1.  It’s all about them…not you. Meeting planners are more concerned about how you can best meet their needs than how wonderful your company may be. Focus on them and what your questioning skills have uncovered. Notes a little skimpy? Call back and, this time, listen to what the planner is telling you. Get all of the information that you need to create a kick-ass proposal. And remember, when your customer is ready to know more about you or the company, they will do what most people do today: Google you.

2.  Avoid feature throw-up. You know what I mean…when you regurgitate everything there is to know about your hotel whether the client needs it or not. Generally, this manifests itself as a long list of bullet points. Toss that approach today and concentrate on the meeting objective and the business needs that come with it. Don’t forget the planner’s own needs as well. Focus on the features that will be a part of the solution, always combining the feature with a benefit statement specific to the objective or needs of their particular meeting. It’s not all about rates, dates and space. In fact, that’s the easy part. If you provide solutions that explicitly meet the business objectives of the client and that play up your points-of-difference, you will find yourself creating indelible value for your product.

3.  Be yourself. Write as if you are speaking to the customer. As a former English teacher, I am encouraging you to be a little more casual and let your personality show through the proposal. Stop looking over your shoulder for the nun and the ruler. One rule though: use active, not passive voice. Thought you wouldn’t see that again after 5^th grade? You might have to look it up. And forget the hotel jargon and acronyms.

4.  Show some style. Use props. Yes, props. This is where technology can really make a difference. Include testimonials, pictures of people attending a successful event (not miles of empty banquet tables or lobbies with no guests), video clips. Electronic proposals open up a whole new world for you. Evaluate the complete proposal package to determine if it has enough “wow” factor to move it to the top of the pile. Don’t forget about the power of Skype, my favorite tool of the day. There is no reason why you can’t do every sales presentation in person. You can talk about your hotel’s stunning beachfront location, but what if your Skype “set” shows that view in the background? And remember, Skype works just as well across town as it does 1,000 miles away. It you are finding it difficult to schedule a meeting for the presentation, suggest a video call.

5.  Include an Investment page. There is a huge difference between cost and investment and we spend way too much time using words like charge, price, rate, fee and expenses when discussing an event. A cost immediately conjures up visions of money slowly floating away into a big black hole, never to be seen again. An investment is money spent with an expectation of getting something back. Businesses and organizations invest in meetings because they expect to gain something from them. That is why it is important for you to thoroughly understand the meeting objectives. Use them to position your solutions. And when it comes time to discuss “costs,” shift the semantics. When you successfully demonstrate how their investment in time and money will pay off by partnering with you and your hotel, you will get more business. More importantly, it is the first step in the development of a mutually beneficial, potentially long-term, relationship. And that, my friends, translates into repeat business.

6.  Ask for the business and indicate next step. Always. In today’s competitive environment, the person who actually asks for the business and vigilantly follows up in a timely manner is the person who has the best chance of closing the sale.