Articles | HSMAI Global

Leading Sales Into a Post-Pandemic World

Sales icon Cindy Novotny offers a preview of her keynote at HSMAI’s Sales Leader Forum next month — including why this is ‘a great opportunity to go forward.’

By Christopher Durso, Vice President of Content Development, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

The bad news for hospitality sales is — well, the pandemic. For 18 months, sales teams across the industry have been operating at skeleton levels, and they’re still struggling to staff back up. The good news, according to Cindy Novotny: This is a chance to do things differently.

Managing partner of Master Connection Associates and a recipient of HSMAI’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales, Novotny will explain how during “Leading Sales Into a Post-Pandemic World,” the closing keynote session at HSMAI’s Sales Leader Forum in Charlotte on Oct. 26. Recently she offered us a preview of what she’ll be discussing.

What does leadership in hotel sales look like right now?

We’re so busy right now bringing people back, and it’s not all the same people. So many senior salespeople that were furloughed went off and became real-estate agents, went into other industries, and they said, “You know what? I can’t wait for this to come back because our business was hit harder than any other industry.” So, we have a lot of young people that have stepped into the roles.

Right now, we are training all these new young people coming in, because they’re not proactive sellers. They’re reactive. Energizing and motivating that team as a leader is absolutely critical, and there cannot be any excuses like “we’re just too busy with the leads that are flying in.” We have to look at all of what happened, which has been awful, as a great opportunity to go forward.

I look at this as revving up these sales teams and giving leaders some really good tools: Here’s the five things that you’ve got to walk away with — repositioning your hotel, looking at how we can use unoccupied rooms as offices, looking at how we can do a hybrid meeting so much easier than they can do in their law-firm office. Those sorts of things that are going to really bring it home.

Has the pandemic permanently changed anything about hotel sales?

One thing is, prior to COVID, I could barely get a salesperson to pick up the phone and talk to a customer. It was like, “Oh, I’m too busy. I just email.” That’s one thing we’re never going back to. You have to be creative in alternative ways to reach out to clients. People don’t want to just email — they want to talk to you, look at you. And because of so many Zoom and Teams calls, people are just accustomed to it.

The other thing is, corporate travel will come back, but now they’ve become accustomed to using some select-service properties. Where some corporate travelers were very spoiled, always staying in a four-star or even a five-star, now they’re like, “You know what? They had no services.”

The consumer is making decisions differently. Loyalty to the brand is not as big as it was, and that’s because none of the brands could do much for you anyway and there wasn’t a lot of opportunity. Nobody was traveling to use any of their comp stays, so using your American Express and getting points on that actually became more important.

Is there one takeaway that you would like your audience to leave with?

The one takeaway is that they have rolled up their sleeves for the last 18 months and they’ve been doing the work. Don’t fall back into bad habits. Don’t fall back into sitting in an office and doing reports. Stay out with the people. Stay out with your team. Be on calls. Be on site visits with customers. Hear what they’re saying. Make sales calls with your people.

The job is, I’ve got to lead a sales team forward, and I’ve got to be proactive and I’ve got to be energetic. You can’t beat up on these people, because they’ll just quit and go somewhere else. We can’t go back. We’ve got to stay very much engaged.

HSMAI’s Sales Leader Forum is being held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 26, 2021. Learn more.

HSMAI PERSPECTIVE: What’s the Good Word?

Looking for encouraging news? Here are 12 positive developments that members of the HSMAI Americas Board of Directors have observed recently.

By Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, President and CEO, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

As you’re reading this, HSMAI is in the middle of Commercial Strategy Week — our successful return to in-person events after nearly two years of a global pandemic that has challenged our community of hotel sales, marketing, and revenue optimization professionals like never before. From Sept. 27–30, we’ve gathered in Dallas for a robust series of programs, including our Marketing Strategy Conference, ROC Americas, and four Executive Roundtables.

Of course, it’s been wonderful to see members, colleagues, and friends again — there’s nothing like the give-and-take of face-to-face — but what’s really resonating with me are the optimistic messages I’ve heard everywhere, from speakers presenting onstage to members clustering in the hallways. Yes, the hospitality industry has been through the ringer and we’re still not sure about the timeline for full recovery, but these hopeful, inspiring, and empowering insights have left me energized.

Our HSMAI Americas Board of Directors are the ones who got things started. During a meeting at the beginning of the week, we asked board members to share an encouraging trend they’ve observed recently. Here are some of the positive developments they’ve seen:

A better 2022: Next year will be really good, starting right in Q1, with the pipeline looking healthy and pent-up demand existing all over the world.
COVID, round 2: When the delta variant hit, business didn’t drop off a cliff to the extent that it did during the early days of the pandemic, and any panic around delta seems to have dissipated quickly.
World party: International travel has skyrocketed, including pre-booking inbound travel to the United States now that there’s a timeline for reopening, as well as travel within Europe.
Direct action: Data is showing that direct bookings have come back strong, even compared to 2019.
Local news: The regional leisure market is strong, and there are numerous opportunities as we build back.
Better together: There is greater cooperation between brands and hotel management companies, with larger brands in particular are embracing innovation to get back on track.
Making money: Profit data is getting back to 2019 levels.
Hello again: The number of hospitality industry events held since the summer shows that people are excited to get together. And the energy around these face-to-face programs can’t be replicated online.
Staffing up: While the talent crisis is real, over the last few months, hiring has become a little easier.
Leveling up: Second-tier cities are seeing an uptick in group business.
Making book: Booking windows are growing again, with both searches and actual bookings happening further out.
No shame: The travel shaming that happened last year has settled down, and many more people are comfortable traveling.

As we continue our recovery journey together, let’s use these and other expert insights as an evolving blueprint for staying positive, identifying problems, developing solutions — and taking advantage of the new opportunities that every crisis creates.

Meet HSMAI Revenue Professional of the Year Jenna Villalobos

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

Jenna Villalobos, CRME, vice president of commercial strategy for Outrigger Hospitality Group, has been in the revenue optimization game for more than 20 years, and this year she is HSMAI’s 2021 corporate Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year — an award that will be presented during HSMAI’s ROC Americas event in Dallas on Sept. 29. Recently, Villalobos sat down with HSMAI to share what she loves about revenue management.

How did you first get into revenue management?

I went to school for hospitality management at Johnson & Wales University, and then I started working with CapStar, where I gained a well-rounded operational experience — five years in the front office and accounting. I had an insightful controller that told me to try this new position called revenue management, and I have been working in RM ever since 1999. I love that it’s a blend of people and processes and setting up strategy for the hotel’s success!

What do you do in your current position?

What I’m doing now is having my finger on the pulse of business and technology trends as well as supporting corporate and property teams to achieve their goals. With the pandemic, I’ve been focused on upping communication lines across all disciplines. Early on in the pandemic, I instituted a call with cooperate, property, operations, and revenue leaders in our organization. We still do that each week and share information with each other, and it built camaraderie. We are a closer team because we are able to have fun and stay in tune with each other better than we were before.

How have you seen revenue management evolve as a discipline throughout your career?

Revenue strategy leadership has evolved tremendously, especially with technology advances; instead of manually manipulating data spreadsheets, leaders today can spend their energy creating strategy and action. This shift has led to revenue or commercial leadership having a seat at the executive table now, whereas 20 years ago it was a quasi-analyst position. The discipline is already seeing leaders from revenue sit in the C-suite, which will continue in the future, since the discipline lends itself to a holistic approach to running a successful business.

What keeps you motivated after all this time?

Hospitality is hands down the best industry, globally! Our goal is simple — make people happy — and revenue strategy is the fastest-evolving discipline in the industry. My motivation comes from solving new challenges and doing it through having fun.

What do you do in your spare time?

I love to explore and travel with my family. I’ve been living in Hawaii for the past four years and love trying new food, beaches, or trails.

What does this award mean to you?

The award is more than one person, it reflects on the entire Outrigger team and how our team has been able to be creative during this unique time in our lives. I’m very honored to represent the Outrigger culture and spirit with this prestigious award.

ROC Americas is part of HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week in Dallas on Sept. 27–30, 2021. Learn more.

To Cluster or Not to Cluster?

By Cory Hagopian, Vice President of Sales, Entertainment, and Executive Travel, Accor, and member of HSMAI’s Sales Advisory Board

To cluster or not to cluster, that is the question that HSMAI’s Sales Advisory Board (SAB) members were asking one another on a recent call. With limited staff and resources, many organizations switched to cluster selling during the pandemic and are now deciding whether to keep this model or not. There are pros and cons to that approach. Here are key takeaways from our discussion:

POSITIVE EXPERIENCES

Many SAB members either began cluster selling at the start of the pandemic or had already been doing it for years with positive results. “We clustered from the get-go at the start of the pandemic,” one SAB member said. “Any electronic leads are sent directly to the enterprise level. And the enterprise team is then organized by pods, and each pod has three to five sellers, and each pod has five or six hotels. So, these sellers need to learn inside out each of their five hotels. If we look at productivity from a conversion rate or productivity by person pre-pandemic and now, the enterprise is producing a lot more.”

Another member suggested that clustering hotels works best when it is done not just regionally but by customer type. “I think the more similar the customer is across different hotel properties, the better the clustering would work,” the member said. “I think you’re better off to kind of cluster where you’ve got sales resources toward similar types of properties, especially if the customer can use multiple locations.”

Another benefit that an SAB member mentioned is that off-property salespeople can work remotely because they are not tied to one hotel. “People do not want to come to the office, and if we keep insisting on bringing people to the office, we might lose our opportunity for that great talent,” one member said.

POTENTIAL CONS

There are risks and drawbacks to cluster selling as well, as several SAB members pointed out. “I came from a cluster environment, and I felt that one of the risks there was career development,” one member said. “The development track there for the sales professional changed significantly. Leadership roles were less, and paths were muddy.”

Another member added that they had seen and experienced biases in cluster selling that favored some hotels over others. “I was director of sales for a brand that was not as well-known as other brands in the cluster, and it was very clear that that hotel suffered because the sellers take the path of least resistance, and they’re going to book whichever hotel is the easiest to book,” the member said. “So, if you’re the hotel that needs somebody fighting and scrapping for business, then that model is probably not going to be advantageous for you. I certainly found that to be the case, with very strong evidence that there were implicit biases in the system that had to be considered.”

FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Not every SAB member is firmly in one camp or the other regarding cluster selling, with several members saying that there are a lot of factors that determine the effectiveness of it. One veteran SAB member said that the effectiveness of clustering is situational, depending on variables such as markets, leadership dynamics, and types of hotels.

“I’ve been working in this business for 30 years and been in clustered situations, both as a seller, as a leader, and as a regional role, and I’m still left 30 years later with sort of a mixed feeling,” the member said. “I can’t say it’s either good or bad, works or doesn’t work, because I think it can work for some hotels but not others or in some markets but not others.”

Another member added that while clustering is working for their company, they think that the reason it works well for them is because there is only one owner — but in a different situation, it wouldn’t work as well. “I just don’t know how it could work for multiple owners,” another member said.

However, one member shared their more positive experience clustering with multiple owners. “I was part of a cluster sales organization back in 2002, and it was company-managed hotels, but there were multiple owners,” the member said. “I think in order for it to work in this situation — and how it worked for us — is that we had really strong buy-in from the GMs at each property that supported our sales organization, and then that trickled to the owners. And there was a lot of education that had to happen during the ownership meetings. If you have a strong-performing team and you have the buy-in from the GM and are able to really anchor home the reason why that’s a benefit to the owners, then it works.”

Meet HSMAI Revenue Optimization Educator of the Year Breffni Noone

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

For the first time ever, HSMAI is presenting the Revenue Educator of the Year award at ROC Americas in Dallas on Sept. 29. The inaugural recipient is Dr. Breffni Noone, associate professor of hospitality management at Penn State University. Recently, Noone sat down with HSMAI to share what she loves about teaching and how her career has been shaped through the years.

How did you get into teaching?

I started working in the hospitality industry when I was 17, and immediately got bitten by the bug! I studied hospitality management for my undergrad, with the intent of getting on track for a career in hospitality management. During the final year of my undergrad, however, one of my professors, Dr. Michael Mulvey, gave a lecture in which he talked about yield management. I had always enjoyed studying both finance and operations, so my impression was that this evolving discipline might give me the opportunity to marry those disciplines together.

My interest was piqued, but at that time, there was little to no implementation of yield management in European hotels. So, after a number of years in the industry, I decided to pursue a research master’s to study the emerging field of yield management. At that time, I also accepted an offer to teach a course at my alma mater, Technological University (TU) Dublin, and unexpectedly took a first step toward my career in academia. I will never forget the feeling when I taught my first class — despite being absolutely terrified, I loved the experience!

To advance my commitment to both teaching and research in revenue management (yes, we had moved from yield to revenue by that point), my husband and I moved to the U.S., where I had the privilege of studying for my Ph.D. in revenue management with Dr. Sherri Kimes at Cornell. In my third year of the program, I got the opportunity to teach in the hospitality program at Cornell, and I knew for sure, at that point, that teaching was my passion.

I taught at Cornell for a couple of years before taking a faculty position Penn State, where this fall, I just started teaching my sixteenth year.

Have you always taught revenue management?

In my TU Dublin days, my first teaching gig was an accounting course, and that can get repetitive! But, post-masters, I got the opportunity to develop and teach TU Dublin’s inaugural revenue management undergrad course. And since then, revenue management education has been my primary focus, along with the broader domain of operations management.

For me, the joy of teaching revenue management is that you get to help students bring data to life. It is intriguing how each individual student can view the same data from a different lens, and because of that, can learn so much from each other about how to interpret data and leverage it to inform strategy development. Teaching revenue management is never repetitive.

Other than Sherri Kimes, who else has influenced your career?

This is a hard question to answer, because there have been so many individuals that have been pivotal to my career. I have to credit Dr. Michael Mulvey for that 60-minute lecture on yield management that made me completely rethink how I thought about the hospitality industry and led me to pursue a career that would allow me the honor of helping to shape future hospitality leaders.

I have been inspired to strive for excellence in teaching by a group of phenomenal professors in Ireland and the U.S. that I have either had in class or worked alongside over the years: Mr. Kieran Creaner, Ms. Barbara Nolan, Dr. Cathy Enz, Dr. Stephani Robson, Dr. Gary Thompson (and obviously, Sherri Kimes), to name but a few. And Dr. Noel O’Connor, who instilled in me early in my career the importance of treating students with respect and dignity, and the understanding that my role as a professor is to make sure that I create the opportunities to enable them to showcase their skills and abilities.

And the strategic thinkers, not least Dr. Leo Renaghan and Dr. Kelly McGuire, who have impacted how I conceptualize hospitality research and how I challenge my students to hone their analytical and strategic-thinking skills.

What was your experience like teaching virtually during the pandemic?

I was virtual for two semesters. Initially, there was a steep learning curve both for my students and for me! For me specifically, the challenge was figuring out how to best engage everyone online, using a medium where there is no pressure for students to be involved or engaged. There was a lot of tinkering and retooling to encourage people to participate during the time we had together.

But I have to say that, on balance, it was a tremendous opportunity to reevaluate how I teach and assess students. I think that some of the new methods that I developed to deliver course content and assess student learning in the online environment offer superior benefits to some of the methods that I had used in the traditional classroom. So, the upside is that, due to COVID, I have incorporated these innovations into the design of the courses that I am back teaching in-person again.

What keeps you motivated after all these years?

Two things: wonderful students and the constant evolution of the revenue management discipline. Nothing beats an enthusiastic, goal-driven student. I have the privilege of shaping students’ minds, opening their eyes to career opportunities in RM, and, ultimately, helping to lay the foundation for their careers as our future leaders in RM. One of the most gratifying rewards is when a former student writes to tell me of their latest promotion and how I influenced their success.

Also, because revenue management is constantly evolving, my revenue management curriculum and research never remain static. This is why partnership with industry is so important for me. Solid ties with HSMAI and engaged industry colleagues have provided the support that I need to advance my revenue management curriculum and ask the research questions that are relevant to revenue managers. They have also enabled me to identify the right opportunities in revenue management for my students, which in turn feeds the industry with new talent already well versed in real-life hospitality revenue management needs.

What does it mean to receive this award?

It is a tremendous honor, and I am thrilled to receive it. To have the recognition of HSMAI and the revenue management community means an awful lot. I know, and have worked with, many talented and innovative RM educators over my years in academia, so to be selected from this group for this award in its inaugural year is very humbling.

ROC Americas is part of HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week in Dallas on Sept. 27–30, 2021. Learn more.

Customized Selling Tips for Different Personality Types

In order to be an effective salesperson, it is crucial to understand the strengths and weaknesses that come from your personality. HSMAI’s Rising Sales Leader Council’s Sales Tools Workgroup has defined selling tips for four different personality types. Animal descriptors and titles are based on the 4 Animals Personality Test. Once you determine which personality type fits you, take advantage of these tips, which will play up your strengths and enable you to more quickly close the deal.

Lion (The Driver)

Descriptors:

Decisive
Goal-driven
Enjoys challenges

Selling tips:

Be direct and to the point. Expedite the selling process where possible. Be fearless when closing.
Show you value customers’ time by knowing the facts and demonstrating timeliness.
Set clear expectations for how you will meet the organization’s goals for the event.

Golden Retriever (The Amiable)

Descriptors:

Loyal
Good listener
Adaptable

Selling tips:

Show a genuine interest in the client and look for opportunities to interact on a personal level.
Display your loyalty by communicating openly when you go to bat for a client. Share with them when you have secured special requests for them above and beyond a typical group.
When the client does gives you the opportunity to host their group/event, show gratitude and provide special attention to the group while onsite.

Otter (The Persuader)

Descriptors:

Energetic
Visionary
Motivator

Selling tips:

Sell the big picture and get them excited on a larger scale. Get a vision in their heads and engage enthusiastically during pre-booking. Paint a picture of how the event will go from everyone’s eyes.
Sell with concessions that motivate closing and present special offers to the client.
Stick to the most important items and utilize bullet points. Be sure to provide only the information necessary to the client’s vision and decision process.

Beaver (The Analytic)

Descriptors:

Practical
Deliberate
Systematic

Selling tips:

Walk customers through the fine details by having data, diagrams, and estimates ready for them to analyze.
Utilize a systematic, planned timeline with proposals, site tours, and communications.
Be patient and provide time for them to absorb and weigh all options.

Meet HSMAI Revenue Professional of the Year Apurv Batra

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

Spanning many cities from Bangalore to San Francisco, Apurv Batra, CRME, has a track record of leading record-setting revenue generation strategies within large, geographically diverse, distinguished organizations. Currently an area director of revenue strategy for Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Batra is HSMAI’s 2021 single/multi-use Revenue Professional of the Year — an award that will be presented during ROC Americas in Dallas on Sept. 29. Recently Batra sat down with HSMAI to share how his career has evolved and what this award means to him.

What’s been your career path in hospitality?

After working for many years with the Taj Group of Hotels in the Asia Pacific region, I relocated for a position with Taj in San Francisco. I worked there for four years and then joined Two Roads Hospitality in 2018, overseeing revenue management and distribution. In 2019, when Hyatt acquired Two Roads Hospitality, I worked through the transition and became part of the Hyatt family. I currently oversee revenue and distribution for the Motif Seattle and The Shay in Culver City, California.

Why did you decide to get into revenue management?

I’ve always been interested in finance and economics, and to add to that am a results-oriented and driven person who loves technology. That led me to believe a career in this field is ideal for me. Revenue management is precisely that catalyst between tactical deployments, while formulating and keeping in mind the strategic vision for the business.

Why is revenue management so important today?

To begin with, revenue management touches nearly every aspect of the hospitality industry. With revenue management coming to the forefront over the years with successful outcomes in business management, it has constantly challenged revenue leaders to think out of the box, which has led to continual innovations.

Despite the impact from COVID and immense disruptions, successful revenue management leaders have kept an open mind and stayed nimble, which has led to further adoption of technology and innovation in machine learning and AI that will become more mainstream in the coming years. Other businesses with similar characteristics of constrained supply, perishable inventory, or variable demand (golf, restaurants, parking, etc.) will be sure to jump onto these innovations in the near future.

What keeps you motivated after all these years?

There are many things that come to mind. Most importantly, there are very few dynamic revenue optimization industries as ours, that have such a high level of human engagement from geographically diverse backgrounds, which to me is inspiring. Revenue management is a multifunctional role and continues to evolve. Every day brings something new, and that keeps me passionate and on my toes. With the advent of technology, keeping in mind AI and machine learning, I still feel there is ample opportunity to learn and grow, which keeps it stimulating.

One of my favorite quotes is from Steve Jobs: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

I’m glad that I can say that I truly love what I do, and grateful to be part of the Hyatt family.

What’s one of your proudest accomplishments?

Back in 2019, in my early days at Motif Seattle, it was a challenging assignment to oversee the transition into Hyatt. There were high owner expectations, and we all got together as a team to deliver. That was well-received and I was honored with Hyatt’s Revenue Director of the Year award, which was very gratifying.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m really passionate about traveling, which has come to a standstill right now, but whenever there is an opportunity my wife and I love to travel.

What does it mean to get this award?

I’m truly humbled and honored to be recognized by HSMAI, the largest and most active hospitality marketing association in the world. A recognition such as this is honestly a true reflection of my team, and I’d be remiss not to thank all the brilliant folks that I am surrounded by that challenge, support, and encourage me each day. I’m grateful to be a part of the Hyatt family and the industry as a whole.

ROC Americas is part of HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week in Dallas on Sept. 27–30, 2021. Learn more.

Best Practices for Your Hotel Website Content

By Dan Wacksman, CHDM, CRME, CHBA, founder of Sassato LLC, and Holly Zoba, CHDM, founder of Scout Simply

With the pandemic only underscoring the importance of an attractive, engaging hotel website, it’s a good time to remind yourself of some of the basics — such as good content. Content should be written, first and foremost, with the customer in mind. The hotel should be positioned appropriately with the top-selling features and informative descriptions of the hotel and its services. What you write matters as much as any keywords you use.

You and your brand may have invested a lot of time, effort, and budget into driving traffic to your website. Now that you have a possible customer on your website, it’s time to effectively market to them and convince them that your hotel is the best choice for their trip.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is extremely important for your hotel website and will have an impact on your textual content and metadata. Therefore, striking a strong balance between the use of content for marketing and SEO is very important.

When creating content, it is also important to understand why the customer is considering your hotel and, thus, how you should market to them. There are significant differences, for example, between a city center hotel, an airport hotel, and a resort hotel. Each has a different audience, a different reason for “being” (trip purpose), and various amenities and services. Your content should best relate to those differences and speak in the appropriate “voice,” allowing visitors to quickly understand who and what you are — and what impression you wish to give of your hotel.

Make sure your website reflects the reasons why consumers travel to you or your area. One way to approach this is to think of your website in terms of how a director of sales (DOS) markets the hotel. Does your website reflect the demand generators that bring customers to your area? Are you appropriately featuring proximity to local attractions, amusement parks, stadiums, etc.? Are you a venue for weddings, family reunions, etc.?

Conduct an annual update of customer segmentation optimization to fully address all key segments, from meeting and group planners to corporate and leisure travelers, social event planners, and family travel planners.

KEEP IT BRIEF

As you write copy, keep in mind that web copy is very different than print copy. Web copy is “scanned” or glanced through, not “read” in the traditional sense. This is even more true on mobile platforms, which have become the leading source of online traffic and where visitors have much shorter attention spans. Most consumers will not read your website content word for word but look for appropriate keywords or phrases.

Ensure that all text relays important features and selling points quickly and upfront. Avoid

long lists and overly promotional content that visitors won’t read. Content should be easily scannable, and paragraphs and sentences kept short and concise so visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly.

Your most important points should always come first, whether written in paragraph format, bulleted lists, or icons (for branded hotels, the formatting is typically pre-determined at the brand-level template).

It is best to avoid needless repetition, jargon, and unnecessary words in your copy — keep it as simple as possible. Effective online copywriting is an art, so some properties will hire professional copywriters or vendors to handle this area for them. Check first with your brand to see if they have any internal services or vendor recommendations.

KEEP IT FRESH

The “freshness” of your content is extremely important, from both marketing and SEO perspectives. All content areas should be up-to-date and include the latest information on the hotel itself, new services and amenities, and the most recent local area content. Not only is this important from a consumer perspective, but it is also extremely important from an SEO perspective. Google and other search engines weigh the “freshness” of content in their ranking algorithms.

All promotional or event dates should be constantly updated (e.g., is your website still promoting a New Year’s Eve event in February?). For SEO, it can be important to keep the addition of new content at a steady pace, keeping your site dynamic and continuously offering fresh content when and where possible. Consider updating key pages (those pages with the highest visitor view rates) at least once or twice a year. For sites that include customer reviews, the constant addition of reviews helps in this area as it is technically new content.

It is important to have proper room descriptions as these will help drive conversion and upselling efforts around premium room types.

In summary, is your website offering what your potential customers are looking for? Is it current? Can they find it quickly?

Excerpted from Hospitality Digital Marketing Essentials: A Field Guide for Navigating Today’s Digital Landscape, Sixth Edition, by Dan Wacksman, CHDM, CRME, CHBA, and Holly Zoba, CHDM — the study guide for the Certified Hospitality Digital Marketer (CHDM) certification – available soon from HSMAI.

How Hotels Can Better Promote Sustainability

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

There are many small changes that hotel companies can implement that can make a big difference in terms of being more sustainable. HSMAI’s Rising Sales Leader Council (RSLC) discussed how their hotels are promoting sustainability on a recent call. Here are a few of their best ideas for how hotels can be more sustainable —and why it’s important.

FOOD WASTE

Food is one of the largest categories of waste that gets generated from hotels, especially with banquets and meetings, RSLC members said. They suggested combatting this via composting and donating food to local charities.

“Align with an organization that you can donate food to,” one RSLC member said. “We can’t serve something to guests that expired a day ago or the day-old bagels that didn’t get eaten at breakfast, but that doesn’t mean that another organization won’t take it. There’s a lot to be done from a food waste standpoint.”

Another member said that at their hotels, recently expired food or food that didn’t get eaten at an event gets put out for staff to take advantage of, so it doesn’t go to waste.

RECYCLING

While many of us throw our cans and bottles in a recycling bin in most places without thinking, not every hotel prioritizes recycling. In fact, several RSLC members said that they know of hotels that don’t recycle at all. However, others pointed out that recycling can be an easy way to reduce waste and should be a priority.

“We used to send out daily or weekly tips on recycling to educate everyone on what we should or shouldn’t put in the recycling bin,” one RSLC member said. “It was really engaging and made everyone more cognizant of what we should put in the recycling bin.”

BATHROOM PRODUCTS

One common change that RSLC members see being implemented is reducing plastic by getting rid of individual mini bottles of bathroom products. Several members brought up outfitting bathrooms with large dispensers of shampoo and shower gel that guests can pump out instead of using individual bottles. “The tiny plastic bottles are completely wasted, and you can’t reuse them,” one RSLC member said.

Another member said that while their hotels tried to implement shared containers of shower necessities, guests felt uncomfortable with them because of the pandemic, so the hotels unfortunately went back to individual bottles. But it’s still possible to use them sustainably. Members noted that they have programs to properly dispose of individual bathroom products, including donating leftover shampoo bottles to developing countries and remaking leftover soap into new soap.

WATER BOTTLES

Disposable water bottles are a huge contributor to waste, even if they’re recycled. A much more sustainable option is a reusable water bottle, which several RSLC members said they were trying to get guests to use instead of purchasing multiple disposables or even using paper cups, which also produce waste.

“We actually purchased logoed plastic reusable water bottles and charged them to the meeting,” one member said. “We put out water stations so people can refill them. It’s more expensive to begin with, but if you put out a water station, people are willing to pay more.”

Another member said: “I think it would be great to have a refill station near the front desk for people checking in. You have that in airports, but you rarely see it in hotels.”

HOUSEKEEPING

Many hotels are still not cleaning rooms daily unless requested — a new policy implemented at the start of the pandemic — which has resulted in less laundry and less money and water wasted. “There is a significant number of travelers that complain that they can’t get their sheets washed every day,” one RSLC member said. “But if we’re cleaning sheets every day, we’re basically washing clean sheets and wasting so much water.”

Another RSLC member said that hotels should market the environmental benefits as a reason for guests not to choose daily housekeeping service. “If we could communicate that we aren’t cleaning rooms to be more about how it’s better for the environment, I think it might go over better for some guests,” the member said.

CONSUMER INTERST IN SUSTAINABILITY

Even though most people can agree that sustainability is important, just how much do customers expect from hotels? RSLC members have had mixed experiences.

“When I personally go to hotels, I expect they follow brand standards for sustainability, which are basically the bare minimum,” one RSLC member said. “If they do anything above and beyond that it’s a pleasant surprise and a good selling point, but not an expectation.”

“It’s definitely a topic with planners, but it doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of individual travers’ minds,” another member added.

When it comes to RFPs, members said that it’s a good idea to mention any sustainability initiatives, because they’re important to many organizations. “A lot of companies want this right now,” one member said. “They are really serious about the sustainability piece. I think it will become a bigger deciding factor as we go along.”

How the Pandemic Has Changed Guest Communications

While “pivot to virtual” has become a cliché of pandemic-era marketing and communication, there’s no denying that COVID only underscored the important role that digital plays in identifying and engaging guests, gathering their feedback, and cultivating their loyalty. Here’s how those dynamics shifted throughout the pandemic and have continued to evolve during recovery:

More of everything: Communication is happening more than it did pre-COVID, and in every direction — from guests to hotels, hotels to guests, brands to properties, brands to team members, team members to clients, and so on. And it’s happening via multiple channels, including email, hotel websites, social media, and consumer platforms. “People are looking for more,” said Elizabeth Schultz vice president of guest experience, strategy, and innovation for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “They want to understand more. We’ve put more information into our pre-arrival and confirmation communications than we have before.

“Hotels have raised the red flag of ‘We’re getting so many inbound phone calls about what’s open, what our menus are, all that stuff,’ so we’ve tried to get more of that into our arrival communications.”

Added Gregor Schertler, chief operating officer for Flemings Hotels, who is based in Germany: “We’ve had much more internal communication during this time than we would have before the pandemic. We have a meeting twice a week to communicate with all our hotels, get their feedback, and discuss changing things in response to legal requirements.”

Not too negative: “We have not seen a tremendous amount of negative feedback,” said Sabrina Lillew, vice president of loyalty programs – North and Central America for Accor. “Our guests understand and appreciate that the protocols in place are being implemented for their safety and wellbeing.”

Added Eliot Hamlisch, executive vice president of loyalty and revenue optimization for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts: “It’s my general experience that many of our guests are quite understanding of the current environment. In general, there’s an expectation that things like breakfast are going to look and feel a little different.”

Online over social: “There is some feedback from guests on Instagram,” Schertler said, “but most of the feedback is actually on TripAdvisor and Google. I call them the classic way of online feedback.”

But less online overall: “You’re seeing a big decline in the online review volume,” said Rachel Dowling, vice president of product for TrustYou. “That actually started before the pandemic, in 2019 and 2020 — online review volume was already decelerating.”

Excerpted from Do You Know Your Guests?, a white paper from HSMAI and Trust You.