kennedy training network
Selecting the Right Call Center
Travel Outlook | May 27, 2021
How to Outsource Your Reservation Department without Sacrificing the Personal Touch Your Guests Know and Love As a hotelier and a business owner, it can be hard to let go of certain aspects of your business. After all, it’s hard enough to find hardworking employees who care about your business like it’s their own, let alone outsourced workers. Outsourcing typically has a negative connotation surrounding it. When people think of outsourcing, they think of cookie-cutter call scripts, aloof call center agents, and long hold times accompanied by nauseating elevator music. As it turns out, there are ways to outsource your reservation depar...
The Spirit of Hospitality Flows Like Currency – Your Heart Is the Power Bank
Doug Kennedy | May 19, 2021
By Doug Kennedy Have you ever walked in to work at a hotel or hospitality company and immediately recognized that someone, somewhere has determined that today is going to be “one of THOSE days”? It’s almost like someone posted a sign at the staff entrance to make it official. When you greet your first co-worker, they mysteriously transfer the bad vibe over to you. Before you know it, you too are sending the same negative vibe on to others. Pretty soon it begins to feel like everyone on your work team is also experiencing “one of those days.” Have you ever noticed that during days like these, the guests you encounter seem to...
Are Your Guests “Apped Out?” Only Welcoming Words Such as These, Spoken by Humans, Convey Authentic Hospitality
Doug Kennedy | April 19, 2021
By Doug Kennedy As a writer in the hospitality space, I am often approached by new companies with emerging technology who are looking for PR. Despite that my articles are almost always related to training tips for human engagement such as sales and hospitality skills, they somehow think that my help promoting whatever new gimmick they have come up with is key to promoting their services. Recently I was approached by yet another company about an exciting “new” innovation they had invented. It was an app for interacting with guests and fielding their requests. Wow, no one ever thought of that before, and just what the industry needs,...
Travel Outlook Celebrates 10th Anniversary as the Only Hotel Call Center Certified by Kennedy Training Network
TRAVEL OUTLOOK PREMIUM HOTEL CALL CENTER | April 7, 2021
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - April 7, 2021 - Travel Outlook Premium Hotel Call Center (“Travel Outlook”) is set to begin its tenth year of sustaining certification by Kennedy Training Network (“KTN”), a prestigious hotel industry training company with a diverse mix of clients all over the world. Founded in 2006 and based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, KTN’s experience in hotel call center training and mystery shopping assessment stretch back over three decades when its Founder and President, Doug Kennedy, first started conducting reservations sales training for hotel call center clients including Marriott, Westin, Omni, Kimpton, Best...
McNeill Hotels Announces Completion of Company-Wide Hotel Sales Training on Using “Tech for Touch”
Kennedy Training Network: | April 6, 2021
Memphis, Tenn. – April 6, 2021 – McNeill Hotel Company announced today the completion of the company-wide roll-out of an innovative hotel sales training and coaching program, entitled Hotel Sales Skills for Remote Buyers, delivered by Kennedy Training Network, Inc. “This program has helped us put the people part back into hotel sales,” said Mark Ricketts, President, “This approach aligns perfectly with McNeill’s overall focus on ‘people serving people,’ which is a core value of our company culture.” “For years now, hotel sales conversations have been taking place more and more by way of email, text and apps,” said ...
Ground Zero and Your Brand’s Image
Travel Outlook | March 25, 2021
John Smallwood President Travel Outlook Your Hotel’s Call Center is Your Brand’s First Impression In today’s consumer world, a brand’s image carries as much weight as the brand's service. Without branding, there would be no sure-fire way to differentiate yourself from your immediate competition. Imagine shopping for groceries in a store without branding. There would be no way to identify your favorite snacks among dozens of identical items. A brand’s image gives the company personality, relatability, and encourages brand loyalty. For hoteliers, your brand’s image can be made or broken by your reservation d...
The Battle for Direct Bookings Is Hand-to-Hand Combat, Not Aerial Strafing
Doug Kennedy | March 11, 2021
By Doug Kennedy For years now, hotels have been fighting desperately to win back market share from third parties such as Online Travel Agencies and thus reduce the cost of customer acquisition. Huge sums are spent on strategic initiatives such as ad campaigns, updating guest loyalty programs, improving organic and paid SEO, making sure the website tells the hotel’s story and ensuring a smooth journey from looking-to-booking. All of this increases the likelihood that a prospective, web-surfing guest may engage with the hotel directly. In military terms, I would say it is sort of like aerial strafing because the “ammo” has a mostl...
Hotel Sales for Today’s Remote Buyers Requires More Than “Steps,” “Funnels,” “Wow,” and FAB Phrases
Doug Kennedy | February 8, 2021
By Doug Kennedy Although the pace of change has accelerated during the pandemic era, the hotel sales habitat has been evolving rapidly for years. Yet when our KTN team conducts group sales shops and our sales “lead flow” audits, we find that most - but not all - hotel salespeople are stuck in the early 2010s. This is not surprising, given that too many hotel sales training programs are still focused on outdated models such as sales funnels, feature-advantage-benefit (FAB) phrases, and “wowing your prospects.” In the pre-pandemic years, too many hotel companies put ongoing training on the back burner altogether. Those who did s...
1
Industry Happenings
2
All Things Independent
3
Market Reports
4
Technology
5
Operations
Today's News
How Hotels Can Increase Share of Wallet With Incremental Offers
IHG Hotels & Resorts Expands Footprint in Southern France
b4checkin Announces Peter J. Rogers, Jr. as Chief Executive Officer, Founder Saar Fabrikant Appointed as President
McLaren Signs Strategic Agreement With AnMeng in China
As the first news aggregate for the hotel industry, Hotel-Online is the industry’s must-read daily news source for everything hotel curated for busy professionals. Sign up today for industry news delivered to your inbox.