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Delivering
a seamless program
The destination models for convention marketing, sales and service are certainly diverse. In most, however, the Center manages its facility as a "loss leader"-- reserving its prime dates for conventions that host visitor delegates who will produce optimal economic impact to the area through room night generation. And the CVB serves as the community's marketing arm to deliver this critically important business.
Where the roles can get murky include: With so many players involved--hotels, restaurants, transportation companies, the center, bureau, etc.--who is ultimately responsible for delivering and monitoring customer service and making sure that the community consistently delivers the highest performance of sales/service results?
From where you sit, you most certainly will say it's the bureau. And while most would agree (including me), the task just can't be done without a conscious effort to deliver a "seamless program" throughout the entire area and convention industry.
In this newsletter, we'll address some of the principal underpinnings that are required for a seamless destination program.
Evaluating customer service
Step
one in enhancing a seamless program is for the community to assess
and then work to consistently improve its sales and service efforts.
Secret shopper programs are effective. So are independent third
party surveys of customers.
But
the most important tactic is a fully coordinated service evaluation
of the meeting planner following their successful meeting in your
city. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But you'd be
surprised how few are actually produced in most communities.
Even when the bureau's convention services coordinator has responsibility for managing this service program, many collect only two to four surveys from every ten meeting planners.
With that poor rate of return, you just can't accurately evaluate community service. Why does this happen? The consistent excuse is that: "the meeting planner didn't focus on answering our questionnaire because they were too busy packing up and getting out of town".
To get to the real reason, go to the job description of the convention services coordinator. Under personal performance objectives, it should state that they are responsible for delivering this evaluation program—and that requires diligence in retrieving this important information from the meeting planner. In fact, the employee's salary compensation should be tied to this important deliverable.
As part of the evaluation questionnaire, you should also:
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Use a broad one to five grading system (with one being poor and five excellent) to assess various areas of interest. |
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Incorporate a follow-up requirement when service falls in the lower one to two result areas. In other words, send the questionnaire to deficiently evaluated hotels—but don't stop there; also ask for a copy of their response to the customer. |
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Share your ongoing results with your board. And provide an annual service report as well. This is an important program and should be given ongoing visibility with your leadership. |
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Wherever feasible, combine your questionnaire with that of the convention center. It'll enhance your seamless effort and make it easier for response from the meeting planner. |
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USDM.net Delivers
Eye Opening Web Site Assessments & Internet Program Analysis
How Do YOU Measure up?
Many top CVBs, State Tourism Departments, and other DMOs contract with USDM.net for an objective Web Site Assessment and Interactive Program Analysis.
The assessment program helps DMO marketing managers gauge their success against other DMOs and benchmark "Best Practices" by allowing a highly qualified, yet independent, consulting team to look at critical areas of a bureau's online initiatives (including web site, technology, eCRM, internet marketing, vendors, and staff) and deliver a detailed assessment report.
• The process helps identify problems, address challenges, and provide stretch goals for the future.
• The resulting report and staff consultation provides a clear road map for improvement.
CVB Upper Management Comments About USDM.net's Web Assessments
"I was impressed with the depth of analysis and thoroughness the report. It really opened our eyes about some issues, yet provided us clear-cut solutions. It is well worth the time and money."
"We brought together our entire team from IT, marketing, and our ad agency and PR firm for the assessment questions and final consultation report. USDM was able to answer every question we could think of and threw in a few more we never thought of. The entire process was detailed, thorough and very well done."
Opportunities to capture and losses to be avoided are identified.
OPPORTUNITIES:
1. Utilizing a Best Practices approach, Bureaus can leverage the Internet Program to increase conversion - - and prove the conversion.
2. Effectively operating the CRM database of online visitors can significantly impact marketing efforts: Remarketing and Viral Marketing.
3. Creating a scalable site and environment will reduce the risk of repeated heavy technology budgets and makes available more dollars for marketing.
THREATS (Losses to be Avoided):
1. Not having a clear direction, goals or a plan resulting in a "shotgun" approach and wasted budget
2. Not acting aggressively enough to meet goals. Acting upon "wish list" items instead of planning with Best Practices, resulting in untrackable return on investment.
3. Choosing inappropriate partners that do not understand or effectively utilize the Internet medium; allowing multiple vendors to misuse your time educating them or finger-pointing.
Three Levels of Web Assessments Offered:
To assist bureaus in their strategic internet planning process and reporting of return on investment from their web site and online marketing, USDM offers three levels of Web Assessment, which can be selected one at a time or bundled for a bureau's specific needs.
I. Web Site Assessment (Technical, Online Branding and eCRM)
Services include assessment of the website in comparison to Best Practices & Goals
II. Internet Marketing Program Analysis
Includes Measurement, ROI Analysis & Comparison to Other DMOs
III. eTeam Departmental Structure, Internal Staff Fits, Vendor Analysis
Final Report & Staff Consultation Includes:
• Scoring of current program to Best Practices and Other Resorts
• Analysis and Recommendations on each area (above) evaluated
• Industry Research and Trends that will affect the Web Program for Bureau
• Program components for 2006-2007 program broken down by Mission Critical and Wish Lists
• Allocation of Resources - Staff, outside vendors, ad agencies, etc.
For Details About the Program and to Schedule Your Web Assessment, contact Consulting at consulting@usdm.net or by phone at (361) 883-8833.
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Developing A new marketing agreement for the Convention Center & CVB
One sure-fired way of delivering a truly seamless program is through a new marketing agreement with the convention center. The objectives are to enhance communication, accountability, build the team effort and address the mutuality of your missions.
An annual agreement should list supportive requirements of work delivery for both the bureau and the center. It may include:
Collective commitments
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Develop joint goals for bookings, room nights, space and revenue. |
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Ongoing meetings: Management meets together on a monthly basis to review collective plans, progress and problems. |
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The initial task: Reviews and confirms agreement on the standardized definitions of business performance in accordance with the standards of the Destination Marketing Association International, including confirmed bookings, Lost business, cancelled business, etc. |
Bureau
commitments
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Pro-actively promote the Convention Center in all selling activities |
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Attend weekly (monthly or quarterly) joint sales meetings |
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Partner with the sales and executive staff for customer events |
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Conduct joint site inspections with all customers |
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Block all meeting and exhibit space accurately |
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Provide history and RFP for meetings and conventions (when appropriate) |
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Maximize the use of the exhibit and meeting space at the convention center for meetings and trade shows, principally for associations and tradeshows |
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Develop a new hire cross- training program for Convention Center sales staff |
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Deliver a Year-end Report for the Convention Center Board that: |
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Reviews past year CVB bookings of meetings for the future, including meeting space, hotel room nights produced and estimated economic impact to the community. |
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Forecasts the booking goals for the coming year. |
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Center
commitments
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Make available a perpetual five-year future grid for the Building to share with the Bureau. Attend all weekly/quarterly sales meetings of the bureau. |
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Quote competitive pricing |
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Attend
tradeshows with bureau when appropriate (identify all). |
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Provide tours and related food and beverage during bureau sponsored FAM/site trips |
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Partner with bureau during all sales missions |
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Partner with bureau during all customer events |
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Make effort to work with bureau's sales managers to accommodate short term bookings within the agreed-upon timeframe |
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Develop a new hire cross- training program for bureau sales staff |
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Deliver a year-end report for the CVB's Board to review the year's joint efforts, including recommendations from the CVB. |
Other Seamless Program Opportunities
Now that you're on your way to producing this seamless new program, also consider other opportunities such as:
- Develop An integrated center/bureau team-sell approach that requires joint sales team members to call on customers together (and with hotel sales execs on board as part of this team sell approach, too).
- Deliver an ongoing sales training program for the Center, bureau and participating hotels-- a new training program for the respective staffs of the bureau and center. Hoteliers should also be included. Training topics on team selling should include overcoming customer objections and telemarketing sales techniques.
- Consider placing at least one seasoned bureau sales executive in the center-- with exclusive responsibility for center/citywide business solicitation. This is a model recently advanced by the Memphis Bureau with concurrence from the Center, where the concept has received extremely high marks from everyone involved in the city's convention business.
Why do you lose business to other communities—and who's taking it away?
Finally, it's time to find out why your community loses business, where it subsequently goes, and how to get it back.
Those answers can be provided in a properly produced annual Lost
Business report, which summarizes the information gleaned from
the individual lost business reports prepared by your staff. And
if you are consistently losing a large percentage of meetings
and conventions to the same communities, it's time to do a competitive
marketing analysis.
In summary, this is what a "seamless program" is all about. Many of these efforts exist in the best destination marketing programs, and they can work wonders for you, too.
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