PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION

SALES & MARKETING TRAINING MANUAL

WHAT HOW WHY

INTRODUCTION
What is Prospecting?  It is finding NEW business to increase revenue Who you have now is good, but the key is to
for the hotel continuously search for more clients,
 A Prospect, or Lead, is a company or entity who making the best deals possible and
could potentially bring us business encouraging loyalty
It is a LOT of Research  Prospecting is also doing a lot of research to If you just go out with or start calling a list
o Find possible leads of companies, or cold calling, you will face
o Research each lead a lot of rejection, and it will be de-
o Pre-qualify each lead motivating for you and a waste of time. With
research you will discover who has more
It is a strategy to find the companies that will be most potential to want our business, and you will
likely to need our services (accommodation, events, be more successful at getting appointments
etc.) and contracts
50% of your day  Ideally, you should be spending at least 50% of You will that way eliminate those who
your day finding new prospects, researching and obviously will not need our services and
pre-qualifying each one before attempting to do a concentrate on those who potentially do
sales call!
You need Quantity as well as  FIND A LOT OF PROSPECTS (even if it isn’t Because it is a tough business, and a lot of
Quality easy) hard work: if you only have a few leads to
 So, here, Quantity is as important as Quality!! call, your pressure and stress is doubled
Adapt your Sales Pitch  Do your research well and avoid Cold Calling The more info you have, the easier you will
find it to adapt your sales pitch to be
successful!
Keep a Prospect List Posted  Post a Prospect List on the board in your office You’d be surprised at how many new
Encourage everyone (from ANY department) to add prospects you did not think of: enlist the aid
to it whenever they think of or hear of one from all your fellow workers!
PART 1 – SOURCES TO FIND PROSPECTS
Where do I Look?

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 PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION
SALES & MARKETING TRAINING MANUAL

Tradeshows & Fairs Your Competition!! Internet (this is a big source)

Government Entities Airports & Airline Companies Newspapers & Magazines
Military Institutions Tour Companies Business Magazines/Trade Journals (per
market segment – subscribe to them!)
Hospitals & Clinics Event Organizations Professional Organizations (per market
segment)
Religious Entities & Associations Visitors Bureau Commercial Real Estate Firms (they know
(Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc…) which new companies are coming to town!)
Environmental Organizations Chamber of Commerce Hotel Vendors & Suppliers
Community Organizations Schools, Universities and their related associations Country Clubs, Sports Clubs…
Associations (per market segment) Networking Your Hotel PMS!!
Tactics to Keep Organized  go through your sources one at a time Keeps you focused and is less confusing
 learn to scan and spot likely prospects To be efficient with your time
 set up a separate e-mail account to subscribe to To not overwhelm your business mail inbox
trade journals, e-newsletters, etc
 keep a running Prospect List with you and on the For reference, and to encourage fellow team
info board in your office members to help in getting business revenue
Pre-Qualify  research into the prospect’s news: any mergers? All of these entail changes in needs for the
growing? New management? New branches? company
 have they stayed with us before? (check PMS,
lost business reports, past events…)
 has anyone in your hotel contacted them before?
 Do they stay at the competition?
 With the above information make a little head This is important to the next step: making a
calculation of the amount of business this could list in order of importance
bring, and how to get it…
 Make a list of prospects by order of importance This will organize your work and help
with the most important at the top motivate you by starting with the most likely
to book with our hotel…

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 PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION
SALES & MARKETING TRAINING MANUAL

PART 2 – PREPARATION

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 PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION
SALES & MARKETING TRAINING MANUAL

WHAT HOW WHY

Who will you speak to  Try to speak to the decision maker To better your chances of success
 Large companies may have a travel department
 Smaller companies most probably do not
 If through your research you have not found who
The receptionist usually knows who is responsible for
to talk to, simply start the call explaining why what in the company
you are calling, and ask the name of the person
you should speak to
 At the end, always ask who else you should talk In some companies, there may be some other decision
to in the company makers
When should you call?  The middle 3 days of the week are best It often is the case that people are not so
 Avoid lunch time receptive or even there just before and just
 the first day in the afternoon after the weekend
 the last day in the morning
 for certain associations, this may have to be in the
evening or on weekends
Why are you calling?  Basically, you want to make an appointment to Face to face is far more effective, as you can
meet in person use all other tactics other than just your
 If this is not possible (he is going on a business voice
trip, busy with meetings, etc) ask when will be a
good day/time to call back Don’t just take no for an aswer, try and get a
 Perhaps they can tell you who else you could commitment for a specific day
Ther may be other decision makers, or staff who can
speak with in the meantime give you relevant information
Prepare your Call Plan  Before calling, make sure you have a good A guideline (not a script, keep it natural)
guideline to follow, from the first opening helps you direct the conversation in the
statement to achieving an appointment direction you want it to go
 Make sure you adapt it to the information you Personalize the conversation, and show your interest
in the needs of the company
have researched on the company:
Opening & First Impression
 Greet the client by name and introduce yourself, Make it sound personalized, not automatic

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 PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION
SALES & MARKETING TRAINING MANUAL

what hotel you represent

 ask if it is a good time, does he have a few To establish a common ground
minutes for you But be brief, typically you only have 30
 Explain the purpose of your call and make a seconds to raise the interest of a prospect
statement that creates a rapport You want to make sure he is OK with it and
 Present the benefits of working with your hotel can give you the time you need
 ask for a meeting in person in the following week
Prepare a Voicemail Message If the person you are trying to reach does not answer, Leaving a voicemail is actually a good thing,
have a voicemail message prepared: as when you call again, the client will
 follow the same procedure as above, with your already know your name, and purpose.
greeting, name, rapport, purpose, benefits
 finish by saying you will be calling back soon to Keep it short and to the point
see about scheduling an appointment

PART 3 – SCHEDULE A MEETING

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 PROSPECTING – LEAD GENERATION
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If there are questions  answer questions and ask some of your own, if
appropriate
If there are objections  see CMKT S07 Overcoming Selling Obstacles Obstacles give you an opportunity to assert
 do not steer away from them: deal with them your position, give further info and benefits
before moving on about your hotel, and at least you know the
 whatever the objection, insist a meeting in person client is listening!
will help by:
 giving personalized solutions to company
specific needs
 dealing with a person rater than just a voice on
the phone
 how your hotel is a better choice, exceeding
expectations
 best rates and services based on their travel needs
 that it will only take a few minutes of their time,
but save them a lot of time and worry by our
hotel taking care of all their accommodation and
meeting needs
Schedule the Meeting  agree to a day, date and time
 ask who else will be attending
 ask if there are any topics or issues they would
like to cover during the meeting
 Smile, thank client by name and say you look
forward to the meeting.

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