Did you know that healthcare represents roughly one-sixth of the American economy? Meetings, held in hotels and other venues, are a critical part of the implementation of industry standards as well as the education and training of the industry’s practitioners. For those who pursue meetings and groups from the medical, healthcare, and pharmaceutical market, MeetingsNet’s recent article “New Research Reveals What Matters Most to Medical Meeting Managers” sheds light on these meetings.
MeetingsNet surveyed a variety of meeting planners in this field, the majority of which are with medical associations. Another 20% of respondents work for independent meeting-planning companies. Knowland’s “Working with and Selling to Third-Party Planners” webinar earlier this year taught attendees that this attests to the medical field’s continued utilization of third-party planners to coordinate and execute events.
When surveyed about what kind of medical meetings they plan, 71% of planners answered that they were responsible for “accredited CME, continuing education, and training meetings that allow attendees to maintain and strengthen their competence in their fields.” Medical schools, hospital and medical centers, and scientific foundations are, therefore, “the main sources of CME meetings.”
The question then becomes: What is the best way to tap into these abundant and potentially lucrative meetings? You have to know as much as you can about who books the meetings as well as the buying behaviors of the planners and the booking patterns they have shown in the past.
With a resource like Knowland, hotels can see both the buying behaviors of the planners and group booking patterns; plus, they can get detailed information about who is doing the planning and how to contact them. Knowland customers can also use Advanced Researcher Profiles that give detailed information on some company’s Strategic Meeting Management Programs and their third-party affiliations; both of which are integral components of healthcare and medical meetings. These tools and the data they generate prepare Knowland users for outreach calls. It shows they’ve done their homework, making it easier to get those meetings at their hotels.
Key Knowland features that unlock potential in the medical meetings market segment include:
Advanced Search: Use terms such as “healthcare” and “pharmaceutical” to narrow down and yield results that lead to these groups and their planners. Select the corporate market segment filter, then choose from the dropdown menu Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, or any of the other subset options you want to bring specific meetings right to your fingertips. You’re one big step closer to making a call that could make a huge difference for your market share of these meetings.
Keyword Search: This search allows you to look for specific types of meetings (like those mentioned above) and see what hotels are currently getting their business. This provides a sales roadmap for knowing which ones to pursue that you are not currently booking.
Give it a try: Current clients can login in on the Knowland site and run a search. If you would like further product training, register for an upcoming webinar.
Don’t have a Knowland subscription, but curious to see how Insight could work for your hotel? Contact the Knowland team.
