Are you Curious? Linda Glick-Garvey is!

As a little girl growing up, my favorite TV programs were Magnum PI, Fantasy Island and Hotel with Connie Selleca. I was always drawn to shows that involved mysteries and trying to figure out who-done-it by the end of the program. In fact, many of you may have heard me say that I always wanted to work in the hotel industry because of Connie Selleca and how the show Hotel took care of their guests and solved mysteries. By nature, I have always been a curious person and liked to figure this out in a logical way.

Curious people will look for new information and always be looking for answers to solve challenges. The challenge before us is making our top line revenue goals. With curiosity, you can seek new techniques to solve this challenge.

This will require involvement from everyone on your staff, as they are ALL sales people. There is no separation between sales and any other department in your hotel. From the front desk upgrading a reservation to a suite for an additional $20.00 to a housekeeper leaving a pleasant surprise that makes a guest feel special and becomes a regular customer. It takes everyone to contribute to the sales process.

We need to explore the growth of relationships between the sales department and operations. It is up to the entire team to re-think how they are going to solicit new business and protect their current accounts. Do you have a shareshifter warboard or target account list hung for all employees to see? You never know when an associate will say “hey, my uncle works at ABC company; they are using the competition for their quarterly meetings.”

Curiosity will have you driving the competitors’ parking lots, engaging their guests in conversation while taking a look around their hotel, asking current guests at your hotel if there is anyone else in their organization that travels to the area.

Curiosity will even make you ask your potential clients some very important questions. What’s important to you when selecting a hotel? Can we book your next group at our hotel?

Are you curious to find that ‘trade-down’ customer? Have you gone after the full-service and upscale hotel guests?

People are still traveling and businesses are still having meetings. Your curiosity will find them and place them in your hotel.

Nothing happens until a sale is made. You can’t produce new revenue unless you are curious enough to go find it.