July | Partners' Market | Marlane Bundock

Hoteliers Discuss Win/Win Planner/Supplier Partnerships

Director of sales from hotels across the South shared their views on the call for a partners market and what it takes to build better relationships with planners. Here’s a selection of what they had to say:

Pamela Smith, CMP, director of sales and marketing for the Sheraton Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Convention Center Hotel: Hoteliers live in a world of email and voice mail, so we still need to take the time to really listen to planners and their needs, get to know them and put ourselves in their shoes. We must look at the whole picture of what the business can bring to the table, such as future business and referrals, not just the dates/rates. At the same time, planners must understand that hoteliers create a balance between fulfilling their requests as well as take into consideration the financial needs of the hotel.

Tynette Lynch, director of sales and marketing for The Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham, Ala.: We depend on meeting planners to bring qualified business to our hotel. For the most part, a qualified meeting planner knows what they want and what they expect and this makes our job much easier. At the same time, hoteliers must follow the procedures of their hotels while trying their best to accommodate requests from the meeting planner.
To build better relationships with meeting planners, we do our homework by learning what groups they represent, look at history on these meeting planners and try to be informed before we get to their actual functions. Being prepared for them builds the best relationships.

Greg Greenawalt, director of sales and marketing, Hilton Charlotte (N.C.) Center City: It’s the objective of any good conference hotel to help the planner achieve their goals and objectives and that cannot be done at a high level with out forming a mutually beneficial partnership. Hoteliers must listen carefully to fully understand the group’s objectives before we offer our hotel as their best solution and always deliver more than what was promised or contracted. And, when it comes to negotiating contracts, it’s important to have fairly shared mutual liability for performance and cancellations.

Bob Loughran, director of sales and marketing, The Naples (Fla.) Beach Hotel and Golf Club: Hoteliers need to understand what it would be like to walk in a planner’s shoes and vice-versa. For an event to be successful, everyone needs to work as a team, pulling the oars in the same direction. While building a relationship through shared experiences is an important part of the process, it’s when you truly understand everyone’s objectives that things can really happen. Anyone can strike a “good deal” for their organization, but that’s short-termed thinking. If there’s something in it for everyone, there will be an ongoing mutually beneficial relationship that will produce synergistic effects.

Sabena Robinson, director of sales and marketing, Kingston Plantation, a Hilton and Embassy Suites Resort, Myrtle Beach, S.C.: Partnering with meeting planners is important because it develops long-termed relationships. As much as you work together on the success of a program with meeting planners, the more confident they become with your property. With attrition and cancellation clauses a big part of today’s negotiations, it’s important the client knows the full extent of what is expected by the organization. I also feel that this is a negotiation area and should be discussed in length so that both parties are comfortable with the contracts.

Kim Brooks, area director of sales and marketing, Sugar Land (Texas) Marriott Town Square: A planner’s commitment and a hotelier’s commitment to work together as a team on a business opportunity is paramount to successful bookings. Discussing needs and wants upfront, providing candid responses on a venue’s capability, and maintaining positive dialogue throughout the planning and execution is a beautiful thing when these two entities work together as true partners. To build better relationships with meeting planners, hoteliers need to continue mutual education; take time to understand today’s meeting planner’s responsibilities, priorities and challenges; and further their knowledge on today’s hotel/venue demands, trends, responsibilities and challenges. The industry has been ever changing on both sides. It is critical that we not assume it is a simple interaction of rates, dates and space anymore but a far more comprehensive business decision and commitment for both parties. When it comes to negotiating contracts, I feel it’s important to fully understand the needs and objectives of both parties upfront, eliminate surprises and ensure that everything is in writing.

Scott Selvaggi, director of sales and marketing, The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Fla.: People like doing business with people they trust. Hoteliers need to show planners more than the value of the property, we need to show them the value of one-on-one relationships. It’s important to be upfront on all you can and cannot do.

Steven Green, director of sales and marketing, The Grosvenor Resort in Downtown Disney, Buena Vista, Fla. : The best and strongest relationship is built on trust. The partnering process with any meeting planner is best achieved when trust is set-up in the earliest stages. When the meeting planner can trust the hotel/resort staff to deliver on the agreed program, the relationship strengthens. This strong partnership develops into future repeat business and referrals.
The contract negotiating stage is the best time to build upon the trust factor in the relationship. This stage is when the planner agrees to trust the hotel and the Hotel asks for the trust in contract commitment. The best-negotiated contracts provide the partnership with the win-win. The best planning process starts with solid event history: past surveys, menu items served, room sets, etc. When the past is available to review, we can then make the future events better.