It’s time to get cold calling.
Many of us will remember the fall of the Asian economy in the mid-nineties, SARS and the tragic events of 9/11 and the Tsunami.
All of these events had, to some degree, an adverse effect on many hotels around the world, but few hotels will have come close to experiencing the significant shortfalls we are seeing across the globe now in average rates and occupancies, dragging RevPARs down to record lows - all as a result of the global recession we find ourselves in.
It is not business as usual by any means and only those hotel sales teams that seek to diversify their client base and look beyond their key accounts will succeed.
Many sales managers will have spent their careers maintaining key accounts and, while this is most crucial in these uncertain times, hotels can no longer accept sales teams who simply react.
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Sales managers need to be trained in the art of prospecting; they need to learn how to research for new clients and regions, how to steal market share from their competitors and raise their levels of confidence in the art of cold-calling.
A proactive sales strategy has never been more important. So many hotels have excellent sales individuals that are young, passionate, enthusiastic and hungry to learn, and yet so badly lack the know-how and confidence to find, develop rapport and close new business, giving hotels the life-line many desperately need.
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