New Year's Resolutions for Sales & Marketing in 2005

By Leora Lanz and Barbara Wiener & Eydie Shapiro, December 7, 2004

There are numerous sales and marketing promises we can make each year. Rather than list them by the hundreds, we thought this brief list might help put you on the right track for 2005:

• 10) I will assess the sales, public relations and overall marketing strategies in the plan we recently documented for this fiscal year. It's always smart to tweak and move forward once we've reviewed the successes of the past.
  
  
• 9) I will review our pricing and revenue management guidelines to insure that it makes sense and works.
  
  
• 8) I will better understand and utilize Internet marketing strategies and GDS reservations opportunities to reach out to our current and prospective customers.
  
  
• 7) I will insure that we are using our website, guest loyalty programs, and database information smartly, and that they are updated, cutting edge and concise.
  
  
• 6) I will coach and train my sales, management and front office staff to help them identify new contacts and qualified leads, and to sell better.
  
  
• 5) As an owner or general manager, I will work closely with my team and participate on calls with my sales managers.
  
  
• 4) I will commit to better training of all property staff, to improve the level of service, which supports the efforts of my sales team, so that we deliver what we promise.
  
  
• 3) I will utilize public relations to report my successes and to create a level of awareness, as I appreciate the power of third party endorsements and editorial coverage. I will work at cultivating relationships with local media.
  
  
• 2) I will support promotions that are creative and "out-of-the-box," yet simple to understand and execute.
  
  
• 1) I will consider my marketing dollars not as an expense item, but as a critical investment.

HVS Marketing Communications is proud to help put you on the right track for sales, marketing and public relations in 2005.

Leora Lanz who serves as HVS International's Director of Marketing, has been with the firm since 1999. She also spearheads HVS' Marketing Communications consulting service. For nearly ten years, Leora served as the Director of Public Relations and Advertising for the Sheraton Hotels of New York (and New Jersey), and ultimately, the Starwood Hotels of New York. In that capacity, she managed the public relations efforts for the renaming, repositioning, rebranding, and grand openings of numerous properties through international exposure. Prior to her tenure with Sheraton, Leora served for five years as the Director of Public Relations for the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. During her graduate school years, she also worked in the marketing communications department for the then-new Four Seasons Hotel, Boston.

HVS International is a hospitality services firm providing industry skill and knowledge worldwide. The organization and its specialists possess a wide range of expertise and offer market feasibility studies, valuations, strategic analyses, development planning, and litigation support. Additionally, HVS International supplies unique knowledge in the areas of executive search, investment banking, environmental sustainability, timeshare consulting, food and beverage operations, interior design, gaming, technology strategies, organizational assessments, operational management, strategy development, convention facilities consulting, marketing communications, property tax appeals and investment consulting. Since 1980, HVS International has provided hospitality services to more than 10,000 hotels throughout the world. Principals and associates of the firm have authored textbooks and thousands of articles regarding all aspects of the hospitality industry. Click here for more...