Business Slump? The 3 Rs of Sales Recovery

As Greenfield conducts lead generation campaigns for meetings industry suppliers such as hotels and DMOs, I often field calls from prospective clients who are experiencing a business slump.

Unfortunately, the slump is often a looming, immediate crisis: We need business in the second quarter! (And the call comes in from the hotel at the end of February). Next year is way behind pace! (And the CVB calls me half-way through the summer).

I realize often we are their solution of last resort.  But it's difficult to really make the needle moves in the very short term.

So if the business slump is on your horizon, how can you prevent having to press the panic button? Here are my three Rs to recover your sales:

Reactivate: contacting past clients, refused business and lost business is often the first thing hotel director of sales will direct his/her sales managers to do. But what about past prospects? People who never gave you an RFP or a piece of business, but at some point in time expressed interest in your property? Are they still there? When was last time you contacted them? If there has been no contact in the last 18 months, re-activate the conversation! That’s right call them. They expressed interest in the past, there's a bit of history, so this is not a cold call. Admittedly, older data maybe a waste of your time. But if you don't try you don't get it.

Referrals: So perhaps existing clients and prospects don’t have business for your right now but why not ask them about their friends or colleagues? Asking for referrals is one of the easiest ways to extend the reach of your database.  But don't limit it just to your client database.

Ask for referrals from your staff. You'd be surprised to find out that the part-time front desk agent has a father who is a senior executive at a corporation that can bring you a series of training groups. Or that housekeeper who always says hello when you pass her in the hallway is a member of a church group looking for space for their monthly revival.

Ask your suppliers. The food distributor, the audiovisual rental rep, and the linen company all have an interest in seeing you and your hotel succeed. Have you asked them if they have business or know of organizations that do?

Roam the neighborhood: whenever I go back to Toronto, my old haunt from my Sutton Place days, I am amazed at the growth of new neighborhood, with new businesses springing up everywhere. The same goes for when I drive to Montréal. I always see different logos of companies that I never knew existed. When was the last time that you and your team walked or drove around your hotel’s vicinity? Are there new businesses in surrounding buildings? This is a great source of new prospects.

By the way all of the above don't apply just to hotels. Convention and visitors bureaus and their reps would do well to look at their processes for exactly the same reason. Especially "roaming the neighborhood" for local businesses that can bring them more short-term groups.

One example is the user group conference I attended last October in Atlanta. The corporate planner was someone with little meeting planning experience, and she had no idea she could have had help from her DMO to find hotel space and organize off-site activities. I'm sure the Atlanta bureau would have loved to have heard from her! They likely don't even know that this little computer company, who has recently merged with a much larger entity, is bringing their city 300 to 400 delegates for three days in October.

We hope the above 3Rs will help spur even more creative ideas on how to overcome a slowdown in your business. And if you need any help with data cleansing or lead generation, we’d naturally love to help.

But the best way to prevent a slump? Always be prospecting, as my sales coach Colleen Francis would say. And these days this means implementing an inbound marketing process for your organization.  Stay tuned for next week's installment on what this could mean for your hotel or CVB.

What Losing Weight and Sales Have in Common

This post is by guest contributor Art Sobczak. Art is President of Business By Phone Inc. and he helps business-to-business salespeople avoid rejection, prospect painlessly, and sell more by phone. See Art Sobczak’s bio at: http://www.businessbyphone.com/art.htm.

According to a National Institute's of Health study--brace yourself for this one--if you reduce the number of calories you eat, and exercise, you will lose weight.

Really?

No magic pill or potion?

Funny how the basics never go out of style. How they work, time and again: "Keep your eye on the ball," "Listen to your mother," "Eat your vegetables." More of the basics. The fundamentals.

And why are they the fundamentals?

Because fundamentals comprise a proven success recipe that has withstood the test of time.

And the same is true with sales. The longer I do this, the more I realize how uncomplicated sales is. All we're trying to do is help people buy.

People come through my seminars and say, "This really reminded me I need to get back to the basics."

That's right. No need to overengineer it.

But it's not just getting back to the basics, I tell them. It's USING them.

In this post I'll present, in order, a complete mini-course on the fundamental parts of the professional sales and prospecting call, and what I consider the most important points of each.

Pre-Call Planning

Have an objective for every call, defined by, "What do I want them to DO as a result of this call, and what do I want to do?"

Screeners

Treat the screener as you would the customer--this person determines whether or not you'll even have a chance to speak with the buyer. Gather as much information as you can from whomever you are able, prior to speaking with your prospect; busy decision makers get bored when they have to answer your
basic qualifying questions.

Have a reason for needing to speak with the decision maker, and be prepared to sell this to the screener. They're asking, "Does this person have anything of interest, or of value for the boss?" If leaving a message on voice mail, or with a screener, be certain it offers a hint of a benefit that sparks curiosity, but doesn't talk about products/services.

Common Screener Mistakes: Being evasive and condescending with the screener; wasting information opportunities by not asking questions; leaving messages that create resistance--not interest--by talking about what you want to sell, not what they're really interested in.

Opening Statements

The objective of your opening is to pique curiosity and interest so that they will willingly and enthusiastically move to the questioning.
You must answer, "What's in it for me?" for the listener, or they will immediately begin the getting-rid-of-you process.

Common Opening Mistakes: talking about the product or service... what the salesperson wants to do, not what the listener wants; not having prepared openings...winging it.

Questioning

Get information before you give it--how could you make an effective recommendation otherwise? After qualifying them, which preferably is done before speaking with them, the goal is to first identify the need, problem, pain, or the desire to enhance their situation. If it is latent, we must try to help them realize it through questions.

Common Questioning Mistakes: not listening to the answers to questions, therefore not layering more questions to dig deeper to magnify the problem; not learning and understanding the decision-making hierarchy and internal buying process.

Sales Recommendation

You should only talk about your product/service after knowing specifically how it will solve the problem, meet their need, etc. Then you can tailor your remarks specifically and personally for the listener.

Common Mistakes: "Premature Presentation," which is pitching before knowing what they're interested in, talking about points irrelevant to the listener; not seeking, or getting feedback during discussion of benefits.

Closing and Commitment

This is not the major event in a sales call. It's the natural, logical, validation of the professional sales process up to this point. But you still must ask. Commitment must be gained on every contact in order to move the process forward. If there is to be a follow-up contact, and information is to be sent, there must be commitment on behalf of the prospect regarding that material.

Common Mistakes: Asking too early; not asking soon enough (if buying signals have been expressed); not asking at all; agreeing to, or suggesting, a follow-up--and sending information--without having any commitment.

Objections

Objections can be avoided by doing everything else correctly up to this point in the call. When you do hear them, resist the tendency to attack them. You must back up and revisit the questioning stage of the call. The voiced objection is simply a symptom of the real problem.

Common Mistakes: Using slick, prepared, objection rebuttals that only tell people they're wrong and intensify the resistance; giving up before attempting to understand the reason behind the problem.

Wrapping Up and Setting Up the Next Action

At the end of calls reps must summarize agreed-to actions by both parties, and set the agenda for the next call.

There you have it, all the basic parts of the sales call. It's not rocket science. Follow these and you will be successful.

Advice from a Meeting Planner to Suppliers

This post is by guest contributor Cara Tracy, CMP, CMM.  Cara is a meetings industry professional who has been on the supply side of the industry, as well as the planning side.  This post was originally titled: "Know your customer … or make it seem like you do!"  

One of my biggest pet peeves is a sales pitch or presentation from someone who doesn’t know their audience. I don’t expect you to know me or my organization personally (although doing your homework will get you further in my book), however there are a few basics you should know when selling to meeting planners.

• Watch your wording
  UKnow the differences between market segments and tailor your pitch accordingly. For example, do not refer to an association as a “company.” If you aren’t sure, call it an “organization.” Also, unless the planner clearly works for a third party or is an independent, don’t assume they have clients. When you refer to my “clients”, it tells me that you do not understand my business or associations in general. A safe term to use is “attendees”. All meeting planners have attendees.
• Don’t claim to be something you’re not
  A fellow planner received an email from a 160-room hotel claiming to be a “perfect match” for her meetings. In fact, the hotel’s website touts “The perfect fit for your next meeting or social event.” In my friend’s case, they aren’t even close—her program attracts over 4,000 attendees! Once you’ve done your research and know your property can accommodate my program, say something like “other national associations with similar size groups have found our hotel ideal for their annual convention.” And remember “fit” doesn’t necessarily mean size. In my case, I look at the feel of the property, location, amenities, among other things—and what’s important to me varies from meeting to meeting.
• Don’t spend time telling me things that don’t interest me
  On a recent site inspection, my hotel sales manager incorrectly assumed that because I work for the National Speakers Association we have high-profile or celebrity presenters who require private access onto the property. She spent a great deal of time walking us to the “secret entrance” and discussing how they can discreetly bring our VIP guests into the hotel. By simply asking “do you have high-profile guests that require a separate entrance?”, she could have avoided wasting our time and making herself look like she didn’t know her customer.
• Look me up
  If you are making a ton of solicitation calls or sending a mass email and don’t have time to “do your homework” on every customer, at the very least, check your database to see if I’ve used your property before. Nothing turns me off more than an introduction call from a new sales manager asking if I would consider using their hotel when we were just there the year before. Even worse is if I have an upcoming program! On the other hand, don’t over-generalize and assume everyone on your list has used your hotel and thank me for business I didn’t book.

When it comes down to it, the more time you spend preparing the better. You may not get through as many calls but the quality of those calls (and the outcome) will improve significantly. How do you learn about your customers and potential customers?

How do you learn about your customers and potential customers?

Image: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Caesars Windsor's Jeremy Tyrrell Visits Greenfield

left to right: Meagan Rockett, Director of Client Solutions; Tanya Rolfe, Business Development Specialist; Jeremy Tyrrell, Caesars Windsor; Doreen Ashton Wagner, Chief Strategist, Greenfield Services

On Friday morning, December 9, the Greenfield Team had a wonderful surprise visit from long-time friend and client, Jeremy Tyrrell of Caesars Windsor. Jeremy was in the area to visit association clients and to attend the MPI Festive Flicks luncheon at the Delta City Centre Hotel in Ottawa.

He took time out of his busy schedule to drop by the Greenfield offices, bringing us a yummy box of chocolates, nuts and popcorn!
Jeremy finally got to meet Tanya Rolfe, the Business Development Specialist who had been developing leads and setting up new client appointments for him and another Caesars over the last few years!

Thank you, Jeremy, it was great to see you! We hope you have a great Christmas!

Listen while Prospecting for New Business

Last week I got my first prospecting call from an organization looking to see if we hold meetings or events outside of my immediate area.  While I am sure the owners of our company get these on a regular basis, I was surprised to hear how the call went.

The introduction was perfect. I was even asked if I was caught at an appropriate time.

But the rest of the conversation went something like this:

Prospector: I was wondering if your company held any offsite meetings outside of the Alexandria area?

My reply: Not regularly.  Let me explain – we are a market research and business development firm for the hospitality industry.  Our clients are like you – and come to us when it comes time to fill their funnel with new leads to continue to nurture.  We are their lead generation firm.

Prospector: (Pause) Would it be OK to send you some information by email?
Really?  Did you not hear what I just said?

There are several things I can address in this lead generation scenario, but my top two are:

1. Did the prospector even look at our website?  While a call may have still been warranted (as they are told to call everyone on the list, I’m sure), the prospector did not seem to have any idea of what our company did.  Research is key.
2. I raised an objection, and it was not heard.  I clearly told the prospector that we are lead generators ourselves, and that we do what she is doing every workday.  She acted like she did not even hear me, which makes me believe that she was literally working off a piece of paper.

I said that I was willing to receive information by email should they wish to send it through. While I did not get the information I agreed to, I think it may be time to approach this organization regarding a customized lead generation program.  We are in a position to help this organization grow their lists of conference attendees, and generate qualified leads for them.

Outsource your Hotel Group Lead Generation or Keep it In-House?

Obviously, we would like you to outsource your Lead Generation efforts. It’s our business. But I have been reading up on this particular topic, and feel I should explain why it makes sense:

• There is a dedicated team working for you. While you may hire a coordinator or assistant to help you in the Sales Department to conduct Lead Generation, often their goals will shift. They will need to assist with contracts, follow-up with existing contacts, preparation for tradeshows/upcoming events, and servicing those contacts who are bringing a group to your city/property already. Realistically, how often are they able to spend daily on the phone generating new business for you? Probably not as much as you hope. Outsourcing provides an option where the team is doing nothing but lead generation on your behalf.

• Depending on the level of commitment, outsourcing can help you nurture the relationship until it is Sales-Ready. One of our largest clients uses our services to conduct lead generation on their behalf all year long. It takes a team of 3-4 employees on average per month who generate new leads, and nurture the relationship until it is time for the hotel to submit a proposal. The turn-around for this based on their definition is that the prospect wants to hear from a Sales Manager at the hotel within a 24-hour window of time from our last contact point. Between the initial contact and that point, we are sending newsletters, following up with calls to ensure that they have from us what they need, etc. We have been given personal email addresses with our clients’ network and use this to continue our communication.

• Outsourcing can help provide better results. Yes, your in-house person is on-site, but as mentioned above, will easily get distracted with other tasks needed to be taken care of on a daily basis. A blog posted by The Fearless Competitor, Jeff Ogden in February 2011 states that outsourcing can provide over 40% better results than in-house lead generation. Some of the top rated reasons for this are “Clear Client Profiling, Follow-up and Feedback, Multi-Channeled Approach and Less Cost.”

Just ensure when conducting your research that you try and select a company that is an expert in your market. Do they know your business? How much initial training will be needed to get them up and running? Ask for references if you can. It will help you make the right decision when it comes to growing your business.