville, Tenn., and STR Global is based in London. For more information, visit www.smithtravelresearch.com or www.strglobal.com.

This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com

The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article39541.html
Nagib Lakhani
RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866
C: (425)445-7750
F: (866)508-7866
nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
4313 245th Avenue SE
Issaquah, WA 98029

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Nagib’s Corner: Internet Generated Reservations

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

Interesting statistics on the current online travel habits of vacationers. Certainly, this is highly sensitive information for us as we manage our various channels.

· 66 percent of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35 percent in 2000): this is a statistic that has variation depending on which survey you refer to. High, no matter which one and growing.

· Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity)                                                  31 percent
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN)                           26 percent
Website of specific hotel chain                                     21 percent

.     With the rankings clearly identified, you should take close stock of the OTA listings for your hotels – how are they showing up? Have you got key sell phrases clearly visible? Are you taking advantage of package discounts for multiple stays, participating in packaging with air, especially on your slower days?

. Search engines – this has a lot to do with your website management, PPC, etc, etc. Much info on this over past several email newsletters. If organic searches are not getting you high enough, get some advice on PPC. It has some great advantages.

. Brand.com specific sites: images, images – real important in getting that ‘sticky factor’. Does you brand offer landing pages? Can you click through to other sections of your site from the main page? Do they offer any custom search words (some brands do)? Have you listed all the amenities around your hotel, even within an hour’s drive?

  • Some brands are now offering you a direct click from the brand.com to your own site, provided you comply with their guidelines (same look and feel as the brand.com). Ask the question – what do you gain by doing this? If you have them on the brand.com, and you can make that effective, what is the benefit of having them be able to click to your own site? You want your own site to be as varied and reflective of your character and area features as you can make it. You will direct them to the brand.com to book anyway so they can see that. If you have them at brand.com, you already have them so is the trade off between flexibility with your own site worth it for getting the two-way?

Take care!

Computer-assisted travel picks up

While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than 37 percent since the year 2000, “Consumers’ search behavior has changed in recent years as people have become more familiar with search technology and the number of travel planning/purchasing sites has grown exponentially,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.

monitorAccording to the latest National Travel Monitor, 66 percent of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35 percent in 2000), while 56 percent now report making reservations online. The nationally representative survey of 1,590 active travelers was conducted during the months of February and March 2009 and is co-authored annually by Ypartnership and Yankelovich.

Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first when considering vacation destination alternatives. The websites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next, followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity. Only 1 percent of travelers commence their search for a vacation destination by visiting a blog:

Visit first when selecting a destination

Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN)                            34 percent
Website of national tourist office/CVB                           23 percent
Online travel agency like Expedia, Travelocity            22 percent
Website of hotel chain                                                           8 percent
Web site of individual hotel or resort                                 7 percent
Blog                                                                                              1 percent

Search patterns for selecting airline or lodging accommodations are understandably different. Consumers who are searching for these travel services first visit the websites of online travel agencies. Brand-specific sites follow closely when leisure travelers are selecting an airline, yet significantly less so when they select lodging. Meta search engines that compare fares are visited first by just over 1-out-of-10 travelers when selecting an airline:

Visit first when selecting an airline
Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity)                                                  42 percent
Website of specific airline                                           41 percent
Meta search engine that compares fares                13 percent

Visit first when selecting hotel/resort
Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity)                                                   31 percent
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN)                      26 percent
Website of specific hotel chain                                    21 percent
Website of individual hotel/resort                              10 percent
Meta search engine that compares rates                     5 percent

For further information on the National Travel Monitor, please visit the publications section of www.ypartnership.com.

Source: 2009 National Travel Monitor, Ypartnership and Yankelovich

Nagib Lakhani  RevMax Hospitality Consulting Services
O: (425)677-7866       C: (425)445-7750       F: (866)508-7866

nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com

4313 245th Avenue SE
Issaquah, WA 98029

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Tom’s Take: Collecting Your Customers Email Addresses

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Customer email addresses:

  • Build repeat business
  • Reduce your marketing spend per customer contact

Novel ways to make it easier for your employees to ask for, and get email addresses:

-At Front Desk/customer contact point, have a card that offers a drawing for something free or an immediate discount on something you need to sell. Be sure your employees make the offer verbally as well.

-In elevators, interrupt the music from time to time to ask customers to leave their email addresses to learn about coming specials. (We presume, you are already interrupting your the music to build your normal marketing and sales efforts. It’s extremely easy to do.)

-When interrupting your music, include endorsements from your employees or customers. Most people are thrilled to be asked to help. Employees will listen for their voices and voices of their friends. Then ask your employees for their ideas. 

-Ask customers and employees for email addresses of other people who would/could be interested in your products and services. Offer a small incentive. Hotels can knock $5 off on a room upgrade, or offer a free appetizer in the restaurant, 

Valid, opt in email lists are perhaps the single most important marketing tool available. They certainly are the least expensive form of advertising. Email give you the opportunity to create small lists, highly customized to meet the needs of specific customers.

Hotels for instance can have several email lists for their group clients. SMERF clients react to different information in the message than do large corporate groups. Large corporate groups will react best to different information than small corporate groups do. Resist “one size fits all” email campaigns. They generate more bad will than good will.

The cost in email marketing is the time spent making sure your email will appeal to the audience you are mailing to. Spammers get away with “throwing something at the wall in hopes it will stick.” The rest of us have to be much more focused in the content and headline of our email solicitations.

I’d be interested in publishing any success stories you are having.

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Summer Travel Is Looking Good!

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s going to be a summer to look forward to!!

Memorial Day road traffic is expected to surpass 2008 levels.

Bring Happiness and Smiles to Your Bottom Line
-Value offerings for families – include

  • Receptions (partner with restaurants to offer some sample foods and coupons, you provide the drinks
  • Breakfast for families
  • WiFi if not already in your offering
  • Attraction related coupons or deals
  • Area retailer coupons and sale information
  • Car wash or interior car vacuum (you know how messy cars get when you have kids in tow!). Include service (or at least provide for access to hose and vacuum cleaners).

-Packages, Packages, Packages

  • Family movie with pop & popcorn - package
  • Attraction entry passes, where possible
  • F&B related deals with neighboring restaurants or your own outlet

Note the sweet spot of $300-$400 over the two – three night stay

Package full deals so families can budget for meals and known costs

  • You have at least $150+ per day, total for, say 4 people.
    Room, breakfast, WiFi – typically included in limited service hotels
    Lunch: fast food coupons @ average $20 per family (they can use these coupons anytime)
    Dinner: in house restaurant values can be strong. In absence of that option, include a certificate, preferably from a chain they can recognize the value with.

Depending on your market, and the demand over the weekend, you can price your rooms with a more comprehensive package that covers the basics – that makes you more attractive than others.

Provide a reason for travelers to be at your location:

  • Use your websites: 80%+ of the traveling public starts their search on line.
  • Tell them why they should be at your hotel and your location: remember, people can easily drive around 2-3 hours in a radius from their home. You want to offer excitement that makes your location stand out.
  • Consider Pay Per Click to get higher exposure – feature your attractions in metatags and in paid search key phrases.
  • Newsletters – if you have a database, now’s the time to send out offers, if you haven’t already.

If you want some more ideas on packages, feel free to call.

Take care and good luck in your planning.

Nagib Lakhani President
Nagib@RevenueMaxConsulting.com
425-677-7866

Revenue Max Consulting
4313 245th Ave SE
Issaquah, WA 98029

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