By David M. Brudney, ISHC
December 2004

I was one of those kids who had to wear glasses before I was 10 years old.  Fortunately for my parents, my Uncle Ben was our optometrist and he gave terrific family discounts.

I remember all of those eye examinations, sitting in that big chair, and hearing Uncle Ben ask me over and over, �Is this better, worse or about the same?�
What brought this to mind was something I experienced recently sitting in a recovery room beside Karen who had just returned from elective surgery on her shoulder.  A nurse was standing over my now semi-sedated wife, attempting to gauge Karen�s level of pain.  �Now tell me, Karen, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being worst, where are you pain-wise now?�   Over the next half-hour or so, Karen moved down the scale from 9 to 8 and then finally down to 7.  The nurse adjusted the painkillers accordingly.

Taking all of this in, I began to ask myself, �Why can�t we use this type of metrics with hotel owners?�  Picture Hyatt asking one of its owners, �how is our overall approval rating for this year, is it better, worse or about the same?�  Or how about Hilton asking an owner, �On a scale of 0-10, 10 being best, how are we doing at managing your asset?�  I wonder if those questions and ratings are presented.

In my professional role as a hospitality consultant and advisor, I get to ask lots of questions of the hotel unit level management team while conducting a sales and marketing review of a particular hotel, resort or conference center.
I ask, �on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best, how would you rate the effectiveness of your sales team?�  I follow up with, �how would the owners rate the effectiveness of your sales team?�  I circle back to the rating given me and ask, �you rated your sales team�s effectiveness as a �3.5�?  What are some specific things that need to be done in order to raise that �3.5� to a �4� or higher (over the next 90 days)?�

Take the test

Some of the answers I get are really good; some, in fact, wind up as part of my recommendations and key action plans at the completion of the review.  Here are a few key questions that owners and asset managers should be addressing. 

Owners and Asset Mangers� Survey: rate each of the questions and issues below that best reflect your level of comfort:

 5 = (I am) extremely comfortable
 4 = Comfortable
 3 = Inconsistent
 2 = Concerned, not very comfortable
 1 = Very concerned, no confidence at all

• The Sales department is staffed, qualified, directed, funded, trained and deployed correctly to meet and/or exceed its production goals _____

• The Sales department spends the majority of its time engaged in proactive selling v. reactive selling _____

• The Sales department is skilled in �drilling� clients/prospects, �up, down and out� _____

• The Sales department�s incentives and bonuses measure up with primary competition and industry standards _____

• The Sales Department�s incentives and bonuses are strong enough; relevant enough to meet owners� production increase expectations ____

• Measurement tools are in place to assess R.O.I for all sales and marketing expenses ______

• Measurement tools are in place to evaluate the effectiveness of trade shows, exhibit booth costs and travel and entertainment _____

• The hotel�s website is up and running, attractive, user friendly, has the necessary linkages and is highly interactive _____

• Given the significant increases this year in both business travel and Internet bookings, as an owner I expect Sales department production to have increased over the same period of time (See CVCT�s Carol Verret�s excellent article on Sales director leadership and success qualities) ____

© copyright 2004

David M. Brudney, ISHC, is a veteran sales and marketing professional concluding his fourth decade of service to the hospitality industry.  He is the principal of David Brudney & Associates of Carlsbad, CA, a marketing consulting firm specializing in the hospitality industry since 1979 and a charter member of International Society of Hospitality Consultants.  Previously, Brudney held sales and marketing positions with Hyatt, Westin and Marriott.