When it Comes to Hotel Sales in Unconventional Times - One Size Definitely Does Not Fit All

We've always known, in the abstract, that there is no specific "roadmap to success." But of course, companies start to map out a route to their desired destination in any business or industry. There are wrong turns, short-cuts, some obstacles but, ultimately, we trust that we will find our way. We create our own roadmaps.

There was, however, no roadmap for the unprecedented year that was 2020. We didn't just hit an obstacle — we came to face a roadblock that no one saw coming. Suddenly, we were navigating truly uncharted territory in real-time, and, for the hospitality industry, this served up a steady barrage of unforeseen challenges.

Normally, we move through our days with a laser focus on the tangible metrics that so often define our company's success: ROI, leads, revenue — the list is exhaustive, but it never accounted for the events of 2020. Because when business is anything but usual, you have to conduct business in an unusual manner; you have to look at things differently. You have to view everything you do under a new, more compassionate, and accommodating lens. You have to look beyond the challenge at hand to imagine what your industry's future will look like, and more importantly, determine the role you will play in it.

At SalesandCatering.com, our approach has always been to focus on what we can do, both in times of triumph and times of hardship. We lead with gratitude and flexibility to advocate for the long term success of our clients and industry, by providing an affordable, practical solution, customizable solution to help hoteliers make sense of an unconventional world. And in doing so, we have forged some incredible new relationships with hotels eager to prepare their properties for what industry experts predict will be a steady recovery for group demand.

Flexible Technology & Flexible Pricing

When talking about flexible technology solutions, we're essentially talking about how easy it is for a system to adapt (or be adapted) to meet future requirements and changes that will inevitably occur. Even before the pandemic, hotel sales teams were facing growing pressure to transform, moving towards enhanced reliance on modern technology to improve efficiency and productivity.

When we connected with Oxford Collection, a collection of exceptional Oxford Suites Hotels, and the Oxford Hotel Bend, they were eager to update their operating standards. With 16 properties across their portfolio, we knew our technology could play a pivotal role in transforming their sales and catering processes. Moving their fundamental data over to STS Cloud allowed their teams to streamline workflows and implement consistent standard codes and documents while controlling costs.

In the case of National Hospitality Services, we have 20 hotels now relying on STS Cloud. Their properties came online in September and, since then, they have benefited from high-level reporting and sales productivity monitoring and enhanced continuity of reporting and managing of sales efforts. Continuity across properties was top of mind for NHS and, in the coming months, is sure to set their brand apart from competitors. To mitigate any cost-related concerns, we put a pricing structure in effect to assist with budgeting.

During the last quarter of 2020, hotels worked tirelessly to reimagine and establish their budgets and goals for 2021. Many properties recognized the need to invest in property updates, especially in the realm of technology. However, after a year of significant financial strain in the absence of expected revenue, financial planning was a vital issue. With uncertain demand, allocating for significant upgrade costs was, largely, out of the question.

Delayed technological adoption has always been a familiar crux across the hospitality industry, often due to cost-related apprehension. Understanding this, we offer ProposalPath as a truly affordable, revenue-generating system, not just in relation to the overall cost, but in the payment structure. Our budget-friendly, per-month unlimited user pricing model proves beneficial for single property and groups of hotels. We address property users with a single login and can assign any or all hotels to their users for ease of use, reporting, and access. We also offer unlimited user seats to simplify expense planning, and we can easily accommodate staff changes. This will prove to be especially important as post-pandemic demand begins to rise.

To this effect, we created a single database for the Jackson Hotel Group, experts in restaurant, golf course, and hotel management in VA and the mid-Atlantic, which included all four hotels in one, easy-to-navigate platform. This allowed their regional team to sell to a single set of accounts effectively and book at any location. Across all hotel properties, staff benefit from complete visibility and improved workflows.

>For Lotus Hotels, we adopted a similar approach, leveraging a single database for three hotel properties. This accommodation has helped Lotus Hotels to adopt a consolidated area sales approach despite demand and staff changes due to COVID. Moreover, they're now seeing increased connectivity of bookings by their sales staff.

Preparing For Revenue Acceleration and Recovery

The hospitality industry is incredibly resilient. We can always find ways to play the cards we've been dealt, but we have to be flexible to do so. Now, more than ever before, agility is critical to our success.

For our SalesAndSatering.com clients, this sentiment proves to be true. We work closely with each property to create specialized sales environments based on individual property needs, pain points, and budgets. Personalization, flexibility, and care have always been at the forefront of our offering but, over the last year, those core values have gleaned more meaning than ever before.

As hotels look to reorganize their sales teams in preparation for a quick rebound and recovery in 2021, our next-generation, cloud-based hotel sales technology will be there to support, accommodate, and help lead the way forward.

Ryan Hamilton
Co-Founder
+1 847 488 0225
SalesAndCatering.com, LLC