group business

The Hunter Group Salesperson: Endangered Species or Already Extinct?

Kristi White, VP, Product Management | November 4, 2019

By Kristi White Recently, I was attempting to source a new vendor for an installation. I did an exhaustive Google search and found three potential companies (they shall remain nameless to protect the guilty). I reached out to them via their websites inquiry form and waited for a response. Fortunately, all three companies responded promptly (within 2 hours). However, that is where the positive vibes ended. Four frustrating hours (and over 40 emails) later, I had scheduled appointments with all three companies but only AFTER I insisted on the call from each. Is This What Sales Has Become? This agita led me to drop by a colleague’s offi...

Increase Your Profitability by Shifting to a Proactive Group Sales Strategy

Knowland | October 15, 2019

By Lisa Bonanno ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 15, 2019 -- Knowland, a hospitality industry leader in meetings market data and analytics for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), convention centers and other meeting venues, encourages property management companies to change their group source of business to proactive and to budget for that change in 2020. With the looming uncertainty of the economy, many property management companies are not confident their properties’ “inbound RFP strategy” will work going forward. As they sit down to develop their 2020 budgets, they must consider many things including their cost of acquisition fo...

Q2 2019 Cvent Group Business Outlook Shows Continued Group Booking Slowdown

Cvent | August 9, 2019

Quarterly forward-looking report informs hoteliers of key market trends to help drive group business growth TYSONS, Va.--August 9, 2019 --In the latest Cvent Group Business Outlook, a 24-month forward-looking report highlighting United States group booking activity through the Cvent Supplier Network, data shows U.S. hotels will continue to face a challenging group business market. “While group booking pace has picked up slightly compared to last quarter’s report, the overall 24-month view is still fairly weak,” said Jeffrey Emenecker, senior director of analytics at Cvent. “As we look at the next two years, our sourcing data sh...

Maximize Hotel Profitability With Group Business

Matt Curry | July 24, 2019

By Matt Curry An analysis of the U. S. meetings and events market by PwC,1 revealed that the U.S. meetings industry generates approximately $30B – or just over one in five dollars – in hotel room revenue, while another $110B in revenue is generated from ancillary services such as food and beverage, event space, equipment rental, ground transportation, audiovisual (AV) support, and other services. Unfortunately, current revenue management practices tend to evaluate hotel group business performance based on the revenue per available room (RevPAR) index, which is not the best metric for determining a group’s overall profitability. There ...

How to Grow Group Business for the 2018 Holiday Season

Amadeus | November 1, 2018

Believe it or not, the holiday season is nearly upon us. Year after year, we notice that holiday event planning seems to sneak up on planners — suddenly it's November and they haven't booked a venue or secured a date for their holiday party. Planners are booking events later than ever before, often with a lead time of less than 90 days. While it can be stressful to have everyone scrambling to plan their group events for the holidays, it doesn't have to be. Be proactive, and help planners help you by starting the conversation about their group business needs for the season. Here are four tips to help increase your group business fo...

How to Play (and Win) the Long Game in Group Sales

Groups360 | September 24, 2018

Meeting planners don't want to work with a salesperson. They want a reliable, long-term partner in planning. Someone who can brainstorm ideas, come up with realistic solutions, and bring value to the table event after event. Delivering lasting value is vital to building this type of relationship. However, most group sales managers wait until they're actively wooing the client to be helpful - within their proposal, during the site inspection or at the negotiating table. Instead, offer value for the long haul, not for quick conversions. Begin right at the beginning of the sourcing journey, then continue long after the event is ove...

INFOGRAPHIC: 10 Tips to Close Group Business

Cendyn | August 15, 2018

Shorten the sales cycle with proposals that win more groups & events Congratulations, your hotel is on the short list for that big group or event. But even sales pros who "always be closing" know a door can easily slam shut or stall, leaving your team on the hook for group business stuck in the pipeline. How you finesse the proposal is everything. See are our top 10 tips to help you shorten the sales cycle and win more hotel business with proposals and closing techniques that help you seal the deal quickly. ...

Tambourine Shares: Win More Group Business by Being a Good Loser

Tambourine | October 27, 2017

Welcome to the Friday Freebie! Each week we share one, FREE impactful hotel marketing tactic that you can implement immediately to drive more conversions and more revenue. This Week's Freebie: Win more meeting and event business by conducting a loss analysis and figuring out what went wrong with your failed bids. Winning is easy. Get the deal, pop the champagne. When you win, you think every move you made in the sales process was genius. And then you replicate that winning formula on future deals. But what happens when you lose deals? A majority of hotel sales teams fail to ponder why certain groups chose another property. Whenever one ...