3 Steps to Getting RFP Season Right
We are halfway through RFP season!
If you’re lucky, you might receive some RFPs through any of the major platforms (Lanyon, Sabre and RateFinding); but if you’re smart, you know this is actually a crucial time when corporations negotiate preferred rates directly with hotels. Non-commissionable rates that generate higher ADR, loyalty and production during low leisure seasons. To top it all off, the reality is that once a rate is successfully negotiated and if it brings results, it will be profitable for years. So clearly, the more you proactively target and look for corporations, the more impact RFP season will have on your revenue.
When it comes to targeting the best corporations for your hotel, our Corporate & GDS Sales team have some great and very actionable tricks up their sleeves that they’ve agreed to share:1
Fine-tune your GDS public rate strategy.
Make sure you have a variety of rates: the most popular rate categories are BAR (Best Available Rate, PRO (Promotional), COR (Corporate) and RAC (Rack). Our recommendation is to have at least one of each.
Compare your strategy with your competitors and try to offer something different and better than what they are offering.
*** BONUS TIP: A good GDS public rate strategy can really impact your hotel’s production but it can also generate important insights. By looking over your bookings history, you might discover that there are companies already booking and staying with you on a regular basis. Reaching out to them with a negotiated rate is a win-win situation: they get lower rates, you get increased production!
2. Find out Who Your Neighbours Are
Business travellers are busy and they tend to stay at hotels close to where they need to be. So the businesses that are located in your area, especially those within walking distance, who frequently meet with international clients, suppliers or co-workers from other offices are primed to want to negotiate preferred rates with your hotel. Reach out to them and make sure they know everything about your hotel.
3. Go Global!
Review your local agreements from previous years and wherever possible try to convert them into global agreements. While local agreements aren’t always loaded on the GDS and are often only visible to some specific Travel Agencies, global agreements are visible by anyone from a company in any part of the world which really increases your property’s visibility and consequently, the number of nights booked.
Finally, though we didn’t want to include this in our tips, it cannot be stressed enough. Make sure all of your hotel’s information is correct and up to date, especially the contact information, otherwise your hotel will simply not be contacted!
