If it’s December it must be time for the 4th annual Webinar Marathon – live presentations of the three most popular webinars of the year. 

In such a volatile year, we are updating and presenting three of the most popular web casts of the year.  If you want to know how the most recent developments in the economy affect you and your hotel, be sure to log on – the research will be updated right to week of the web casts.   These programs not only give you information but tools you can use to make decisions in 2011.

In case you missed those, sign up for one, two or all!  The most popular were:
Power Selling Summer School -- Group Business by Market Segment Webinar Series – SMERFE  Groups
SMERFE and Weekend Groups – The Recession Resistant Market Segment.   Social and sports groups have been the bright spot in groups business during the recession although extremely ‘value’ driven.  In this webinar we will explore how to find and respond to this ‘hidden’ market.

• Web 2.0 tools to locate these groups
• FaceBook and social groups – attracting Fans & Friends
• Cross marketing and referrals
• The wedding ‘clusters’
• Monitoring and using social network mentions and reviews as testimonials
• What they really, really want from a hotel

This program will be offered at 9am PST on December 10.  The fee is $99 for a single connection and $89 for two or more connections from the same company. To register click here. The fee is -- $89 when you sign up for two, $79 each for all three. (Click Here to register)

Niches Selling – Locating Lucrative Business that Few Hotels Pursue
Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired, published a book called the Long Tail and in it said that “…the future of internet search was to appeal to ‘niches’ of the population versus the masses.”  Seth Godin describes these ‘niches’ as tribes.  Within every market segment there are ‘niches’ -- they don’t equate with small they equate with specialized.

Tired of ‘plowing’ the same old ground in prospecting?  This is an advanced look at how to locate special ‘niches’ in all segments – looking for lucrative business that none of your competitors are going after.  This program is a more sophisticated approach for sales professionals that want to develop new business at the next level. 

• Corporate – each vertical has different niches
• Where to look
• How to reach out to them
• SMERFE – the category has many niches beyond the obvious
• Example:  Wine tasting clubs
• Less focused on rate
• Good for repeat business
• How to locate
• Government
• Multiple ‘niches’ based on sub categories
• Subcontractors – look beyond the obvious
• Many sub contractor types ‘fly under the radar’
• Associations
• Niches are often easy to locate on national association web sites

• Small enough for one property

This program will be offered at 11am PST on December 10.  The fee is $99 for a single connection and $89 for two or more connections from the same company. To register click here.  The fee is $99 for each connection -- $89 when you sign up for two, $79 each for all three. (Click Here to register)

Habits of Successful Hotel Sales People for 2011 – It’s All about Prospecting!
Those hotels that are waiting for the recovery to make phones ring with inquiries will not be the market leaders in this economic recovery! Those that are aggressively using new processes to stimulate sales will be the winners!
“The Internet has changed prospecting forever. Information is abundant and everywhere.” (Anthony Iannorino, the Sales Blog, 10/04/10).  Cold calling from lists is dead, it was before the recession but there are still sales offices that make it part of their processes.

• Prospecting:  “The Internet has changed prospecting forever. Information is abundant and everywhere.” (Anthony Iannorino, the Sales Blog, 10/04/10).  Cold calling from lists is dead, it was before the recession but here are still sales offices that make it part of their processes.
• Internet prospecting -- The key here is to be very specific about the kind of prospect that is being located.  If each sales manager is to do it, it is important to set a time limit and goals of number of prospects per week.  How to locate prospects that are ‘good business’ for the hotel!
• Social Networks:  From a sales process perspective, social networks are about qualifying new prospects and building relationships.   LinkedIn is formidable tool for locating contacts and gathering information about a company and the contact info. 
• Database Prospecting:  The easiest business to get is that that can be generated from existing accounts. There is more business in the database than most hotel sales offices ever access.  Most accounts are not fully mapped to ensure that every prospect within an organization is identified and approached.
•  Online Distribution for Sales:  Be where customers can find you when they are ready to buy!  Think of these as shopping malls or search engines for potential customers.  They may not generate the lead through the channel but will use it to source potential venues.   The customer- in- control wants to access information prior to the buying decision.  Which ones work and which ones don’t – how to find out!

This program will be offered at 1pm PST on December 10.  The fee is $99 for a single connection and $89 for two or more connections from the same company. To register click here.  $99 for each connection -- $89 when you sign up for two, $79 each for all three. (Click Here)

Many people request to know when these programs will be repeated so we try to make the most popular available at the end of the year!