Top five tips to optimize your corporate sales

Our Director of Corporate Accounts – Nuria Padilla – shares her tips on how to get the most out of your Corporate Accounts.

TIP # 1: Don’t miss the RFP season!

The RFP (Request for Proposal) season is that period of the year from June to September when corporations look for hotels to negotiate rates with for their employees’ business trips. Negotiating with a company/corporation is highly beneficial for your hotel as these partnerships generate:

• Loyalty – returning guests
• Increased Revenue – business travellers tend to spend more at the hotel
• higher occupancy in low season periods.

TIP # 2: Target the Right Companies

• Visit companies located within a 10km radius of your property. They receive visits from business travellers who need a hotel to stay during their business trip so make sure they know all about your hotel.
• Find out where your guests are coming from. If many of them are coming from the same company, that company is very likely to be interested in negotiating an agreement with you.

TIP # 3: Be easy to find

• Create a Corporate rate in the GDS: Travel Agencies will look for this specific rate.
• Make sure your property is created in the main RFP tools (Lanyon, Sabre and RateFinding). It doesn’t really matter if the hotel has a license on those platforms, companies can find you regardless and invite you to participate in their programs.

TIP # 4: Spread the word

Once you have reached an agreement, request rate loading instructions from the company so that you can load the rate on the GDS. Because although with local agreements, bookings will usually be made directly with the hotel, if the company is multinational corporation and the negotiated rate is on the GDS, those local agreements will gain global exposure and reach everyone travelling to your destination from that company.

TIP # 5 Be Accommodating

Now that you have your new corporate clients, make sure your offer covers the top needs of business travellers. We know that some of the amenities and benefits that business travellers value the most include:

• Flexible cancellation policies
• early check in or late check-out
• breakfast (included)
• high speed internet
• Welcome amenity in room upon arrival

BONUS TIP: Cherish your GDS strategy

Never forget –  GDS will bring you more public rates which will allow you to target more corporations and keep increasing the number of partnerships you negotiate which will bring you increased sustainable revenue.

You can contact Nuria Padilla, Director of Corporate Accounts at [email protected].