By Josiah Mackenzie
Someone recently told me they have no time to manage so many types of guest feedback: traditional surveys and comment cards, online feedback across dozens of OTAs and review sites, and all the social media mentions. If they could not find a solution to manage everything, they would only focus on one of these feedback channels.
But is it enough to only use one method for collecting guest opinions? What would be the best solution in this scenario?
Some social media advocates will tell you online feedback has replaced surveys. Looking at the strong growth in guest-written reviews published to the web over the past few years, you might get this impression. Online reviews do present us with several compelling advantages:
Guests can respond in a way that is easiest for them
Then can do provide feedback whenever and wherever they want (often via mobile devices)
They can talk about whatever impressed or annoyed them
The ‘likeonomics' trend means time-starved reviewers can share opinions more frequently
For hotels that do a good job of providing an excellent guest experience, reviews posted online can act as powerful sales messages
Yet while the volume of of online reviews has increased dramatically over the last few years, advantages to traditional surveys remain.
Some people will only share valuable feedback through a private channel like a survey
Complete anonymity can encourage more honest and open feedback
Surveys can provide you with detailed feedback on specific areas of your operations
Because there are distinct advantages to using both forms of feedback, avoid making it an either/or decision. Best results come from mixing traditional surveys and comment cards, online reviews, and social media mentions as part of a comprehensive Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) system.
"I do believe that companies that strategically combine both [online and offline feedback] will have better data to set goals and make decisions with since they will be able to collect feedback from anonymous and unbiased sources as well as feedback on specific, targeted questions." - Liene Stevens, CEO of Splendid Communications
Case Study: Sidorme Hotels
Sidorme is a chain of 6 hotels in Spain, and they use ReviewPro and a mix of feedback mechanisms to improve their operations. Berta Vilardell, Director of Sales and Marketing, shares her thoughts on the difference between internal customer service questionnaires and online reviews:
"Of course we also conduct internal customer surveys at each hotel directly, but we are aware of the fact that the online reviews that we analyze through ReviewPro are more honest, as they are absolutely anonymous."
Berta values both online and offline reviews, and has integrated both into the chain's analysis.
"When we see something critical or a good opportunity appearing repeatedly in online reviews, we follow this up with internal surveys in our hotels that focus on a concrete topic, for example by asking for suggestions to improve our breakfast or asking what people would like to see in a new Sidorme hotel. This gives us a direct feedback and we can see how we could improve on a specific aspect."
ReviewPro is the only hotel reputation management tool that allows hotel owners to import their surveys and consolidate feedback from all sources into one online dashboard. For helpful ideas each day, you should follow @ReviewPro on Twitter.
About Josiah Mackenzie
Josiah Mackenzie is publisher of Hotel Marketing Strategies - helping 17,000 hoteliers worldwide use technology for better service, and is an industry analyst for ReviewPro - a customer intelligence tool for the social web: http://www.reviewpro.com
Do You Need Both Online Reviews and Satisfaction Surveys? | ehotelier.com News Archives
Sonntag, 10. April 2011
Sonntag, 3. April 2011
51 Ways To Reward Employees Without Money
51 Ways To Reward Employees Without Money: "Sure, many companies feel strapped right now and may duck their head and run in the other direction at the mere mention of bonuses. But tough times don't mean that you should just forget about rewarding your employees. There are many ways that you can reward employees without handing them money, and many of these are things you can do right now, with very little effort. By Mike Michalowicz
"
Here are a whopping 51 things you can give your employees that don’t include cutting them a check:
1. Let the employee dump the one project they like least to you.
2. Use of the president’s office for a day.
3. The front parking spot.
4. A handwritten thank you note.
5. Name the conference room or lounge after them.
6. Inviting their spouse in for a lunch on the company.
7. A reserved parking spot.
8. A video game for the employee to give to their child.
9. A vacation day.
10. Brand-new desk, chair, or other piece of office furniture.
11. Bouquet of flowers.
12. Prepare a short video montage that celebrates the employee’s accomplishments.
13. A public thank you.
14. Send a birthday card to them at their home address.
15. Pay for them to take a fun class, such as cooking or skydiving.
16. Find something they like to collect, such as stamps or coins, and give them one for their collection.
17. Let them suggest a way they would like to be recognized.
18. Write a note to their family, sharing how important the person’s contribution to the company has been.
Want to read more on rewarding employees? Check these out:
How To Reward Your Employees When Money Is Tight
Rewarding Employees: Money May Not Always Be The Best Way
Building A Business By Recognizing Employees
19. Keep the break room stocked with their favorite drink or snack.
20. Buy them tickets to a concert, show or other event.
21. Give them a small gift card from their favorite store.
22. Pick up a book or CD for them by their favorite author or artist.
23. Pick up the tab for them to have a family portrait taken.
24. Pay for their child to go to camp.
25. Buy a few extra boxes of Girl Scout Cookies from their daughter.
26. Give them a pair of movie tickets.
27. Help them with gas prices by giving them a gas card.
28. Provide them with a formal letter of appreciation for their personal file.
29. Create a “day pass” that they can turn in to take any day off, no questions asked.
30. Find a deal on a couple of three-day cruise tickets and set them up with a short vacation.
31. Allow them to be flexible with their hours.
32. Let them choose one day a week to work from home.
33. Have a birthday cake delivered to the office on their birthday.
34. Get each employee to write something positive about the person on a piece of paper, and give them the box of collected sayings, or frame them for the employee.
35. Start a company “Wall of Fame” and add them to it.
36. Find out what they are passionate about and give them a gift that relates to it.
37. Create and give them an award that they can keep and frame for a job well done.
38. Surprise them with an outdoor catered picnic.
39. Have a mobile car wash come to the business and clean their vehicle.
40. Get them a subscription to their favorite magazine.
41. Pay for a membership in a trade association of their choice.
42. Have a staff appreciation day once a month to provide them with a catered lunch.
43. Give them and their colleagues a catered breakfast.
44. Give them a new, improved job title.
45. Provide them with some one-on-one mentoring.
46. Institute a "playtime," where employees can play games or shoot some baskets.
47. Host an annual award ceremony and give awards to employees for their contributions.
48. Celebrate the anniversary of their joining the company.
49. Allow them to dress casually on Fridays.
50. Have a massage therapist come to the office once a month and give a massage.
51. Create a relaxation room, where the employee (and other people you are rewarding) can go during the day, to read or even play a video game on their break.
"Here are a whopping 51 things you can give your employees that don’t include cutting them a check:
1. Let the employee dump the one project they like least to you.
2. Use of the president’s office for a day.
3. The front parking spot.
4. A handwritten thank you note.
5. Name the conference room or lounge after them.
6. Inviting their spouse in for a lunch on the company.
7. A reserved parking spot.
8. A video game for the employee to give to their child.
9. A vacation day.
10. Brand-new desk, chair, or other piece of office furniture.
11. Bouquet of flowers.
12. Prepare a short video montage that celebrates the employee’s accomplishments.
13. A public thank you.
14. Send a birthday card to them at their home address.
15. Pay for them to take a fun class, such as cooking or skydiving.
16. Find something they like to collect, such as stamps or coins, and give them one for their collection.
17. Let them suggest a way they would like to be recognized.
18. Write a note to their family, sharing how important the person’s contribution to the company has been.
Want to read more on rewarding employees? Check these out:
How To Reward Your Employees When Money Is Tight
Rewarding Employees: Money May Not Always Be The Best Way
Building A Business By Recognizing Employees
19. Keep the break room stocked with their favorite drink or snack.
20. Buy them tickets to a concert, show or other event.
21. Give them a small gift card from their favorite store.
22. Pick up a book or CD for them by their favorite author or artist.
23. Pick up the tab for them to have a family portrait taken.
24. Pay for their child to go to camp.
25. Buy a few extra boxes of Girl Scout Cookies from their daughter.
26. Give them a pair of movie tickets.
27. Help them with gas prices by giving them a gas card.
28. Provide them with a formal letter of appreciation for their personal file.
29. Create a “day pass” that they can turn in to take any day off, no questions asked.
30. Find a deal on a couple of three-day cruise tickets and set them up with a short vacation.
31. Allow them to be flexible with their hours.
32. Let them choose one day a week to work from home.
33. Have a birthday cake delivered to the office on their birthday.
34. Get each employee to write something positive about the person on a piece of paper, and give them the box of collected sayings, or frame them for the employee.
35. Start a company “Wall of Fame” and add them to it.
36. Find out what they are passionate about and give them a gift that relates to it.
37. Create and give them an award that they can keep and frame for a job well done.
38. Surprise them with an outdoor catered picnic.
39. Have a mobile car wash come to the business and clean their vehicle.
40. Get them a subscription to their favorite magazine.
41. Pay for a membership in a trade association of their choice.
42. Have a staff appreciation day once a month to provide them with a catered lunch.
43. Give them and their colleagues a catered breakfast.
44. Give them a new, improved job title.
45. Provide them with some one-on-one mentoring.
46. Institute a "playtime," where employees can play games or shoot some baskets.
47. Host an annual award ceremony and give awards to employees for their contributions.
48. Celebrate the anniversary of their joining the company.
49. Allow them to dress casually on Fridays.
50. Have a massage therapist come to the office once a month and give a massage.
51. Create a relaxation room, where the employee (and other people you are rewarding) can go during the day, to read or even play a video game on their break.
The trigger email (r)evolution: 9 naive questions
The trigger email (r)evolution: 9 naive questions: "
"
The positive press has its justification: trigger emails seem to solve the main challenges faced by the modern email marketer. And the campaign results make impressive reading.
I’ve never knowingly sent a trigger email, unless you count welcome messages. So, no, I’m not an expert (not even close to one).
But ignorance lets me discard the marketer hat and don a consumer perspective to ask a few naive questions that trigger email enthusiasts rarely seem to tackle.
But before we lay down a consumer gauntlet or three, let’s see what make trigger emails special…
What is a trigger email?
Sally Lowery defines a trigger email as one that is:
“…generated based on a meaningful change or event in a customer behavior or profile”
We can argue long into the night about definitions, but I think of them as a direct response to an action taken by the recipient, or to a specific piece of data associated with that recipient. A response where the content and timing of the email reflects that action or data.
Typical examples might be:
- order confirmation
- shipping confirmation
- request for feedback on a purchase
- post-purchase email featuring upsells and cross-sells
- request for a product/service review
- welcome message series post sign-up
- birthday email
- cart abandonment email
- “time to repurchase” (replenishment) email
- promotional email featuring products the recipient recently browsed on the website
- thank you emails
You’ll find more detailed overviews and examples from Loren McDonald, Carolyn Nye, Amy Africa and Ed Henrich.
What makes trigger emails so interesting?
It’s actually quite hard to be relevant, valuable and timely in email marketing.
Traditional, broadcast emails – however targeted – still rely on a big dollop of serendipity to get a response. Did we guess your interests right? Are you ready to buy right now? Is this topic relevant to you today?
Trigger emails do a much better job of meeting those challenges.
The message is, by definition, customized to a defined action (like browsing a particular website section) or piece of data (like date of birth), making relevancy, value and timeliness far more likely.
Value is also increased by the service flavor to many of these emails.
Now consider that undifferentiated, bulk emails are increasingly sidelined in the minds and inboxes of recipients.
As one-to-one, “individualized”, timely, valuable messages, trigger emails are far more likely to get past those delivery and psychological blocks to get attention and (where relevant) a response.
What results are they getting?
The theory is matched by the numbers. Ignoring the impacts on customer goodwill, branding etc….
- Bank of America report that event-based trigger emails are 250% more effective than broadcast promotional emails
- VIE at home get £250 in revenue for every £1 invested on abandoned shopping basket emails
- 75% of registrations for Roku’s referral program are driven by triggered emails to new customers
- People who purchase after getting cart abandonment emails spend 55% more than those who buy straightaway
- “Happy Birthday” emails from Epson produce 840% more revenue per email than the overall email program
- Gaylord Brothers convert half of their cart abandoners using multiple message remarketing emails
- Trigger emails sent after relevant on-site searches got 200% higher open rates and 50% higher CTR than LowFares.com’s standard newsletter
- One study found abandoned cart mails getting 20 times the transaction rates and revenue of standard email campaigns
- Tafford Uniforms earn 20% higher revenue per email from post-purchase survey emails than through standard broadcast messages
- S&S Worldwide drive 40% of email revenue through trigger/transactional emails that account for just 4% of email volume
Pretty impressive! My own welcome messages get over double the open rate and three times the click rate of a typical e-newsletter issue.
So, now to my questions. Asked mostly from the perspective of someone who gets a lot of trigger email. And because I’m the consumer here, I don’t have the answers. I hope those with more experience will jump in with suggestions.
1. Are your basic email efforts optimized?
Before you start getting into the database and technology solutions that support sophisticated trigger campaigns, did you optimize what you’re already doing?
Are your basic trigger emails in order?
For example, are your order confirmations optimized for inbox recognition, clarity, and marketing impact? Does your welcome message tick all the right content checkboxes?
And have you optimized the subject line, preheaders, design, layout, copy, calls to action, etc. in your “broadcast” emails?
Dela Quist suggests you may be better off simply sending more email than investing in segmentation technology that gives each recipient a customized email. The argument might extend to trigger emails.
Put simply: are trigger emails low-hanging fruit or are there other areas of your email marketing that need more urgent attention?
2. Can/should you cap the same trigger response?
How many times do you send a trigger email for the same action?
While every purchase needs an order confirmation, does every browse deserve a follow-up email? How many times do you send a request for a product review if I never respond to them?
Consider the emails I get from my favorite ecommerce destination:
Is it me or is there a common theme to the messages?
These emails are triggered (I think) by browsing sessions and past purchases. Yet many have near-identical content.
At what point do these targeted, informative, helpful emails become an irritant? Where is the fine line between driving additional response and customer satisfaction, and forcing me to switch off alerts in my Amazon account?
3. Can you adapt to individual behavior?
The challenge implied in the above question raises another…
Most trigger emails are setup using the same rules for everyone. Is it possible to adapt these rules individually?
If a customer always returns to an abandoned shopping cart to complete a purchase, do they also need a cart abandonment email series?
If I mark a purchase as a gift, do I want a never-ending sequence of follow-up emails with upsell suggestions?
Ryan Deutsch, for example, suggests the next level of email marketing involves moving beyond simple “bulk” trigger rules:
“Right-time messaging occurs when e-mail is made aware of a communication opportunity (purchase or cart abandonment) and then leverages automated decision making with other business systems to determine the content and cadence of communication.”
4. Are triggers taken into account for frequency caps?
If you’ve decided there is some upper limit on the number of emails any one person gets from you in a set period of time, do trigger emails count?
Since trigger emails are more targeted, does that not raise this acceptable frequency limit?
Does optimal frequency then depend on the mix of broadcast, targeted and trigger emails each person receives?
Ryan Deutsch, in another essay, bemoans those who focus on the technology while neglecting the strategy behind using that technology:
“The problem is not the lack of technical capabilities but the lack of a detailed contact strategy for these business systems to act on…most companies tackle the technology first and strategy second – an approach that is doomed to fail.”
5. What happens when everyone does it?
Trigger emails have been around for many years. But there is still novelty value attached to anything that isn’t one of the standard transactional trigger emails.
So how do things change once your trigger email program is no longer a novelty? Can you really “set and forget” them?
If everyone starts sending your customer birthday emails, do you need to send yours earlier? Later? Make it more personal? Put in a bigger gift? Work harder with the subject line?
6. What happens when everyone knows about it?
I won’t lie. I’ve abandoned shopping carts to see if the etailer sends me an abandoned cart email with a coupon in it.
How does familiarity with a trigger email program change consumer behavior? And how does that impact your organization?
- Do shoppers delay purchases in the days leading up to their birthday in the hope you’ll send a coupon?
- Do I curtail my visits and browsing session times because your website is bad or simply because your excellent trigger emails now send me the product suggestions I need?
- Have your replenishment emails trained me to simply wait for the replenishment email before reordering? Is that good or bad?
7. Are you measuring success properly?
Trigger emails are no more immune to attribution and measurement issues than traditional email programs.
How many of those abandoned carts converted through a cart abandonment email would have returned anyway of their own volition?
You need to know that before you understand the value of your new trigger emails.
My son asked me to place a big order for Lego Star Wars after receiving Amazon gift vouchers from friends for his birthday. I wouldn’t blame Amazon for attributing that purchase to those trigger emails we saw earlier.
Except my son never saw any of them. The purchase would have happened anyway. (And now I’m doomed to more Lego Star Wars cross-sells as a result.)
I also see a lot of wonderful data about improved sales, opens, clicks etc. from trigger emails, but rarely anything on the costs of implementing them…particularly the costs and complications of database integration and rule building.
[Not to mention the cost of the incentives that are often used in trigger emails to drive response.]
And what about the indirect benefits (and costs)?
Consider a post-purchase trigger email with product optimization tips. Clicks and sales will be low.
But doesn’t that email contribute to future sales through the value delivered and the goodwill generated? How do you measure the success of a friendly thank-you message?
Once again, we’re probably reliant on control and holdout groups, as explained by Kevin Hillstrom.
8. What are the privacy implications of your copy?
Those Amazon emails begin with the phrase “You’re interested in Lego Star Wars?”
The question mark is critical.
Without it, it’s an assumption that may or may not be true. And it suggests a level of observation I might not be comfortable with.
The question mark makes it a polite, friendly inquiry.
Big difference.
Language matters. As I’ve noted before:
“You can make emails relevant by using what you observe about the recipient…You can make emails scary by telling people that you’re observing them.”
As someone with over a decade of email marketing behind them, I still get big brother goose bumps when an email casually states “we noticed you haven’t opened any recent emails from us…”
9. What design approach should you take?
There are reams of advice on how newsletters and promotional emails should look. Do the same concepts apply to trigger emails? Do different triggers require different approaches?
Is there a balance between a design-rich approach and the simplicity of a personal message? What (if any) common elements need retaining across all emails to maintain a consistent (brand) presentation?
Writing about emails based on past purchases, Amy Africa notes:
“Many companies make the mistake of overdesigning these e-mails – like any other trigger you do, EBOPP’s are meant to look like one-to-one e-mails not overly designed e-mails for the masses.”
No brainers that need thought
Many of the above questions refer to a sophisticated level of trigger email implementation than many won’t have or don’t need. Simple trigger emails (like optimized order confirmations) are a no-brainer and not necessarily difficult to do if you have standard email/ecommerce software in use.
Cart abandonment emails, for example, seem like an obvious win for retail email, especially with the growing corpus of best practice advice out there.
But the challenges grow as we attempt to get cleverer in how we apply trigger emails. So while I remain positive, we need to keep our eyes open…
Thoughts?
Communication 2011 - insights into consumer behavior
12 Mind-Blowing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know
von bspcn
Written by Marta Kagan
It’s no secret that the marketing landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years as social and mobile technologies have “jumped the shark” from the early-adopter crowd to the mainstream.
Still, there are plenty of traditional marketing stalwarts out there who aren’t buying all of the social media hype or can’t convince their boss or marketing team to experiment in the brave new world of inbound marketing.
So we’ve rounded up a dozen powerful stats that are sure to be eye-openers, if not total mind-changers.
1. 78% of Internet users conduct product research online.
That means your website stands a good chance of being a prospect’s “first impression.” That also means your new business card isn’t a business card—it’s Google.
2. In the past year, Web-based email usage dropped a staggering 59% among 12-17 year olds, who prefer to communicate via text, instant messaging, and social networks.
If 12-17 year olds aren’t your primary customers, you may think, “So what? They’re just kids.” But web-based email usage has been on the decline among ALL Internet users under the age of 55. And by the way, today’s kids are tomorrow’s customers—and they’re probably not going to be reading your email.
3. 78% of business people use their mobile device to check email.
So that means pretty much everybody that can check email on a mobile device, does. Is your email newsletter optimized for mobile devices?
4. 40% of US smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device while in-store, shopping for an item.
Is your business website optimized for mobile devices? If not, you may be missing out on hundreds of sales opportunities.
5. 200 Million Americans have registered on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list.
That’s 2/3 of the country’s citizens. The other 1/3, I’m guessing, probably don’t have a home phone anymore.
6. 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they previously opted-in to.
We’re getting savvier with technology and less patient with unwanted solicitations. And it’s just so easy to hit ‘delete’.
7. 84% of 25-34 year-olds have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising.
Frankly, I’m surprised this stat doesn’t read “100%” and apply to a much wider age range.
8. 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog.
Finally, some good news! Blogging is good. Intrusive adds are bad. See how simple it is?
9. 67% of B2B companies and 41% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook.
If this stat doesn’t poke a hole in the “Facebook is not useful for B2B companies” myth, I don’t know what will.
10. The number of marketers who say Facebook is “critical” or “important” to their business has increased 83% in just 2 years.
That’s right—critical or important. When a channel generates not only leads, but real revenue, you can’t call it “experimental” any longer.
11. Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic.
The more you blog, the more pages Google has to index, and the more inbound links you’re likely to have. The more pages and inbound links you have, the higher you rank on search engines like Google—thus the greater amount of traffic to your website. Which is why we repeat: Blogging is good.
12. Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing.
That’s right—62% less. The average outbound lead costs $373. The average inbound lead costs $143. And as we love to say around here, “if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.” Outbound marketing just don’t make sense anymore.
von bspcn
Written by Marta Kagan
It’s no secret that the marketing landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years as social and mobile technologies have “jumped the shark” from the early-adopter crowd to the mainstream.
Still, there are plenty of traditional marketing stalwarts out there who aren’t buying all of the social media hype or can’t convince their boss or marketing team to experiment in the brave new world of inbound marketing.
So we’ve rounded up a dozen powerful stats that are sure to be eye-openers, if not total mind-changers.
1. 78% of Internet users conduct product research online.
That means your website stands a good chance of being a prospect’s “first impression.” That also means your new business card isn’t a business card—it’s Google.
2. In the past year, Web-based email usage dropped a staggering 59% among 12-17 year olds, who prefer to communicate via text, instant messaging, and social networks.
If 12-17 year olds aren’t your primary customers, you may think, “So what? They’re just kids.” But web-based email usage has been on the decline among ALL Internet users under the age of 55. And by the way, today’s kids are tomorrow’s customers—and they’re probably not going to be reading your email.
3. 78% of business people use their mobile device to check email.
So that means pretty much everybody that can check email on a mobile device, does. Is your email newsletter optimized for mobile devices?
4. 40% of US smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device while in-store, shopping for an item.
Is your business website optimized for mobile devices? If not, you may be missing out on hundreds of sales opportunities.
5. 200 Million Americans have registered on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list.
That’s 2/3 of the country’s citizens. The other 1/3, I’m guessing, probably don’t have a home phone anymore.
6. 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they previously opted-in to.
We’re getting savvier with technology and less patient with unwanted solicitations. And it’s just so easy to hit ‘delete’.
7. 84% of 25-34 year-olds have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising.
Frankly, I’m surprised this stat doesn’t read “100%” and apply to a much wider age range.
8. 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog.
Finally, some good news! Blogging is good. Intrusive adds are bad. See how simple it is?
9. 67% of B2B companies and 41% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook.
If this stat doesn’t poke a hole in the “Facebook is not useful for B2B companies” myth, I don’t know what will.
10. The number of marketers who say Facebook is “critical” or “important” to their business has increased 83% in just 2 years.
That’s right—critical or important. When a channel generates not only leads, but real revenue, you can’t call it “experimental” any longer.
11. Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic.
The more you blog, the more pages Google has to index, and the more inbound links you’re likely to have. The more pages and inbound links you have, the higher you rank on search engines like Google—thus the greater amount of traffic to your website. Which is why we repeat: Blogging is good.
12. Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing.
That’s right—62% less. The average outbound lead costs $373. The average inbound lead costs $143. And as we love to say around here, “if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.” Outbound marketing just don’t make sense anymore.
Dienstag, 29. März 2011
How To Use Facebook for Hotel Marketing [New Guide]
How To Use Facebook for Hotel Marketing [New Guide]: "
"
I’m pleased to announce the publishing of my newest marketing guide in collaboration with ReviewPro:
A Hotel’s Guide to Facebook
Download this PDF guide now to learn all you need to know about promoting your hotel on Facebook:
- Statistics on how people use Facebook today
- What does (and doesn’t) work on Facebook
- Five different approaches to Facebook
- New developments to be aware of
- How to design an engaging brand page
- Moving beyond setup: integrating Facebook with your website
- Best practices for running promotions on Facebook
- Case studies from outside the hotel industry
- Reputation management considerations for Facebook
- Putting it all together: Action steps for planning your Facebook strategy
"
Freitag, 18. März 2011
Rate quotation strategies for sales agents
March 18, 2011 | Hospitality Industry
With just about every hotel reporting that their pick-up is more last minute than ever lately, the end result is that today’s front desk and reservations sales agents are quoting transient rates that swing dramatically and also explaining the terms of rate “fences” that vary greatly according to market conditions.
Given that today’s revenue strategies and systems are more advanced than ever before, hotel revenue management and marketing executives are not only better able to forecast demand in advance, but also to adjust and change the rates according to unexpected variations as dates approach. With just about every hotel reporting that their pick-up is more last minute than ever lately, the end result is that today’s front desk and reservations sales agents are quoting transient rates that swing dramatically and also explaining the terms of rate “fences” that vary greatly according to market conditions.
Historically, hotel marketers have always adjusted rates and terms periodically. However the changes were typically more predictable such resorts that had high and low season rates, or business hotels that dropped rates on the weekends. Likewise, most all hotels at least sometimes changed the deposit terms, such as requiring full prepayment for city-wide events . Yet in today’s RM environment, rates and terms change much more frequently. Therefore it is more important than ever to provide frequent training and coaching to your transient sales team on how to best execute various rate strategies. Here are some tips from our KTN training modules on the subject of executing various rate, pricing, and distribution strategies:
Rate Quotation Strategies During Periods of High Demand:
- Position the initial rate(s) being quoted as being a good value. When quoting top rates during high demand, it is more important than ever to use room descriptions that allure and entice, not just list the features. So rather than saying “It’s a 400 square foot deluxe king room with a pillow top mattress and 500 thread count sheets,” train your team to say something like “This is our largest and most spacious guest room, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy our extremely comfy pillow-top mattresses and ultra-soft sheets that our guests always rave about.”
- Reference higher “rack” rates when quoting lower rate tiers. During periods of high - but not extreme - demand, your hotel may be selling rates that are higher than normal but still lower than your highest “rack” rate. In this case train your team to mention the “rack” rates to position the rate being quoted as being a good value. For example: “The standard rate for our King Deluxe room is $200, but for the dates you are looking at we can offer you the rate of $175.”
- “Sold-out” vs. “not available.” When callers ask for discounts that are closed out for high demand dates, train your team to say that lower rates are “sold out” versus “not available.” The term “not available” implies that the rate exists but we are not going to give it to you. The term “sold out” implies that the supply has been exhausted. Train them to also offer to check for other dates when promotional rates are available, which will help move demand to lower-demand dates where it is needed.
- Explaining The Advantages of Minimum Stays. During high demand your strategy might include having minimum stays. An easy example is for a three-day holiday weekend such as Memorial Day. Often callers will want only two nights and you can train your team to say, “Since it is the holiday weekend we do have a three-night minimum stay like most of the other resorts in the area. I know you were only looking for two nights, but the great part is that when you leave on Sunday you won’t have to worry about an 11am check-out time since you will have the room as late as you want it…” Or if they want the last two nights your agents can say “…. Although you are arriving Saturday you can use the third night for Friday, so that way when you arrive your room will be immediately ready instead of having to wait for our 4pm check-in time. “
- Upsellling. Depending on your inventory of accommodations, during periods of peak demand your hotel might find that the best room categories sell out last. If it is case it is important to train your team not to inadvertently apologize and make what’s left sound like “left-overs.” So instead of them saying “All we have left is our suites…” or “All we have left is our concierge floor rooms…” or “All we have left are our waterfront view rooms…” Instead they should say “Fortunately I still have some options for you…. What I still have available is actually one of our nicest options… Actually, it is only $50 more than our regular rooms would have been if they were available and the great part is that you will receive….”
- Down-selling. Again depending on your inventory of rooms and what type of hotel you operate, you might sometimes find that during periods of peak demand the best accommodations go first, leaving less desirable room types or locations. For example a beach or lake front resort might find water view rooms sell first, and it is the “garden” or “courtyard” view that is left. Train your sales team that as with the previous example, they need to avoid making what’s left sound like left-overs. They should start by pointing out any glaring deficiencies, so that guests do not have an unwelcome surprise at registration, but then talk about what is good about the remaining option. For example, “Fortunately what I still have open for your dates are our limited view rooms. Now this of course won’t have the water view you requested, but the room does have all of the same amenities and you can still use all of the hotel facilities I mentioned. And since there’s so much to do here nearby, you might not find yourself in the room all that much anyway. It really is a great value at just $150.”
- Holding the line on price. During periods of high demand when all discounts and promotions are closed out, some callers will no-doubt still ask for discounts if nothing else just to test the reaction. Make sure your staff quotes full rates with confidence and understands that smart consumers always ask for a lower price even if only just to check.
Rate quotation strategies for low demand dates:
- Incremental upselling. During periods of extremely low demand most hotel revenue managers want their agents to start by offering the lowest available rate that his showing to avoid losing any potential bookings whatsoever. In this case you can also train the team to always offer at least one higher rated accommodation and in doing so quote only the incremental rate difference. “Now Mr. Perez our Premium level rooms include all of the same features of our traditional room I just mentioned, and for only $35 more you can upgrade to this level where you will receive and have access to….”
- Quoting “fade” rates. Although many hotels have long ago moved to a strategy of always quoting the “best available rate,” other hotel revenue managers still encourage their staff to offer “fade” or “don’t lost the sale” rates to avoid losing any calls to competitors. Even if your strategy is typically not to fade, you probably still want agents to match certain rates under certain conditions, such as when a lower-tier rate was accidentally left open for an OTA channel that is lower than what is showing on the hotel website. When executing this strategy, train your agents to indicate they have to “check further” for the lower/special rate; then after a short pause or brief time on hold, they can create urgency while offering the lower rate by saying: “Okay thanks so much for holding Ms. Smart, I was able to check on that. If we can confirm this for you now I can offer you the special rate of …”
Rate quotation strategies for all market conditions:
- Explaining why rates change during a stay. Hotels that are aggressively managing their revenue and pricing may use a strategy whereby rates change on a nightly basis, resulting in a guest’s rate changing one or more times during the same stay. Even when the revenue strategy is to quote “complete stay rates,” callers will often ask for the break down by night. Train your agents that in this situation they should quote the higher rated nights first, regardless of their arrival pattern. So instead of saying “the rate for the first night is $150, then it goes up to $175….” they can say “for the last night of your stay the regular rate of $175 applies, and on the first night we can offer you a lower rate of $150.”
- Explaining why rates are higher than a previous stay. Certainly in the last couple of years hotels across all market segments and locations offered lower rates than they have ever before offered. Now with demand rebounding, hotel RM’s are working to gain back rate. So it is common than ever for callers to say “that’s so much more than I paid last time.” Train your team to respond with a comment such as “Yes, I know, we did have some lower rates last season with the economy being what it was, but with things getting back to normal and we’re back to our more traditional rates.”
Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry.
With just about every hotel reporting that their pick-up is more last minute than ever lately, the end result is that today’s front desk and reservations sales agents are quoting transient rates that swing dramatically and also explaining the terms of rate “fences” that vary greatly according to market conditions.
Given that today’s revenue strategies and systems are more advanced than ever before, hotel revenue management and marketing executives are not only better able to forecast demand in advance, but also to adjust and change the rates according to unexpected variations as dates approach. With just about every hotel reporting that their pick-up is more last minute than ever lately, the end result is that today’s front desk and reservations sales agents are quoting transient rates that swing dramatically and also explaining the terms of rate “fences” that vary greatly according to market conditions.
Historically, hotel marketers have always adjusted rates and terms periodically. However the changes were typically more predictable such resorts that had high and low season rates, or business hotels that dropped rates on the weekends. Likewise, most all hotels at least sometimes changed the deposit terms, such as requiring full prepayment for city-wide events . Yet in today’s RM environment, rates and terms change much more frequently. Therefore it is more important than ever to provide frequent training and coaching to your transient sales team on how to best execute various rate strategies. Here are some tips from our KTN training modules on the subject of executing various rate, pricing, and distribution strategies:
Rate Quotation Strategies During Periods of High Demand:
- Position the initial rate(s) being quoted as being a good value. When quoting top rates during high demand, it is more important than ever to use room descriptions that allure and entice, not just list the features. So rather than saying “It’s a 400 square foot deluxe king room with a pillow top mattress and 500 thread count sheets,” train your team to say something like “This is our largest and most spacious guest room, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy our extremely comfy pillow-top mattresses and ultra-soft sheets that our guests always rave about.”
- Reference higher “rack” rates when quoting lower rate tiers. During periods of high - but not extreme - demand, your hotel may be selling rates that are higher than normal but still lower than your highest “rack” rate. In this case train your team to mention the “rack” rates to position the rate being quoted as being a good value. For example: “The standard rate for our King Deluxe room is $200, but for the dates you are looking at we can offer you the rate of $175.”
- “Sold-out” vs. “not available.” When callers ask for discounts that are closed out for high demand dates, train your team to say that lower rates are “sold out” versus “not available.” The term “not available” implies that the rate exists but we are not going to give it to you. The term “sold out” implies that the supply has been exhausted. Train them to also offer to check for other dates when promotional rates are available, which will help move demand to lower-demand dates where it is needed.
- Explaining The Advantages of Minimum Stays. During high demand your strategy might include having minimum stays. An easy example is for a three-day holiday weekend such as Memorial Day. Often callers will want only two nights and you can train your team to say, “Since it is the holiday weekend we do have a three-night minimum stay like most of the other resorts in the area. I know you were only looking for two nights, but the great part is that when you leave on Sunday you won’t have to worry about an 11am check-out time since you will have the room as late as you want it…” Or if they want the last two nights your agents can say “…. Although you are arriving Saturday you can use the third night for Friday, so that way when you arrive your room will be immediately ready instead of having to wait for our 4pm check-in time. “
- Upsellling. Depending on your inventory of accommodations, during periods of peak demand your hotel might find that the best room categories sell out last. If it is case it is important to train your team not to inadvertently apologize and make what’s left sound like “left-overs.” So instead of them saying “All we have left is our suites…” or “All we have left is our concierge floor rooms…” or “All we have left are our waterfront view rooms…” Instead they should say “Fortunately I still have some options for you…. What I still have available is actually one of our nicest options… Actually, it is only $50 more than our regular rooms would have been if they were available and the great part is that you will receive….”
- Down-selling. Again depending on your inventory of rooms and what type of hotel you operate, you might sometimes find that during periods of peak demand the best accommodations go first, leaving less desirable room types or locations. For example a beach or lake front resort might find water view rooms sell first, and it is the “garden” or “courtyard” view that is left. Train your sales team that as with the previous example, they need to avoid making what’s left sound like left-overs. They should start by pointing out any glaring deficiencies, so that guests do not have an unwelcome surprise at registration, but then talk about what is good about the remaining option. For example, “Fortunately what I still have open for your dates are our limited view rooms. Now this of course won’t have the water view you requested, but the room does have all of the same amenities and you can still use all of the hotel facilities I mentioned. And since there’s so much to do here nearby, you might not find yourself in the room all that much anyway. It really is a great value at just $150.”
- Holding the line on price. During periods of high demand when all discounts and promotions are closed out, some callers will no-doubt still ask for discounts if nothing else just to test the reaction. Make sure your staff quotes full rates with confidence and understands that smart consumers always ask for a lower price even if only just to check.
Rate quotation strategies for low demand dates:
- Incremental upselling. During periods of extremely low demand most hotel revenue managers want their agents to start by offering the lowest available rate that his showing to avoid losing any potential bookings whatsoever. In this case you can also train the team to always offer at least one higher rated accommodation and in doing so quote only the incremental rate difference. “Now Mr. Perez our Premium level rooms include all of the same features of our traditional room I just mentioned, and for only $35 more you can upgrade to this level where you will receive and have access to….”
- Quoting “fade” rates. Although many hotels have long ago moved to a strategy of always quoting the “best available rate,” other hotel revenue managers still encourage their staff to offer “fade” or “don’t lost the sale” rates to avoid losing any calls to competitors. Even if your strategy is typically not to fade, you probably still want agents to match certain rates under certain conditions, such as when a lower-tier rate was accidentally left open for an OTA channel that is lower than what is showing on the hotel website. When executing this strategy, train your agents to indicate they have to “check further” for the lower/special rate; then after a short pause or brief time on hold, they can create urgency while offering the lower rate by saying: “Okay thanks so much for holding Ms. Smart, I was able to check on that. If we can confirm this for you now I can offer you the special rate of …”
Rate quotation strategies for all market conditions:
- Explaining why rates change during a stay. Hotels that are aggressively managing their revenue and pricing may use a strategy whereby rates change on a nightly basis, resulting in a guest’s rate changing one or more times during the same stay. Even when the revenue strategy is to quote “complete stay rates,” callers will often ask for the break down by night. Train your agents that in this situation they should quote the higher rated nights first, regardless of their arrival pattern. So instead of saying “the rate for the first night is $150, then it goes up to $175….” they can say “for the last night of your stay the regular rate of $175 applies, and on the first night we can offer you a lower rate of $150.”
- Explaining why rates are higher than a previous stay. Certainly in the last couple of years hotels across all market segments and locations offered lower rates than they have ever before offered. Now with demand rebounding, hotel RM’s are working to gain back rate. So it is common than ever for callers to say “that’s so much more than I paid last time.” Train your team to respond with a comment such as “Yes, I know, we did have some lower rates last season with the economy being what it was, but with things getting back to normal and we’re back to our more traditional rates.”
Doug Kennedy, president of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational seminars, and on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry.
Donnerstag, 17. März 2011
3 stories hotels must tell
by Josiah Mackenzie from Hotel Marketing Strategies
"
One of the big ideas from ITB this year is really an age-old concept: the value of telling stories to share ideas. While you can (and should) tell stories about everything you do, here are the three most compelling stories I see from a sales perspective:
“How I chose them” (A customer’s decision making process)
Tell this story because: Having a happy customer explain the process she went through to purchase your product will be something your prospects can relate to.
“Why I chose them” (A customer’s testimonial)
Tell this story because: Having a happy customer tell the story of why he ended up choosing you might reveal motivators that appeal to other prospects. It could include buying criteria you didn’t think of. And the story of why to buy from you best comes from a customer, not a salesperson.
Examples:
Story Hotels uploads hand-written guest comment cards -
Software company Eloqua uses testimonials to share benefits buyers receive -
How we made it (Showcasing your teams’ talent)
Tell this story because: Having the architects of your product or experience explain the creation process they went through raises perceived value and makes your offering much more appealing to others.
Examples:
Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires -
Ask for Me campaign from theWit Chicago -
Are you telling these three stories?
"
Hotel Madness: Tournament of Pet Peeves
Hotel work can be pretty darn hard so every once in awhile you have to have a little fun. Here’s an opportunity to not only have some fun, but to watch a little research in motion.
The good folks at Gadling have come up with a very unique and creative consumer opinion poll that should be of interest to every hotelier. It’s called Hotel Madness: Gadling’s Tournament of Pet Peeves. Styled after the NCAA March Madness, the Gadling Tournament pairs Pet Peeves against each other to duke it out to determine the eventual Champion Pet Peeve.
Starting with the Sweet Sixteen of Pet Peeves the tournament, with the help of consumer voters, will whittle the teams to the Elite Eight, Final Four and the eventual The Champion.
Hotel Madness Tournament
Each Pet Peeve is ranked (just like college teams) and the folks at Gadlings have also gone so far as to provide some very entertaining scouting reports. Voting is now open. Be sure to follow along.
Here are the initial parings:
#1 No free Wi-Fi vs. #16 Annoying hotel TV channel
#2 Bad front desk service vs. #15 Everything about TV remotes
#3 Expensive parking vs. #14 Tightly tucked-in sheets
#4 Resort fees vs. #13 Early housekeeping visits
#5 No airport shuttle vs. #12 One-ply toilet paper
#6 No free breakfast vs. #11 Expensive minibars
#7 Bad water pressure vs. #10 Small towels
#8 Room not read on time vs. #9 Early Check out time
#1 No free Wi-Fi vs. #16 Annoying hotel TV channel
#2 Bad front desk service vs. #15 Everything about TV remotes
#3 Expensive parking vs. #14 Tightly tucked-in sheets
#4 Resort fees vs. #13 Early housekeeping visits
#5 No airport shuttle vs. #12 One-ply toilet paper
#6 No free breakfast vs. #11 Expensive minibars
#7 Bad water pressure vs. #10 Small towels
#8 Room not read on time vs. #9 Early Check out time
If you have an NCAA March Madness office pool to help boost staff morale, you might want to include the Hotel Madness Tournament of Pet Peeves pool as well and have some fun.
So, which Pet Peeve do you think will be the ultimate Champion?
Post a comment and everyone with the right answer will be congratulated in a future post proclaiming the Champion Hotel Pet Peeve.
Mar 16th, 2011 by Madigan Pratt
Sonntag, 6. März 2011
Twitter Research: Opportunities for Creating a Valuable Marketing Asset
by Katie Clapp on February 28, 2011
Last month, Doug O’Reilly, Oliver Sohn and their Seventh Art Media team’s Facebook research struck a chord with our readers.
Industry insiders Geraldine Daly and Are Morch called it, “the most comprehensive Facebook piece I have seen to date,” and “the type of information we need more of.”
Seventh Art Media’s second comprehensive analysis – available in its entirety below – examines 135 hotel Twitter accounts and more than 120,000 tweets from November 1, 2010 to January 31, 2011 and identifies hotels’ best opportunities for finding and increasing their accounts’ value.
1. Commit to slow, quality growth.
As we developed our initial list of hotel Twitter accounts for our analysis, we noticed two phenomena that were striking: First of all was the number of “dead” accounts. These are accounts with several thousand followers that simply stopped functioning one day, but continue to gain followers and mentions that are never responded to or acknowledged.
The second phenomenon of note is the underperformance of highly hyped accounts. We’ve all seen our share of “top 10” lists of hotel Twitter accounts. In performing our list building due diligence, we combed through dozens of Google results for top hotel accounts that various authors recommended we follow. What we saw was startling. These lists in total yielded only a few reasonably performing accounts and significantly more failures—including several dead accounts.
Playing catch-up or making a goal of rapid, low quality follower growth creates minimal returns on the investment. Twitter accounts that commit to slow, quality growth and maintain engagement are reaping the rewards of their efforts.
2. Facebook and Twitter efforts are complementary, but should not overlap.
On average, accounts with a high volume of cross-posts between Twitter and Facebook significantly underperform the ones that handle each channel separately.
Facebook is an exemplary platform for creating reach and amplification but it requires a strong content pipeline and is weak in creating sustained engagement.
In contrast, Twitter is an engagement-driven platform that requires care and commitment to build — but once it moves past a threshold level of engagement and volume it rapidly becomes a valuable brand asset.
3. Follower growth – in and of itself – is a meaningless statistic.
Quality followers will engage and interact with a hotel via Twitter as well as amplify the hotel’s content. Unengaged followers are a black hole for content and add no value to a hotel’s social media efforts and investments.
The figure below lists the top 20 accounts in our study by value. While the top tier is dominated by hotel casinos and hotel brands, we see that some property-specific Twitter accounts have also built out a valuable asset. In just a few months’ time, the newly launched Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has created the most valuable hotel Twitter account among all those studied. The highest valuation for an independent hotel’s Twitter account is the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City.
In both cases, these accounts have lower followings than some of their direct competition, but by focusing on engagement and building quality follower bases they have created far more value. So the question is clearly not “how many followers do I need?” but “how do I get the right followers?”
4. Twitter strategies need to be goal-oriented from day one.
Once these goals are established, the hotel team can build out a long-term roadmap to help overcome internal obstacles, establish an operational culture around commitment to the channel, and begin to earn its way to the top.
The top five performing accounts in Seventh Art Media’s study have a current valuation of over $100k and their values are exponentially growing. In Seventh Art Media’s estimation, hotel brands and properties at any level should be able to realize measurable positive ROI levels with proper goals, planning and organizational commitment in place. Once the asset is built, maintenance costs will drop in relation to returns. The time to invest is now.
Read the full report here:
Dienstag, 22. Februar 2011
Yours is a very bad press release...
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
30
Yours is a Very Bad Press Release
Hi! We're the media. We get a lot of press releases. Press releases are almost always bad. Especially those that come to our personal email inboxes. Here's a better idea: write an email to someone you know will care. Or don't! You could just blindly send out a bunch of crap and then bill your client for it. I mean, why not, right? It's not like some snarky asshole will publish your press release online, with derogatory inline notes. Oh wait.
Mat Honan is a Wired magazine contributing editor. He lives in California and last wrote about Facebook in 2008.
Mat Honan is a Wired magazine contributing editor. He lives in California and last wrote about Facebook in 2008.
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