Getting Everyone on the Same Page

The fall is traditionally marketing-plan-and-budget season. It has been a time to predict what will happen with the economy and the competitive hotel environment and determine a plan to respond to it.

2022 is a new day, and many hoteliers have told me this type of activity is antiquated and no longer necessary.

While I agree that the marketing ‘tomes’ we prepared in the past were often read once—when they were being proofread during the preparation process—never to be referred to again, I would argue there is still a need for a 1–5 page strategic plan that covers the next 18 months. This is a way to justify the revenue and expenses in the budget and delineate how the team will accomplish the goals outlined.

In addition, salespeople constantly say that having a clear direction and well-defined priorities is the second most crucial factor in their success, after effective leadership.

In essence, the plan for 2023 should answer the following questions:

• What is the ideal market-segmentation mix given the new environment? This may vary by seasonality and even by day of the week.
• Who will the sales and marketing team target to achieve (and exceed) the revenue goals? This involves looking at customer profiles, key industries, geographical feeder markets, and previous top customers.
• Where will you focus your resources, such as producing new videos, implementing social media campaigns, marketing to new, emerging markets, and setting plans to offset new competitor openings?
• When will the team begin and end marketing campaigns, sales trips, and customer engagement events to ‘sell when the buyer is buying’?
• Why this direction? What market factors, recent-history wins, or insight information led you to this decision?
• How will the team make all of this happen with the available resources, or is it time to develop a business case for more funds to see a double or triple return on the investment?

If you prefer the old format of a marketing plan, check out a previous newsletter where I outline what is included in a traditional plan click here.

What are the hotel goals for 2023? How will the entire hotel work together to achieve them?

Whether it’s a 50-page tome or a 5-page plan, taking time to identify where the hotel is going in the next 18 months is critical to achieving success and ensures everyone is on the same page as to how to get there.

"Without a strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless." – Morris Chang

"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." - Sun Tzu

Take the Next Step Now

Do you want to make sure the hotel has a plan to exceed revenue expectations? Contact Jo-Anne at
[email protected].

About Jo-Anne Hill

Jo-Anne is an industry expert who founded JH Hospitality Consulting to help hotels around the world dramatically improve revenue and profitability in creative ways. Her strategic thinking, skill, and practical approach to problem-solving come from hands-on experience at companies such as The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel Group, the Dorchester Collection, and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts.

Jo-Anne’s recently published book ‘Cultivating Leadership: How great leaders make a difference, one hotel at a time” dives deeper into the equation: happy staff = happy guests = more revenue.