Tech is cool, but don't forget marketing basics

Technology is great, but don't forget the basics.

Prior to the mid 1990's, we all had to converse with a human being in order to research and make a hotel reservation. The Internet has changed all that. It is no longer necessary to converse with a human being to research, plan, or make a reservation. I believe that we need to find new ways to re-create that contact.

It's impossible to fill a bucket with sand if it has a great big hole in the bottom. To build business, it is necessary to fix the hole in your hotel's bucket by creating customer loyalty. To do this, we must communicate with our guests, during and after their stay with us. For sales people, that means staying in touch with group clients, even after they leave your hotel.

The 80/20 Rule Still Applies

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This simple rule states that 80% of your business comes from 20% of all your clients. This rule may be a point or two different for your operation, but it is generally true. The way I see it, there is a real danger, in today's electronic atmosphere, that time is being wasted by hoteliers who spend too much time and resources on areas which have too little business potential, even if their effort is successful.

In hotel sales and marketing, it is important to "fish where the fish are" to be successful. The hardest question in our industry is "where are the fish?". That answer should be based upon weighing the effort, necessary to capture business, against the potential results we can gain, if we are successful. The difficulty lies with the realization that most people concentrate on tasks which they enjoy most or are the easiest to do, instead of what is most productive.

Time is finite for everyone; often, the difference between success and failure depends upon how we spend that time. Hotel marketing today is very complex in its diversity. To avoid wasting time, hoteliers need to prioritize tasks based upon their potential results. Success depends upon how well you choose what you do every day, not how hard you work. Many people work hard and accomplish very little.

If you have the resources, use out-sourcing to help you discover new market sources; while you concentrate on your core business sources; experimentation is sometimes fun, but could be time-consuming and costly in terms of results.