Setting goals for hotel salespeople can be as challenging as meeting them. However, here are a few things to keep in mind when establishing practical salespeople goals.
Involve the salespersons from start-to-finish
The purpose of goals is to help people improve and add a little bit of positive pressure. Involving the salesperson in the discussion and setting the goals inspires commitment and allows individuals a sense of ownership in achieving their goals. In addition, encouraging salespeople to set stretched goals also helps push productivity and performance and motivates ongoing skills development.
Align individual goals to business objectives
Hotel salespeople will be more effective if they see how their individual goals fit into the big picture. Goals encourage accountability and better performance as individuals grasp the direct impact of their performance. In hotels where marketing, sales, and revenue work in silos, aligning goals is vital for minimizing suboptimization and driving everyone towards the same business goal.
Adopt goals in real-time
Hotel sales goals should be dynamic and evolving and follow the pace of the hotel to maximize motivation and engagement. One common mistake is setting goals based on a budget at the beginning of the year and forgetting about them until reviewing the sales performance.
Set goals for KPIs with high business impact
It is essential to measure the B2B sales variables that impact revenue and profits. There are four critical success factors in B2B sales that hotels can measure in several ways. The impact on revenue and profits will vary between hotels depending on the type, concept, facilities, target groups, and location so that the KPIs will be unique for each hotel. Here are some ideas on setting goals for each critical success factor.
The number of customers
Counting customers seems straightforward, but it is not just about the total number. A more intelligent goal is to define which customers to target based on optimizing revenue and profits. A large customer base with the right mix of customers will make the job easier also for revenue managers to maximize revenue.
The number of inquiries
The volume of incoming inquiries measures the market demand and the hotel's popularity. A hotel would like to receive inquiries matching the capacity of the facilities and profitable products and services. Salespeople can present the hotel to a vast network of potential and existing customers to increase the flow of the correct type of inquiries.
Win rate
The win rate is the number of won inquiries of the total number of inquiries. Hotels need a skilled sales team to reach a high win rate of the most attractive inquiries. Instead of having a goal for the total win rate, the hotel can target a specific type of inquiry.
Realization rate
Hotels negotiate a room rate and other terms based on an estimated volume of room nights. Customers tend to overestimate volumes to get a lower rate. Therefore it is essential to set goals for the realization rate (actual/contracted). Hotels can set goals for the different customers to focus on the highest impact on revenue.
Impact calculations
Based on the type, concept, facilities, target groups, and location, the critical success factors will impact revenue and profitability differently. Therefore, we have put together a whitepaper to help hotels understand and calculate the impact for each one of the four critical success factors.
