Campus on Lake Austin-Flik Hospitality

Ray DeJohn

Hospitality Experience Builder

Adapting Hospitality Marketing to Changing Business Conditions

This was one of the first lessons that I learned, and I was not even in the Sales Department at the time. I started my hotel career right when the market fell in 2008. At the time, I was a front of house employee, but I noticed an error in the hotel group’s response to this economic downturn and saw its results firsthand.  Its marketing approach was to do…nothing. They chose to keep on with the boutique brand identity and “thumb its nose” at the recession. As you can probably surmise, that didn’t work. At all. Sales plummeted. Layoffs occurred. The Brand was lost because it never had to navigate a situation like this and, of course, never planned for it. Flexibility is essential in marketing your brand. It is not a matter of being reactive, but you do need to understand market conditions and create a strategy that responds to the moment, while looking to future growth.

Building Client Relationships Through Authentic Connections

Face-to-Face is always the winner here. Get in the room. These days, office visits are not as abundant as they used to be. But there are conventions, visitor’s bureau events, FAM trips, client happy hours, etc.

We communicate so much over email and text, where messages are often lost in translation because there is no tone to the message.

Talk. Look people in the eye. Sometimes people make their buying decisions based on how they feel. Make them feel something about you: how you care for your property, how you care for them, how you will take care of their participants. Authenticity wins. Always.

Balancing Revenue Growth with Guest Experience

The Operations Team is an integral part of this. The Marketing Department offers brand awareness. The Sales Department can book the business. But, the front desk, the F&B staff, the housekeepers and engineers are the people that can keep guests and make them loyal to you for years to come. I have seen so many guests choose our property because of the staff. Most properties have the same amenities. The staff is the differentiator.

I know I keep coming to this but, how do you make them FEEL? That guest loyalty will get you through good times and tough times and guests will choose to spend their money with you.

Responding to Evolving Expectations Around Guest Safety

Whether it be the economy, the political climate, or…you know, pandemics, the consistent theme I have seen for the last few years has been Duty of Care. How are we producing a safe and productive meeting space? Are there robust security and emergency protocols? This is a part of sales & service now.

Building Strong Teams Through Brand Storytelling

Gather teams that are, in a sense, cheerleaders for your brand or property. Just like people will buy on how you make them feel, your team will be stronger if they have a story to tell. More importantly, they must buy into that story organically. It is easy to conduct a site tour with “here’s a room/here is meeting space that fits your group.”  But it is wholly uninteresting and takes the air out of the room. We all love stories.

Tell the story of your brand (succinctly, of course). This will lead to sustainable growth. Again: Authenticity.