Approaching an account with little knowledge about their event approval processes can be a hit or miss… but more often than not it’s a miss.
Organizations don’t always plan all their meetings in the same division or the same office or with the same planner. Talking to that meeting planner that worked with your colleague to host a large annual conference is likely not the right person to approach about booking that organization’s small training meeting. The approval processes and decision makers differ depending on the organization and the type of event.
“I Want Your Business!”
Let’s say that you are a Sales Manager at a Wyndham hotel, and you say “I’m going to go get some meetings from Siemens!” … don’t you think it would be helpful to know from the start that Siemens has a Preferred Hotel Program with Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Disney? And that they have a strict SMM Program in place that requires any hotel hosting a Siemens meeting to agree to specific contract clauses? It might also be helpful to know that Siemens uses three people at ConferenceDirect to send out their leads and that they use Starcite for distribution. If you knew this information up front, you could:
- Start by calling on the person at Siemens that runs the SMM Program and discuss ways you can become part of the Preferred Hotel Program
- Find out what the required contract clauses are that Siemens requires and get them pre-approved – then tell Siemens that any meeting you book will include those clauses automatically
- Make sure you are in contact with the ConferenceDirect person
- Make sure that your listing on Starcite is updated and accurate
If you were aware of this information before approaching a difficult account, these steps could significantly increase your chance of success. Calling a meeting planner at Siemens and saying “I want your business” isn’t enough.
To book complex accounts, you need to arm yourself with tools that thoroughly prepare you to call their meeting planners and “wow” them with your knowledge of their background and processes. You’ll have the upper-hand when negotiating and your likelihood of success will be much higher!
Knowledge is power… and Knowland delivers that knowledge with Advanced Researcher Profiles – detailed group research for hoteliers. Learn more about how to utilize Advanced Researcher Profiles to increase your sales by requesting a free online demo today!
