Group business is often the difference in a profitable quarter and everyone trying to have to explain their worth to their boss. In many cases, hotels rely on group business to fill slower periods. It may not be the most attractive business, especially the SMERF market, but it puts heads in beds and even at discounted prices, it keeps everyone working. What we want to do, though, is lure in more group business that benefits the entire property and every department rather than just one faction of the hotel.
I have referred to the Hilton Cherry Hill (now a Crowne Plaza) many times before and will do so again here. That property had over 50,000 sq. ft. of banquet meeting space and about another 10,000 sq. ft. that came from the lobby and promenade space that was often used for trade shows and social events. This was a “turn and burn” property that lived and breathed on group business. Those $150/head weddings were nice when we had them, but we were far more likely to have a $25/head sports banquet with a 1,500-theater set coming right behind it.
On many an occasion, I went to battle over the types of groups that were booked not because I wanted to be difficult, but because the F&B department, more specifically, the banquet department, ended up in the red during the function. There were literally times when every square inch of our banquet space was in use and we were not collecting a single dollar in food, beverage, or room rental for the event. Groups like that are great for room sales, but they put a beating on the operations budget of the F&B department.
Now, there are obviously times when that type of business is needed, but wouldn’t it be far more beneficial to book group business that fully utilizes every aspect of the hotel rather than just putting heads in beds and driving labor costs in another department? That is the type of business we want to focus on here today.
Know Your Market
When you are searching for the ideal client, you must know what is most important to these clients that will mesh with your property’s best assets. For instance, if you have a large group that also needs a dozen breakouts but you only have one ballroom and no suites, going after that group simply does not make sense. If you are going after a gamer convention, is your wi-fi up to par or does it lag? Point being, don’t try to jam business into the hotel for the sake of getting the booking but rather try to ensure everything the group needs can be provided as well as the property being able to maximize income for every inch of space that is being used.
What Is Your Competition Doing?
There is a second part to that question… what can you do better? Large groups will often require breakouts or various settings throughout the day. For smaller properties, that often means delayed sessions rather than smoothly transitioning from event to event. Referring to my old property again, we not only had our main ballroom, but we had two smaller ballrooms, one of which would be broken into three even smaller rooms, a pavilion, and seven small suite rooms. If your competition has a group that is sitting around waiting for rooms to be flipped and you can provide that smooth transition from session to session, that is the perfect place to start your proposal to lure the group away from the smaller hotel.
Look at every piece of group business your top competitors have, then break down those functions to see which aspects you can do far better, then use that as your plan of attack with the client, especially if you see the frustration on their face during the event over these particular issues. The best-case scenario is when you are offering these clients something their current hotel is simply incapable of pulling off.
Improving Brand Awareness
This is something we are going to get far deeper into in our next blog entry, but worth mentioning here as well. Your online presence needs to mirror the types of guests and group business you want booking at your property. Images, for instance, are very powerful tools. If you have the capability of hosting a 1,500-theater set or a 1,000-person sit-down dinner, those images should be on your website. You should also be engaging with these types of groups online. As was stated prior, we will go into this much deeper in our next blog entry, so please check back to learn how you can build a better and more powerful online presence.
Does your property suffer through long gaps in business that your current sales team is unable to fill? If the local talent pool has dried up and you are ready to take your hotel or hospitality organization to the next level, call Joseph David International today. JDI is consistently ranked among the top hotel recruiters because we don’t just find managers, we find the ideal fit for your organization. For more information about our hotel recruiting services, please click here.