Hoteliers Target Hometown Corporate Accounts;
Eye Affordable Enterprise
Sales Technology, Training Efficiencies to Edge
Ahead
Portsmouth, N.H. � June 9, 2003 � As the hospitality
industry languishes in economic doldrums, fallout from the Iraqi conflict
and SARS, the midscale market � whose growth is normally split along food
and beverage lines � is slowly swinging towards technology solutions to
help squeeze revenue out of an evaporating corporate market. By aggressively
targeting new regional and local corporate accounts, doggedly maintaining
existing customers, watching costs like a hawk, and fine-tuning internal
operations to improve the consistency of their products, midscale operators
are holding their own and positioning themselves to lead the pack during
the eventual economic upswing. Here is a sampling of three separate
strategies.
MMI Hotel Group Stays �An Hour Ahead� of Customers
to Keep Accounts
| �A big challenge in the
midscale market is maintaining existing accounts while also going after
new business, and it�s critical to have an electronic mechanism for maintaining
our sales information,� says Fred Ruder, vice president of marketing for
the MMI Hotel Group, based in Flowood, Mississippi, who says he tracks
ten market segments every day. �I tell our sales team, �80% of your
responsibility is managing the business after the contract is signed, and
then growing the client.� We do that by |
MMI Hotel Group
Cabot Lodge Thomasville Road
1653 Raymond Diehl Rd.
Tallahassee, Florida |
knowing what the client�s needs are, and being an
hour ahead of our customer all day long. If they get there at 8:00
a.m., we get there at 7:00 a.m. We ask �what is important to you?
What would it take to make this the most successful meeting or conference
you have managed?� and then go about the task of fulfilling their expectations.
The rule of thumb is to ask first; not to present first. There must
be an electronic mechanism for maintaining that information.�
MMI Hotel Group, a division of MMI, owns or operates a mix of 17 full-service
properties and their own highly acclaimed limited service Cabot Lodge brand
in the southeast United States.
Silver Cloud Inns and Hotels Ratchets Up Consistency
of Product
| �As a growing
midscale company, our properties require a system that will keep our sales
team on course and manage their efforts to stay in close contact with customers
and prospects,� said Brian Zuber, chief operating officer with Bellevue,
Washington-based Silver Cloud Inns and Hotels. �Right now we track
and manage sales contract data manually � capturing it electronically will
allow us to cover more ground more quickly, increase efficiencies, retain
valuable information |
Silver Cloud Inn
2317 N. Ruston Way
Tacoma, Washington |
during turnover, and train new sales staff more quickly.�
Founded in 1980 as a small family-owned company, Silver Cloud has grown
steadily to become a strong midscale chain with 11 properties and three
under development. All of Silver Cloud�s hotels are at the upper
end of the limited service segment that appeals to traveling professionals,
although Zuber notes, �Our direction is toward developing high profile
properties, like our new Capitol Hill Seattle Hotel, that will attract
a higher ADR clientele. Location is key. Our most recent properties
are near water in attractive settings.�
Best Value Inn Keep Members Happy With Plans
to Funnel More Guests to Associates
| Roger Bloss
is president and CEO of Best Value Inn, a four year old, 260-member association
comprised mainly of one- two- or three-diamond AAA status properties in
43 states, Canada, and Mexico. The company, rated by Lodging Hospitality
in 2002 as the second fastest growing chain in America, recently voted
to create a new Worldwide Sales division. �We have grown to the point where
we need to install an enterprise sharing of sales leads and the ability
to track them,� says Bloss. �When our members spend |
Best Value Inn
3100 East Andy Devine Avenue
Kingman, Arizona |
money, they want to see a return on their investment;
being able to target larger accounts, tour operators and wholesalers from
the corporate level, and electronically share those leads with our members
would create the kind of efficiencies we need to handle the sheer numbers
of our growth.� Bloss cites adding 100 properties a year as a good
growth model for the company, while still maintaining quality. Best
Value recently weeded out 20 non-participating properties. Bloss
concludes, �Increasing the number of guests who visit properties is a key
way to make our existing members happy and attract new affiliates.�
Newmarket International, maker of the industry�s
leading sales and catering systems, will debut a completely new Internet-based
sales management application, Delphi.NET, during HITEC, June 24 to 26,
at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans to deliver �leading
edge technology� to midscale operators. For the first time, midscale
organizations can quickly track and share enterprise leads and availability
at a low cost of ownership, and improve customer service through quick
training that creates consistency of performance. For more information
on Delphi.Net please visit www.newmarketinc.com/midscale.
About Newmarket International
 Newmarket
International is the leader in delivering group, sales, catering, and banquet
system solutions for global travel and entertainment organizations. The
company�s hospitality solutions are in use at more than 3,300 properties
in 65 countries to generate new business and run their daily operations.
Hotels, international property chains, casinos, visitor bureaus, meetinghouses,
convention centers and arenas all use Newmarket�s specialized applications.
The company provides competitive advantages to all of its customers by
enabling cross selling, automated lead generation, efficient enterprise
management, and supplying the tools to electronically transfer account
information across cities and around the world. By combining award-winning
technology and support, the industry's best return on investment, secure
domain expertise, and a commitment to the travel industry, Portsmouth,
N.H.-based Newmarket International enables its clients to increase efficiencies
and maximize profits. For more information call 603/436-7500, visit www.newmarketinc.com,
or stop by booth # 1216 at HITEC.
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